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Transfer tax as a price record beyond Florida

Florida's documentary stamp tax reads straight off the consideration, so the stamps on a Florida deed back into the price. Other states tax a deed too, and the rule they use is not the same from one to the next. This page says what the tax is computed on in the states where a statute has been found, and nothing about the rest. It is not legal advice, and it names no state as having no tax, because an empty space on the map is a section not yet found, not a state proven to have none.

Where the tax reads off the price

Florida is the reference point. Its documentary stamp tax is figured on the consideration for the transfer, 70 cents on each $100 or fraction in every county except Miami-Dade.

The same instinct, consideration or price paid, runs through a large group of other states. Arkansas taxes solely the consideration given for the realty. Ark. Code 26-60-105(c)1. Colorado's documentary fee is measured by the total consideration paid. Iowa defines consideration as the full actual sale price. Oklahoma, Rhode Island and New Hampshire each tax on the consideration or price for the interest conveyed. Georgia and Massachusetts tax on the consideration too, each with the liens carved out that section three takes up.

A handful write it the other way around and arrive at roughly the same place. Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska and Wisconsin each tax 'value', then define value, for a deed that is a sale, as the full actual consideration for the real property. 35 ILCS 200/31-52 uses those words for Illinois. Vermont also taxes value and defines it as the full actual consideration, though it folds in liens that existed before the transfer and were not removed. 32 V.S.A. 9601(6)(A)(i)3. A statute that taxes value is not always taxing something other than the price. Read its definition before you assume it is.

Washington is its own creature, taxing the selling price in tiers that run from 1.1 percent up to three percent above three million dollars, with the thresholds adjusted every fourth year. RCW 82.45.060(1)(b)4. For a reader backing into a number, the tier matters as much as the rate.

A map of the United States grouping states by what their deed transfer tax is computed on. Price or consideration: Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin. Value of the property: Alabama, Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia. Consideration or value, whichever is greater: Tennessee, Virginia. A local option left to counties or cities: California, Ohio. Florida is highlighted as the reference point, taxing consideration. States not listed are not shown because no section was found for them.

Florida and the larger group tax the price. A smaller group taxes value, and two take whichever of price or value is greater. Virginia defines value as the assessment, which is why it sits apart.

Where it reads off value, not price

A second group taxes the value of the property conveyed, which on a true sale tends to track the price but need not.

Delaware taxes the value of the property represented by the document. 30 Del. C. 5402(a)5. Pennsylvania, South Dakota, West Virginia, Nevada and South Carolina each tax value rather than consideration by name. Nevada computes the tax on the declared value of the property. NRS 375.020(2)6.

Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina sit between the two. Each taxes on consideration or value, and Tennessee and Virginia take whichever is greater. Tenn. Code 67-4-409(a)(1)(A)7. Virginia is the one that will surprise a reader, because it defines value as the most recent property tax assessment. Va. Code 58.1-801(A)8. A Virginia stamp can reflect the assessor's number from a prior year, not the check that changed hands.

Alabama leaves the choice to the probate judge. The judge figures the tax from the actual purchase price or value, and if no proof is given when the deed is presented, falls back to the latest assessment. Ala. Code 40-22-1(d)9. No proof, no price in the record.

What the mortgage does to the number

The same price can produce two different taxed amounts depending on whether the statute counts the . This is the part that quietly ruins an estimate.

In one group the consideration includes liens on the property, or liens the buyer assumes. Colorado's base is the total consideration inclusive of any . Iowa counts an if the assumes it. Kentucky, Nebraska, Vermont, Wisconsin, Rhode Island and Maryland each fold assumed debt into the base. New York's definition goes furthest: consideration includes any mortgage or lien, assumed or not. Tax Law 1401(d)10.

In another group a lien that stays on the property is left out, so the taxed amount can sit well below the price. California excludes the value of a lien or encumbrance remaining at the time of sale. Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code 11911. Georgia excludes a lien existing before the sale and not removed by it. O.C.G.A. 48-6-111. Massachusetts excludes a lien or encumbrance remaining at the time of the sale. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 64D, 112. Minnesota taxes net consideration, reduced by any lien that attached before the sale and was not satisfied by it. Illinois drops the outstanding mortgage from the base when the deed says the transfer is subject to it. 35 ILCS 200/31-1013.

So a Massachusetts deed on a house bought for one price, with most of it financed, carries an excise computed on a smaller number than its California counterpart might. The rate is the easy part. The base is where the reading goes wrong.

Where the number shows on the deed itself

Several states put the tax, or the price it was figured on, on the face of the recorded instrument, which is exactly where a later reader wants it.

Iowa prints the amount received on the face of the document. Iowa Code 428A.514. Nebraska evidences the tax by stamps attached to the deed, and Oklahoma affixes stamps to the deed before it is accepted for recording. In Kentucky the county clerk certifies on the deed the date of payment and the amount collected. KRS 142.050(4)15. Georgia's clerk enters on the deed a certificate of the tax paid, showing the date and the amount, then records it alongside the deed. Wisconsin enters the fee on the face of the before recording.

Tennessee goes one step further. The grantee swears the actual consideration or value, whichever is greater, on the face of the instrument, in the 's presence or before an officer authorized to administer oaths. Tenn. Code 67-4-409(a)(1)(F). A sworn figure on the deed is a stronger record than a tax amount a reader has to divide back out. For the general case, see doc stamps give the real price.

