The state forms
- Bill of sale (TC-843). Signed, with a copy to the buyer. It carries the date, both parties, the vehicle description and the odometer, which is also what §41-3-301(2)(b) requires you to hand the buyer at the time of sale.
- TC-656 title application, Section 7 completed. Your signature certifies delivery, licensing compliance and sales-tax reporting. The permit number and date fields stay blank when you issued no permit. See the Utah dealer sales tax guide for why a blank Section 7 costs your buyer money.
- TC-466 itemization of optional charges (revised 6/26). Both parties sign; the copy to the purchaser is statutory under §41-3-401.6. Line 1 must match line 1 of your contract, every listed charge must genuinely be optional, and the form never goes to the DMV.
- Temporary permit copy, if you issued one — your proof of when the 45-day clock started.
- TC-814, if the car carries a brand or was declared a total loss. It is the disclosure itself, signed by the purchaser and any lienholder, and it belongs in the branded-title workflow.
- TC-721A, for a qualifying nonresident sale — filed to the Tax Commission through TAP within 45 days, with a copy in the jacket.
The federal disclosures
- The final FTC Buyers Guide. Not the one that was on the glass a month ago — the version reflecting what you negotiated, given at the time of sale under §455.3(a). Keep a copy. Full rules in the FTC Buyers Guide rules.
- The §455.3(b) sentence in your contract, making the window form part of the contract and superior to contrary terms. Utah's TC-843 does not contain it, so it has to live in your own sale agreement.
- Odometer disclosure, signed by both parties. Under 49 CFR §580.5 it carries the odometer reading without tenths, the date of transfer, both parties' printed names and addresses, and the transferor's certification that the reading is actual mileage (or the not-actual / exceeds-mechanical-limits statement); the transferor signs and the transferee signs. §580.17 exempts 2010-and-older vehicles ten years after January 1 of their model year, and 2011-and-newer vehicles only after twenty.
- Retail installment contract with the credit disclosures, if you carried the paper — the Reg Z box, the Holder Rule notice, and the rest of the stack in buy here pay here in Utah.
- IRS Form 8300 when you receive more than $10,000 in cash, counting related installments; a new form is required for each additional $10,000, and the customer statement is due by January 31 of the following year. File it within 15 days of the transaction, and file it electronically if you are required to file ten or more information returns of other types in the year.
The receipts and the car's own history
Two more categories earn their space. First, the sales receipt — price, tax, total, amount paid, balance due $0.00 — which is the only thing your buyer can show a clerk who asks whether tax was paid.
Second, on a rebuilt car, the repair and inspection folder: parts invoices, the safety and VIN inspection paperwork, photos before and after. This is not just compliance. A documented rebuilt car resells closer to 30% below clean comps instead of 40%, which is worth more than the hour it takes to organize — the math is in the max bid formula.
What goes where — the part people get backwards
| Document | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| TC-466 itemization | Copy to the purchaser + your file. Never the DMV. |
| TC-928 monthly report of sale | MVED (paper or the MVP business account) — not the DMV counter |
| TC-721A nonresident certificate | Tax Commission via TAP, within 45 days |
| TC-656 + endorsed title | DMV — by you within 45 days if you issued a permit, otherwise by the buyer |
| Final Buyers Guide | The buyer, at the time of sale + a copy in the file |
The monthly filing is its own habit with its own deadline — see the Utah dealer report of sale.
How long to keep it
Longer than you think, and longer than the car stays on the road. MVED inspects dealer records, lenders ask about specific units during audits, and the buyer who disputes a disclosure will do it years later. Keep jackets complete and retrievable by VIN, and never strip a file down to "the important parts" after the fact.
No single Utah rule sets one retention number for every page in the folder, and the lender or buyer who asks will not care which rule applies. Keep the whole jacket for the life of any financing on the car and for years after the sale — the tax pages inside it are tax records with an audit window of their own.
The one-page version
Print this and tape it inside the cabinet:
- Signed bill of sale — copy to buyer
- TC-656 with Section 7 completed and signed
- Sales receipt: price · tax · total · paid · balance $0.00
- Final Buyers Guide — copy to buyer
- Odometer disclosure — both signatures
- TC-466 if any optional charge was sold — copy to buyer, never to the DMV
- Temporary permit copy, if issued
- TC-814 if branded or declared a total loss — purchaser and lienholder signatures
- TC-721A if the buyer is a qualifying nonresident — filed via TAP within 45 days
- Financing contract with the Reg Z box and the Holder Rule notice, if you carried the paper
- Form 8300 copy if cash exceeded $10,000
- Repair, parts and inspection folder if the car is rebuilt
Twelve lines. A jacket missing one of them is not a paperwork problem yet — it becomes one on the day someone asks.
Make it the same folder every time
The only version of this that survives a busy Saturday is a fixed order. Same documents, same sequence, every car, so a missing page is visible instead of discoverable. Print the packet once at closing rather than assembling it in pieces across a week — the pieces are what go missing.
That is what DealerPronto's closing packet does: one print, filled from the deal, in the same order every time.
The same discipline works in software: DealerPronto's guided Sold wizard and print pack walk the delivery in order and print the buyer's set, so the jacket is assembled by the process rather than by memory.
Questions dealers actually ask
What has to be in a used-car deal file in Utah?
At minimum: signed bill of sale, TC-656 with Section 7 completed, the final FTC Buyers Guide, the odometer disclosure, a sales receipt, the TC-466 if you sold any optional charges, the temporary permit copy if you issued one, TC-814 if the car is branded or was a total loss, and the financing contract with its credit disclosures if you carried the paper.
Does the TC-466 go to the DMV?
No. Both parties sign it, the purchaser gets a copy — that copy is statutory under §41-3-401.6 — and your copy stays in the deal jacket. Line 1 has to match line 1 of the contract.
What do I do if a customer pays cash over $10,000?
File IRS Form 8300, counting related installment payments toward the threshold, file again for each additional $10,000, and send the customer statement by January 31 of the following year. Keep copies in the jacket.
Where DealerPronto does this for you
- The print pack — the whole closing packet in one print, in the same order every time, filled from the saved deal. Printing is never paywalled.Fills from a saved deal
- Deal record — every car's paperwork, buyer and dates in one place, retrievable by VIN when someone asks a year later.Starter
- The Today list — the deadlines a closed deal still owes, ranked red for overdue and yellow for due-soon.Free