Texas waves goodbye to paper tags, readies for new system July 1 – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Jul 01, 2025

On July 1, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles will no longer issue temporary paper tags.

That move follows a change in state law that came in the aftermath of a months-long NBC 5 investigation that exposed how crooks made millions selling fraudulent paper tags.

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Texas car buyers will now typically roll off the dealer's lot with a regular metal license plate instead of a temporary printed paper one.

“This is a huge change. We've been dealing with paper tags or some form of paper tags for the entire time I've been in the car business, which goes back to the 80s,” said DFW car dealer Don Herring, who chairs the North Texas Automobile Dealers Association board.

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Herring said dealers have been training and preparing for months to begin using the Texas DMV’s webDEALER system to issue metal tags and register them directly to car buyers. When that change goes live, it's expected to put more stress on the DMV’s system.

“So they're going to see more traffic than they've ever seen before,” said Herring.

Car dealers point out the change is also scheduled for just ahead of July 4, typically a busy time of year for car sales. Herring said he is “not as confident as the DMV” that the new system will be ready to handle the volume on the first day.

The DMV acknowledged that some issues are possible, saying: "Given the complexity of the process changes, unique operational challenges may emerge following implementation. However, the processes and systems have been designed with flexibility, allowing the department to quickly and efficiently address any challenges as they arise."

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If there were a system glitch, it doesn't mean dealers wouldn't be able to sell cars or hand out plates. In fact, dealers could still put the plates on your new car and give you what's called an internet down form. You can keep the form in your car and show it to law enforcement, if needed, to verify that the dealer is still in the process of registering your new plate.

Dealers will also have new purple striped metal plates, which they can temporarily put on a car if a car buyer wants one of the state's many specialty plates, but the dealer doesn't have that type of plate in stock.

“I expect dealers to have hiccups, and I expect that we will do whatever we can to keep those hiccups from impacting our buyers, our customers,” said Herring.

Meanwhile, dealers are also navigating last-minute tweaks to the new law, HB 718. Less than two weeks ago, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 1902, which includes changes affecting anyone trading a car at a dealership or selling a car directly to another individual.

In most cases, if you trade a vehicle at a dealership, your old metal license plates will stay with you. A dealer can take the plates off your trade-in vehicle and register them to your new car. If not, the dealer could also re-register them to another similar-type vehicle sold from their inventory within ten days.

If you sell your car directly to another person, you also can keep your plates and transfer them to your new vehicle.

“The plate staying with the person makes sense from law enforcement, from NTTA, from the car dealers, from everybody's standpoint,” said Herring.

For the registration sticker on your windshield, some dealers will be able to provide it to you when you buy a car. If not, the dealer can work with the local tax office to get the sticker for you.

The last of the Texas paper tags on the road will expire 60 days after July 1, and then things should get easier for police, who have for years dealt with a flurry of fake tags. Those fraudulent tags make it harder for officers to know who is behind the wheel.

As an extensive NBC 5 investigation found, crooks even obtained Texas car dealer licenses to gain access to the TxDMV’s system and then made millions selling fraudulent tags. Those tags were often used to create “ghost cars” used to commit other serious crimes. The TxDMV has since enhanced security measures, including new background checks for dealers who can access the system.

Some law enforcement agencies tell NBC 5 Investigates they plan to increase enforcement to remove remaining paper tags from the streets once the last of the paper tags has expired.

If you experience issues with the new plate process, please let NBC 5 Investigates know about it. You can send us an email at investigate@nbcdfw.com