Starting July 1, Texas vehicle buyers will receive metal license plates at the point of purchase, replacing temporary paper tags. The move follows the scheduled enactment of House Bill 718 (HB 718), which was signed into law during the 88th Legislative Session in 2023.
For the typical consumer, the process of buying from a dealership will not change significantly. The prospective buyer simply hangs on to the plate receipt while waiting to receive a registration sticker. In the case of a trade-in, the dealer can reuse general issue plates on other vehicles within 10 days, if appropriate. Original owners of specialty plates may continue to use them.
License plate regulations for private sales remain unchanged. The seller removes the old plate and submits a Vehicle Transfer Notification, while the buyer registers the vehicle and obtains new plates within 30 days.
To the average resident of Texas, the cost of acquiring a tag and registration is under $100 per year. The enactment of HB 718 was not a case of a few people jumping fees, but instead a widespread and far-reaching scheme that officials say resulted in rampant fraud in the tens of millions of dollars.
Criminals were registering invalid dealership credentials with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV). Once violators had access to the TxDMV system, they could produce temporary tags.
In 2022, state officials estimate that there were over 2.1 million fraudulent tags in circulation.
With all those tags distributed, there were almost as many ways to misuse them. Drivers with unsafe, uninspected vehicles could continue to drive without paying for repairs or inspections. Drivers with suspended licenses also remained on the road. Rideshare or delivery drivers could continue to work with an ineligible vehicle.
Similarly, drivers with untraceable tags were able to bypass tolls without paying, and without being caught. Regional toll authorities reported millions of dollars lost to uncollectable tolls.
HB 718 created a process to end the sale and use of paper tags altogether, now taking the counterfeiters out of the equation. Over the last two months, dealers trained for the new system and have begun purchasing new metal license plates.
Image by Peter H from Pixabay
