Who pays the transfer tax, by state

Real estate transfer tax — also called deed tax, conveyance tax, documentary stamp tax, or excise tax — is a one-time tax charged when a property's deed is recorded. It's the most location-dependent closing cost in the country, ranging from $0 to several percent of the sale price. Just as important as the rate is the question buyers and sellers both ask: who actually pays it? The answer is governed by local custom and the purchase contract, not by any national rule.

The three customs: seller, split, or buyer

Across the states, the default responsibility falls into three patterns:

• Seller pays — the most common arrangement. The seller absorbs the transfer tax out of their proceeds. California (state portion), Florida, Michigan, and many others follow this custom.
• Split between buyer and seller — several states divide the tax, sometimes evenly, sometimes by a statutory formula. Our estimator counts only the buyer's share so your cash-to-close isn't overstated.
• Buyer pays — a minority of states put the base transfer tax on the buyer. Even where the base tax is seller-paid, a mansion tax surcharge is typically the buyer's responsibility.

Because these are customs, not laws, the contract can reassign them — which is why “who pays” is a negotiating point, not a fixed fact.

States with no transfer tax

In a number of states, the question simply doesn't arise for the state tax, because there isn't one. States with no real-estate transfer tax include Texas, Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and Louisiana statewide. (Local recording fees still apply everywhere — they're just small, fixed amounts rather than a percentage of price.) For these states, transfer tax drops out of both the buyer's and seller's closing math entirely.

Why it's negotiable — and why that matters

The state custom is a default, not a requirement. The purchase contract assigns the transfer tax however the parties agree, so market conditions drive who ends up paying:

• In a buyer's market, a buyer can ask the seller to cover the transfer tax (or fold it into a broader seller concession).
• In a seller's market, sellers may push a customarily seller-paid tax onto the buyer to net more.

On a $700,000 home in a 1% transfer-tax state, that's $7,000 changing hands depending on who's named in the contract — well worth negotiating deliberately rather than defaulting to custom.

The mansion-tax wrinkle

Some high-value sales carry an extra surcharge — a mansion tax — on top of the base transfer tax. New York applies one statewide starting at $1 million, stepping up at higher prices. Los Angeles's Measure ULA adds a transfer-tax surcharge on sales above set thresholds, and several other cities (New York City, San Francisco) stack their own city transfer taxes on top of the state's. Mansion taxes are almost always the buyer's responsibility, even where the base transfer tax is seller-paid — an important detail for luxury buyers to price in.

Confirm your state — and your county

Because the rate and the “who pays” custom both vary so much, the only safe move is to look up your specific state (and county or city, where a local tax stacks on). Pick yours below to see the rate, the customary payer, the statute, and what it costs on your price:

How it fits your closing

Transfer tax is just one line in the larger bill. To see it alongside title, recording, lender fees and prepaids — with the buyer's share calculated for your state — run the closing cost calculator. Selling instead? The seller net proceeds calculator subtracts the seller-borne portion from your proceeds. For the mechanics of how the tax itself is charged, read what is real estate transfer tax, or browse transfer tax by state.