Real Estate Transfer Tax Calculator by State

A residential sale at $999,999 owes $0 in mansion tax. The identical property sold for exactly $1,000,000 owes $10,000 — 1% of the full price, not just the amount above the threshold. This is a real, notorious cliff in New York's tax code, and it's why negotiating a purchase price to land just under a round-number threshold can produce meaningful savings. The mansion tax is graduated further at higher price points, climbing toward 3.9% on the most expensive properties, and stacks on top of New York State's separate base transfer tax (0.4% on most transfers).

In New York City specifically, a third tax layer — the NYC Real Property Transfer Tax, tiered up to roughly 2.625% — applies on top of both state taxes. On a $5 million Manhattan condo, the combined state-level transfer tax burden alone can exceed $100,000, before any NYC-specific tax or recording fees.

Sale price	NY Mansion Tax
$999,999	$0
$1,000,000	$10,000 (1%)
$5,000,000	$112,500 (2.25% tier)

Who actually pays isn't always what you'd assume

Transfer tax responsibility is often set by local custom rather than uniform law, and it can genuinely surprise people relocating between markets. New York's mansion tax is buyer-paid by statute — and critically, the obligation follows the buyer even if a contract tries to shift it to the seller; if the seller fails to pay, the buyer is still on the hook. In most of Florida, the seller customarily pays the documentary stamp tax — except in Miami-Dade County specifically, where local custom flips it onto the buyer instead, the opposite of the rest of the state.

Other notable outliers

• Delaware has the highest flat state rate at 2.5%.
• Washington State uses a graduated rate that can reach 3% on the highest tiers.
• Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, and South Dakota sit at the low end, around 0.1%.
• Tennessee actually charges two separate taxes at closing: a realty transfer tax on the sale price, and a separate mortgage indebtedness tax on the loan amount (with the first $2,000 of the loan exempt) — both customarily paid by the buyer.

One reassuring note: unlike some countries, the US does not add a foreign-buyer surcharge at the state transfer tax level — a nonresident buyer pays exactly the same rate as a resident buying an identical property in the same location.

The 16 no-tax states, Delaware's and Washington's rates, and New York's mansion tax structure (including the exact $1M cliff mechanic) verified across multiple independent 2026 real estate tax guides showing consistent detail. The Miami-Dade custom and Tennessee's two-tax structure verified against a detailed specialist source. This is a planning estimate — county, municipal, and recording fees are not included; confirm your total closing costs with a local title company or attorney.