Who signs and who pays varies. Kentucky and Ohio impose it on the , and North Carolina on the transferor. Tennessee and Vermont put it on the buyer. Nevada makes buyer and seller jointly and severally liable, though they may agree between them who pays. NRS 375.03016. Washington's statute makes the tax the obligation of the seller but is silent on several of the states just listed, so this page does not guess who pays in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois or Massachusetts.

New York's two taxes on one deed

New York City carries two transfer taxes, the State's and the City's, and the City's is the one actually called the Real Property Transfer Tax.

The State's real estate transfer tax applies to each conveyance over $500, at $2 per $500 of consideration. Tax Law 1402(a)17. An additional one percent, paid by the grantee, falls on residential property conveyed for a million dollars or more. Tax Law 1402-a18. In a city of a million or more people, a further $1.25 per $500 applies to residential conveyances of three million or more and other conveyances of two million or more. For a one, two or three-family house, a residential condominium, or any conveyance under $500,000, a lien remaining on the property is excluded from consideration. Tax Law 1402(a).

The City's own tax, under the chapter headed Real Property Transfer Tax, applies to each deed where consideration exceeds $25,000. N.Y.C. Admin. Code 11-2102(a)19. Its rates run one percent for small residential at $500,000 or less and 1.425 percent above that, and 1.425 and 2.625 percent for other property. The City also taxes transfers of an economic interest in real property, which reaches cooperative apartment shares that no deed records. For a residential house, condo or co-op, the City excludes a mortgage that existed before the deed and remains after it, unless the transfer is to the lender.

Both sides file a joint return for every conveyance, taxed or not, other than certain easements or licenses to a public utility, and it goes in before the deed can be recorded; in the city the recording officer is the city register. Tax Law 140920. The State and the City may agree to one combined return. And a sale of a controlling interest, fifty percent or more, in an entity that owns real property is a conveyance too, taxed on the property's value apportioned to the share transferred. Tax Law 1401. Which New York conveyances are exempt is a longer list than this page settles.

What this cannot tell you

Even where a tax exists, the number can tell you nothing about a price, and this page cannot tell you which states have no tax at all.

A deed can be exempt. Georgia exempts deeds of gift. O.C.G.A. 48-6-2(a)21. Oklahoma exempts deeds between close relatives without actual consideration, and Kentucky exempts transfers between spouses. On an exempt deed there is no taxed figure to read. And where a gift is taxed rather than exempt, Kentucky and Nebraska tax it on market value, so the stamps show an estimate and not a price. Kentucky computes its tax on the value set forth in the deed, which is one more reason the figure can drift from what was paid.

Which states impose no transfer tax at all is a question this page will not answer. A blank state on the map is one whose statute has not been found here, not one shown to be free of tax. Proving a negative across fifty states is not something these sections can do, and guessing it would be worse than silence.

None of this is legal advice, and none of it reads a specific deed. What a page can do is narrower. For the states where a statute has been found, it can tell you whether the tax line is figured on the price, on value, or on an assessment. And it can tell you whether the mortgage is in the number or out of it. Which rule governs a particular deed, and what to make of it, is a question for counsel with the file in front of them. For the companion record that names the parties, see transfer declarations name both sides of a sale.

Sources

Every section named above, with how current the text we read was. Read any of them yourself.

  1. Ark. Code 26-60-105, Taxation § 26-60-105. Levy on deeds, instruments, and writings--Additional tax. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  2. 35 ILCS 200/31-5, Revenue § 200/31-5. Definitions. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  3. 32 V.S.A. 9601, Taxation and Finance, § 9601. Definitions. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  4. RCW 82.45.060, Tax on sale of property. (1) There is imposed an excise tax upon each sale of real property. (a) Through December 31, 20. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  5. 30 Del. C. 5402, State Taxes § 5402. Rate of tax;  when payable;  exception. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  6. NRS 375.020, Revenue and Taxation § 375.020. Imposition and rate of tax. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  7. Tenn. Code 67-4-409, Taxes and Licenses § 67-4-409. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  8. Va. Code 58.1-801, Taxation § 58.1-801. Deeds generally;  charter amendments. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  9. Ala. Code 40-22-1, Revenue and Taxation § 40-22-1 SECTION 40-22-1 DEEDS, BILLS OF SALE, ETC.. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  10. Tax Law 1401, Definitions. Current through January 01, 2026. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  11. O.C.G.A. 48-6-1, Revenue and Taxation § 48-6-1. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  12. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 64D, 1, Administration of the Government (Ch. 1-182) Ch. 64D, § 1. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  13. 35 ILCS 200/31-10, Revenue § 200/31-10. Imposition of tax. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  14. Iowa Code 428A.5, Financial Resources [Chs. 421-454] § 428A.5. Documentation of payment. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  15. KRS 142.050, Revenue and Taxation § 142.050.Real estate transfer tax; collection on recording; exemptions. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  16. NRS 375.030, Revenue and Taxation § 375.030. Payment of taxes, penalties and interest. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  17. Tax Law 1402, Imposition of tax. Current through January 01, 2026. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  18. Tax Law 1402-a, Additional tax. Current through January 01, 2026. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  19. N.Y.C. Admin. Code 11-2102, N.Y.C. Admin. Code 11-2102. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  20. Tax Law 1409, Returns. Current through January 01, 2026. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back
  21. O.C.G.A. 48-6-2, Revenue and Taxation § 48-6-2. Read the section, opens in a new tab Back