Does Massachusetts have a real estate transfer tax?
Yes. Massachusetts calls it the deeds excise, and most people at a closing just call it “the stamps.” It is imposed by Massachusetts General Laws chapter 64D, section 1, on any deed or other writing that conveys real estate for more than $100.
The statute sets the rate at $2 for each $500 of consideration. A 14% surcharge added by St. 1969, c. 546, § 23 brings that to $2.28 per $500, which is the $4.56 per $1,000 every registry of deeds outside Barnstable County charges today. As a percentage, that is 0.456% of the price.
One detail sets Massachusetts apart from most states. The excise is figured on consideration “exclusive of the value of any lien or encumbrance remaining thereon at the time of sale.” A mortgage the buyer takes over is not taxed. A loan you pay off at closing is, because it doesn’t remain on the property.
How the deeds excise is calculated
Start with the sale price, subtract any lien that stays on the property, and round the result up to the next $500. Then multiply by $2.28 for each $500, or $4.56 for each $1,000. The registries say the same thing in plainer words: round up to the next $500 increment, then apply the rate.
There are no tiers, no mansion surcharge and no separate commercial rate. A 6-unit building and a 200-unit complex pay the same 0.456%. That makes Massachusetts easier to model than New York or Connecticut, where the rate climbs with price or property type.
- Statewide (all counties except Barnstable): $2.28 per $500, or 0.456%.
- Barnstable County, state share: $1.71 per $500, or $3.42 per $1,000.
- Barnstable County, county excise: $3.06 per $1,000.
- Barnstable County, total: $6.48 per $1,000, or 0.648%.
Who pays the transfer tax in Massachusetts?
The seller, almost always. DOR’s enforcement directive describes the excise as self-assessed and paid by the person who makes or signs the deed, which is the grantor. The Dukes County registry puts it simply: by custom the seller pays the deeds excise. Signing and delivering a deed without the required stamps can draw a penalty under chapter 64D, section 6A.
A purchase and sale agreement can shift the cost, and on commercial deals it sometimes becomes a negotiating chip. Unless your contract says otherwise, plan on it coming out of your proceeds.
The excise is paid when the deed is recorded at the registry of deeds for the county or district where the property sits. Your closing attorney collects it from the seller’s proceeds and pays it with the recording, so it shows up as a line on the settlement statement rather than a separate return you file.
Barnstable County and the islands: the local add-ons
Cape Cod has its own structure. The state share in Barnstable County is lower, $1.71 per $500 with the surcharge, but the county adds its own excise of $3.06 per $1,000 under County Ordinance 16-05, effective July 1, 2016. The registry multiplies the consideration by 0.00648, so the total on the Cape is higher than anywhere else in the state.
Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard add a different cost, and it lands on the buyer. Both island land banks charge a fee of 2% of the purchase price on transfers of real estate. The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank regulations make the purchaser personally liable for the fee and say that an agreement with the seller doesn’t change that. Exemptions exist, but they are aimed mainly at first-time and affordable home purchases.
If you sell on an island, the buyer’s 2% still matters to you. A buyer underwriting a $2,000,000 building there sets aside $40,000 for the land bank fee, and that money is not available for the price.
Exemptions and entity transfers
Massachusetts taxes deeds, not ownership interests. There is no controlling-interest transfer tax like the ones in New York, New Jersey or Pennsylvania. If the building sits in an LLC and the buyer purchases the membership interests, no deed is recorded and the deeds excise doesn’t apply. Buyers and their lenders often still prefer a deed transfer, so treat this as a structure to discuss rather than a default.
Because the excise only reaches consideration above $100, a deed with no real consideration pays nothing. That covers most moves into or out of an LLC you control, gifts and estate transfers where no money changes hands. If the new entity assumes or pays a mortgage, the treatment can change, so have your closing attorney confirm the figure before you record.
Chapter 64D also exempts instruments that secure a debt, such as mortgages, and deeds where the Commonwealth, a Massachusetts city or town, or the United States is a party.
A 1031 exchange does not exempt you. Selling the relinquished building is a taxable deed like any other, and the excise is paid at that closing. It is a closing cost, so it reduces the amount realized on the sale rather than counting as a deduction.
