Texas titles boats and outboard motors separately, and Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) handles both. Its warning to buyers is blunt: don't buy a used boat or outboard without the original title, signed on the front and back, and a signed bill of sale from the person named on it.
What has a title
| Item | Titled? |
|---|---|
| Any motorized boat, whatever the length, including a sailboat with an auxiliary engine | Yes |
| Non-motorized boats, including sailboats, 14 feet or longer | Yes |
| Petrol, diesel or propane outboard motors | Yes, with their own title |
| Boats documented with the US Coast Guard | No, registered only |
| Trailers | Not by TPWD; through the county tax office |
A boat that's registered but not yet titled has to be titled when it changes hands. The registration card says "TITLED" when a title exists.
The bill of sale
TPWD requires a signed bill of sale or invoice for every transfer and accepts any of these:
| Form | What it must show |
|---|---|
| Tax affidavit on PWD 143 (boat) or PWD 144 (outboard) | Price, date of sale and any trade-in, signed by the seller |
| A handwritten receipt | Date of sale, price without the trailer, make, serial number and model year, buyer's name, seller's signature |
| The back of a newer brown TPWD title | Price, buyer's name, owner's signature. Older blue and green titles have no space for it |
Neither page asks for a notary on the bill of sale. A paid-off loan is different: the lien release has to be notarized.
Deadlines and tax
- Buyer: file the transfer within 45 working days of the purchase, or tax penalties and interest apply.
- Seller: notify TPWD within 20 days, under Parks and Wildlife Code 31.037. Until a new title is issued the title stays in the seller's name, so a seller who doesn't go to the office with the buyer files an Ownership Transfer Notification online.
The tax is 6.25% of the sales price, on boats of 115 feet or less and on outboard motors. Show the trailer's price separately.
A boat coming from another state, or never titled, also needs form PWD 504: a pencil tracing or photograph of the hull and motor serial numbers.
Where to file
TPWD headquarters in Austin, a TPWD Law Enforcement field office, or a participating county tax assessor-collector. Take the assigned title, the application, the bill of sale, the fees and the tax.
Before you sign
A title proves ownership. It says nothing about the hull. Agree the price after a pre-purchase survey, then write the agreed price on the bill of sale. Our free boat bill of sale template has a line for every field TPWD asks for, with the trailer priced on its own.