e-Tag FAQs

Improved officer safety and homeland security are among the many justifications for the new Dealer e-Tags. They will also help crackdown on the counterfeiting and unauthorized use of temporary tags.

Dealer e-Tags are a part of the first module of the new web-based Vision-21 system TxDOT is implementing. It includes a 21st-century computer system that will offer customers and stakeholders more web-based applications.

Dealer e-Tags, Plate-to-Owner tracking, Vehicle Transfer Notifications and Vehicle Transit Permits are the first of those applications. By this summer, dealers and converters will issue Dealer e-Tags as well as give the department notice of transfers of vehicles taken in trade and notify the department when plates are removed from vehicles in accordance with the new Plate to Owner law.

A dealer can access the Dealer e-Tag application on the Internet with a password and username. The dealer's license is first verified as being current and legitimate. This is to prevent any non-licensees from getting access to the system. If the dealer wishes to issue a buyer’s tag, information is put into the system about the vehicle and the buyer. The system then assigns a vehicle-specific number to the transaction that is unique to that vehicle and buyer. The number is then inserted into a buyer’s tag image that is displayed to the dealer. The dealer has the option of printing out the tag image for use on the vehicle or issuing a cardboard tag with the number inserted into a blank format of the tag.

The system also issues dealer and converter tags. If a dealer wishes to issue a dealer tag, he will put in information about the vehicle to issue a vehicle-specific tag or about the agent to whom he wishes to issue the tag. The dealer tag will have an expiration date. The dealer can choose an expiration date of up to 60 days.

Under the law, any dealer applying for a license after May 1, 2008 must have Internet access at their place of business. They must also have a printer as one of the requirements to get a license. As long as the dealer is licensed and has a username and password, they can access the Dealer e-Tag application.

You can receive your login information by e-mail. Include your license number ('P' number) and send your request to MVD_OnlineSupport@dot.state.tx.us

Visit the database at this URL: https://vision21.txdot.gov/login/login.aspx

No, all tags are black and white. Law enforcement does not need colors if they have a vehicle or agent specific number and we did not want to require color printers of dealers if they wanted to print out the tags.

Yes, both the buyer (red and blue) and dealer (black) tags and converter (orange) tags are now electronic and the vehicle-specific numbers are available for these tags through the Dealer e-Tag application.

Only current, licensed dealers and auctions can access the Dealer e-Tag application. Unless a dealer is careless with his username and password, no unlicensed entities will be able to obtain a system generated number.

Yes, there can be multiple user accounts established. The system or dealer administrator will have the ability to establish, delete, change and reset usernames and passwords.

No, the law only requires that a dealer have 24 hour-Internet access at their business address. How you get that Internet access is up to you. You could access the Internet through a television, however, TxDOT recommends a dealer have a computer and printer because of efficiency. New dealers licensed after May 1, 2008 will be required to have a computer and printer.

The dealer will access the Dealer e-Tag application and obtain a vehicle-specific number each time they need to issue either a buyer tag or a dealer tag. They will input information on the buyer and the vehicle and the application will then display the vehicle-specific number on an image of a tag illustrating what the tag should look like. The dealer has certain options of how to issue that tag:

1. The dealer can copy the information from the image shown onto a blank preprinted format on a 6” x 11” piece of cardboard as is currently done and placing the tag in a sealed poly bag;
2. The image may be printed out directly on cardboard and placed in a sealed poly bag;
3. The image may be printed out on paper and taped or glued completely to a 6” x 11” piece of cardboard and placed in a sealed poly bag;
4. The image can be printed out on a label and affixed to a 6” x 11” piece of cardboard and placed in a sealed poly bag.
5. The image can be printed out on paper and placed in a sealed poly bag with a 6” x 11” piece of cardboard behind the paper tag.

Cardboard is defined as a minimum of 65# card cover stock or higher. This weight will go through a printer. Poly bags must be at least 2 mil in thickness. Motorcycle tags (4”x7”) have the same requirements and the bags should be at least 4.25 x 7.25 to accommodate the tags.