Worked example: transfer tax on a $2M and $5M Massachusetts apartment sale
Take a 16-unit building in Worcester sold for $2,000,000 with the seller’s loan paid off at closing. The excise is $2,000,000 × 0.00456 = $9,120, paid by the seller.
The same building on Cape Cod, in Hyannis, pays the Barnstable rates: $6,840 of state excise plus $6,120 of county excise, for $12,960. If it sat on Nantucket instead, the seller would pay the $9,120 statewide excise and the buyer would owe $40,000 to the land bank.
At $5,000,000, the statewide excise is $22,800 and the Barnstable total is $32,400. Now suppose the buyer of the $5,000,000 building assumes a $3,000,000 loan that stays on the property. Taxable consideration drops to $2,000,000 and the excise to $9,120, a saving of $13,680. Assumptions take lender consent and time, but on a large building the stamp saving is real.
| Sale | State excise | County excise | Total stamps |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2M, outside Barnstable County | $9,120 | $0 | $9,120 |
| $2M, Barnstable County | $6,840 | $6,120 | $12,960 |
| $5M, outside Barnstable County | $22,800 | $0 | $22,800 |
| $5M, Barnstable County | $17,100 | $15,300 | $32,400 |
| $5M with $3M loan assumed (taxed on $2M) | $9,120 | $0 | $9,120 |
Massachusetts transfer tax compared with neighboring states
Massachusetts sits in the middle of New England. New Hampshire is the expensive neighbor: its $0.75 per $100 rate is charged to both the buyer and the seller under RSA 78-B:4, so the combined cost is 1.5% of the price. Rhode Island’s base rate is now $3.75 per $500, or 0.75%, with a second layer on residential consideration over $800,000.
New York’s state rate, $2 per $500 or 0.4%, is close to the Massachusetts figure, though New York City adds its own taxes and a supplemental state rate on larger deals. If you are exchanging out of Massachusetts into one of these states, the next sale’s transfer tax belongs in your hold-period math.
| State | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | $4.56 per $1,000 (0.456%) | $6.48 per $1,000 in Barnstable County |
| New Hampshire | $0.75 per $100 (0.75%) from each side | 1.5% combined, buyer and seller |
| Rhode Island | $3.75 per $500 (0.75%) | Extra tax on residential consideration over $800,000 |
| New York (state) | $2 per $500 (0.4%) | Supplemental rate in New York City |
Where the excise fits in your total selling costs
On a typical Massachusetts apartment sale, the stamps are one of the smaller lines. Federal capital gains tax, the 25% maximum rate on unrecaptured depreciation, and Massachusetts income tax on the gain usually run many times the excise. Massachusetts also adds a 4% surtax on income above roughly $1 million, which a single large sale can trigger.
A 1031 exchange can defer the income taxes, but not the excise. That is why the excise is worth knowing exactly: it is a fixed, unavoidable cost of the deed, while the income taxes are the place to plan.
Two habits help. Ask your closing attorney for a draft settlement statement early, with the excise, any payoff and recording fees shown. And if a loan assumption is on the table, run the excise both ways, because the statute rewards a lien that stays.
Is Massachusetts adding a local transfer tax?
Not yet. Boston and several other communities have asked the legislature for a local-option fee on high-value sales, and the idea came close in 2024. Both the House and the Senate left it out of the Affordable Homes Act, and the bill became law without it. Advocates have kept pitching the idea since.
For a 2026 sale, the rates on this page are the ones that apply. If a local fee ever passes, it would likely come with a threshold and a start date, so a building under contract would usually have time to close under the current rules.
Selling your Massachusetts apartment building to Skyline
Skyline Capital Investments buys apartment buildings with five or more units across Massachusetts, from Springfield and Worcester to the North Shore and Cape Cod. We buy directly, can offer seller-carry terms, and can work inside a 1031 timeline if you are exchanging.
Send us the address and unit count through the form on this page, or call (469) 660-2977. We typically respond within 48 hours. We’ll show you how the deeds excise and other closing costs affect your net, line by line, so your proceeds are clear before you sign.
