Most DMV counters will only title a vehicle that already carries a title from somewhere. An SF 97, a Japanese export certificate, or a hand written bill of sale does not fit the box on their form, so they hand it back.
Montana will issue a title off a manufacturer's certificate, a bill of sale, a military transfer form, or foreign export documents. That one difference is the whole reason people end up here.
Montana does not ask you to move there. It asks that the owner be based there. So the owner becomes a Montana LLC that you own completely, and the vehicle registers in Montana.
You sign electronically. They handle the Secretary of State, the county, the fees, and the plates, and they stay on as your registered agent so the LLC never lapses.
You're not moving to Montana. Your vehicle's owner is.
Every photo on this page was taken on a phone, in a parking lot or on a public street. Where a Montana plate is on the vehicle you can see it, with the numbers blurred on purpose.
A side by side on a public street, Flathead County, Montana
Parked downtown on a permanent Montana plate
A race bike wearing a permanent Montana plate
Ex-military HMMWV, out in publicYou can be on the road in about a day. Plates follow inside about two weeks. You sign electronically, Zero Tax Tags does the rest.
Filed with the Montana Secretary of State with you as the sole member. You get the articles, the operating agreement, and an EIN if you want one. You own the company outright.
You send whatever ownership paperwork you actually have, the MSO, the bill of sale, the SF 97, or the export certificate, and you sign a power of attorney. They handle the county, the fees, and the filing.
Once the LLC is formed they can have you legally registered with a temp tag in about a day. Permanent Montana plates and registration follow by mail, and Zero Tax Tags stays on as your registered agent from then on.
Montana issues permanent registration on most vehicles eleven years and older. Pay once, and that plate is done for as long as you own the machine. No renewal notice, no sticker, no reminder email every spring.
Side by sides, dirt bikes, imports, surplus military, kit cars, trailers, boats and jet skis all register the same way. If it has a VIN, a serial number, or a hull number, it can usually be done.
SurRons, Talarias, RZRs, Can-Ams, quads. Off-road registration, often permanent, and the plate arrives in the mail.
HMMWVs, M35s, LMTVs, Pinzgauers. Titled from the transfer paperwork you were handed at the auction.
Twenty-five year imports, Kei trucks and vans, JDM cars. Titled from the export certificate and your customs entry.
Replicas, sandrails, resto-mods, and one-off builds, titled from the MSO or a bill of sale.
Montana issues a real title in your LLC's name, a real registration, and a real plate that arrives in the mail. That is a legal registration, recognized as such, and thousands of vehicles go through it every year. Zero Tax Tags handles the filing end to end.
A Montana plate does not overrule your own state's equipment, lighting, inspection, or operating rules. Whether an HMMWV, a Kei truck, or a SurRon can legally be driven on your road is your state and your county's call. Zero Tax Tags will tell you where that line falls before you pay anything, and they would rather turn the work down than set you up to fail.
Check your own state, and talk to your own attorney. This site explains the process and Zero Tax Tags handles the Montana filings. Neither of us gives legal advice about your home state's road rules, and you should know what they are before you buy.
If yours isn't here, ask. A real person at Zero Tax Tags answers the phone during business hours, Mountain time.
Usually, yes. Montana issues titles from the ownership document you actually have, and for surplus military that is normally the SF 97 you were handed at the auction. Send Zero Tax Tags a photo of what you were given and they will tell you, before you pay anything, whether it qualifies.
No, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something. A Montana title and plate make the vehicle legally titled and registered. Whether you can drive it on a public road at home still depends on your state and county's equipment, lighting, and inspection rules, and those do not change. Zero Tax Tags will be straight with you about where that line falls for your vehicle.
Yes. Montana registers them as off-road vehicles, which gets you a title and a plate and gives the machine a real registered identity instead of a receipt in a drawer. It is not a street legal ruling for your state, and nobody here is going to pretend it is.
Montana titles and registers Kei trucks and vans the same as any other import, off the Japanese export certificate and your customs entry. Road use is the part that varies. Several states have gone back and forth on Kei trucks on public roads, so check where you live before you commit to a purchase.
No. You never set foot in the state. Everything is signed electronically or mailed. Zero Tax Tags is your registered agent, so their Whitefish office is the LLC's Montana address.
Absolutely. You receive an operating agreement that documents your complete ownership of the company. Zero Tax Tags files it as a manager-managed LLC with privacy in mind, which keeps your personal information off the public record. They are the registered agent, nothing more, and if you ever want to move on, the LLC goes with you.
There is a state filing fee, a registration and title fee that varies by vehicle age and weight, and Zero Tax Tags' service fee. Tell them the vehicle and you get the full number in writing before you pay anything. No surprise line items.
The LLC is usually filed within a day or two, and once it exists Zero Tax Tags can issue a temp tag that has you legally registered in about a day. Permanent plates depend on how fast they get your paperwork and how the county is running, but most people have them in hand in about two weeks.
Coverage is available to owners in all fifty states through most major carriers, and Zero Tax Tags will point you toward the ones that have taken good care of their clients. Unusual vehicles take a little more shopping. They are not insurance experts, but they will help you get it sorted.
Tell us what you've got and what paperwork came with it. A registration expert at Zero Tax Tags will come back with a straight answer: whether it works, what it costs, and how long it takes. No cost, no obligation.