June 13, 2023- Governor Greg Abbott has signed into law HB718, authored by Rep. Craig Goldman, this Bill prevents the use of paper license tags in hopes of preventing illegal counterfeits from coming to the state and creating ‘Ghost Cars’.
Ghost Cars are cars which have illegally acquired paper tags. These Ghost Cars become virtually untraceable with these tags.
With the signing of the Bill all paper tags throughout Texas must be replaced before the bill goes into effect on July 1st, 2025. The will go into effect in 2025 to allow the Texas Department Of Motor Vehicles and dealerships to replace all previous paper tags.
Under the new law:
- Car dealers will be required to issue metal license plates, from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, when a vehicle is sold.
- At a cost of $10, metal license plates will be issued instead of the current paper one-trip and 30-day temporary permits.
- The new law also ensures dealers are able to obtain, in advance, a sufficient amount of plates in order to sell vehicles “without an unreasonable disruption of business due to the unavailability of license plates.”
- The TxDMV is tasked with establishing an expedited process, as well.
- The TxDMV has until Dec. 1, 2024 to come up with a rule to implement the change.
To read more about the paper tag ban Bill please read: Bill To Ban Paper License Tags Passes Texas House