If you have a large stock of the old style tags, keep them and use them as backings for the new tag. If you tape the paper tag to a cardboard backing or use a label, there is no reason you cannot use the old tag as the cardboard backing.

No, the tag is no longer allowed in the rear window due to limited visibility through tinted windows. All tags need to be in the rear license plate holder.

A temp tag will be placed on all (new, used and trailers) vehicles sold, even if the buyer wants to put their old plates on the “new” vehicle they buy. The old plates cannot be placed on that vehicle, however, until the title transaction is processed by the county tax office. As a service to the customer, the temporary tag may be placed over the metal plate so the buyer can remove the tag easily once they receive their registration sticker from the dealer.

Yes, there will be ability to void a tag, but there can never be more than one tag issued for the same VIN and same buyer at one time whether it is a dealer tag or buyer tag.

Yes, if a mistake was made, you will have the ability to void and reissue the tag or reprint the same tag.

No, the rules and requirements as to what and how the tags are used are the same.

No, just like now, you have a salesman’s tag that is issued to a particular salesperson, with the Dealer e-Tags you can issue an agent’s tag to a particular agent to be used by that person on whatever vehicle they drive for you. The dealer is still responsible for that agent’s tag and can void it at any time.

By rule dealer tags are good for a maximum of 60 days. A dealer can set any number of days a dealer tag is good for up to the maximum. There is no limit on the number of dealer tags a dealer can issue to an agent or a vehicle, but only one dealer tag to a single VIN at a time.

When sending a vehicle to the auction, a dealer may issue a vehicle-specific dealer tag for that specific vehicle that will be driven to the auction to be sold. If the vehicle is not sold, it can be brought back to the lot on that same tag. If the vehicle is sold, then the buying dealer will put his dealer tag on the vehicle.

If a dealer is buying vehicles from an auction, he should take agent specific tags with him to the auction to put on the vehicles he buys to be transported back to his lot. If he buys through an online auction, he can fax his agent specific tags to the transport company for mounting on the vehicle if it is driven back to the dealer lot.

The cost of labels, poly bags and cardboard blanks are up to the dealer depending on what system he decides to use. All these items can be bought on the Internet for pennies per piece. A pre-printed form from a printer to fill in will probably cost dealers the same as they are paying now, anywhere from $.75 to $1.50.

The law allows the dealer to collect a $5.00 registration fee from each buyer that is issued a buyer tag (red tag). This fee will be paid to the county at the time the title and registration is filed just like the TT&L. The buyer tag is the only tag this fee is charged for and there is no fee for the dealer tag or any other tag. This fee is also collected for out of state transactions.

For out-of-state or out-of-country purchases (not to be titled in Texas), the $5 Buyer Tag fee should be collected by the dealer and submitted to the tax office for processing. The dealer will need to provide the county the Buyer Tag-Specific Number and the Customer Name for each Buyer Tag issued to a vehicle going out-of-state or out-of-country. The tax office will collect this fee in the RTS Additional Collections event and provide the dealer with a receipt.

No, the records are kept on the database for you. The only record you will keep is the temporary log you must keep of any Internet down and emergency tags you issue. This record must be kept until you enter the information into the Dealer e-Tag application.

No, only state agency personnel will have access to records. Licensees can only view their own entries into the database. Only dealership personnel to whom you have given a username and password will be able to access your records.

Once the system is fully functional the system it is not expected go down often as there will be a redundancy built in that will automatically pickup when the system is down for maintenance, etc.

If you are having problems locally with Internet access, the law provides for you to acquire vehicle-specific numbers in advance for such 24 hour instances and for longer emergencies. This will be covered in more detail in the on-line tutorial.

We do not anticipate providing forms in Spanish at this time.

Training for dealers and converters will be in the form of an online tutorial in the Dealer e-Tag application.

For technical problems such as problems logging in or problems with the functions of the system, call 512-302-2020. If you have questions about the temp tag law or wish to clarify the rules or requirements, call 1-800-687-7846. Also, some third party vendors are holding seminars in various cities on the system with MVD personnel as trainers.