united-states motor-vehicle license-plates
Can I sell my license plate tabs to someone else if I no longer need them?
<p>I just moved from one state to a bordering state. I had bought license plate tabs for 2020 in the original state. I had yet to apply the tabs to my original state plates, so they are unused. I just received a new license, plates, title and registration in the new state, and, thus, obtained new 2020 license plate tabs for the new state.</p>
<p>My friend from the original state wants to buy my original state license plate tabs to use on their plate.</p>
<p>I understand that this may be illegal due to the tabs being registered to my vehicle; but, feasibly, how much trouble could this cause my friend if he were to buy my tabs off of me? I imagine the tabs are not highly regulated and the officer would not check the tab numbers to assure registration with the applied vehicle.</p>

<p>Your friend can get into a lot of trouble for this. Those stickers were given to you for renewing your registration. The stickers are meant to be a quick way for police to tell whether your license plates are still valid, but applying them does not make the plates valid - they are only stickers that have no legal meaning as standalone devices. You still need the registration renewal recorded in the state's system <em>for your particular license plate</em>, which can only be done by going and renewing the registration at the DMV, not by buying stickers.</p>

<p>Without the stickers, your friend would only be guilty of driving with an expired registration and subject to relevant punishments for that. However, with stickers purchased from someone else, he is also adding an additional gross misdemeanor in Minnesota for <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/168.35" rel="noreferrer">intent to escape tax</a>, which can additionally include up to a year in jail and a $3,000 fine on top of the usual $115 fine for the expired registration.</p>

<p>It's tough to answer this question without knowing the state but in general:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>You</strong> would be committing a crime</li>
<li><strong>Your friend</strong> would be committing a crime</li>
<li>The deception would be discovered the first time any LEO ran your friend's tags, even for a parking ticket. License plate stickers on a car with expired registration will get a cop's attention <em>fast</em>.</li>
</ul>
