Real estate transfer tax in Arizona: none, plus a $2 fee

Does Arizona have a transfer tax?

No percentage tax is levied on the price of a home. What Arizona does require is a form and a small fee.

The constitutional rule is short. The state, any county, city, town or other political subdivision, and any district with taxing authority, “shall not impose any new tax, fee, stamp requirement or other assessment, direct or indirect” on selling, buying, transferring or otherwise conveying an interest in real property. The section does not reach charges that already existed on December 31, 2007 (Ariz. Const. art. 9, § 24).

That rule covers Phoenix and Maricopa County too. A city cannot add a transfer tax of its own after 2007, so what you pay on a Phoenix sale is the same recording-level charge as anywhere else in the state.

What do you pay instead?

Two things attach to a recorded sale.

Section 11-1132 says the recorder collects the $2 “before recording a deed or contract relating to the sale or transfer of real property”, and that the $2 “is included in the amount charged” under § 11-475(A). So the fee does not add to the $30.

Recording a typical purchase involves more than one instrument, usually the deed and, with a loan, the deed of trust. The $30 applies per instrument, so check your closing statement for the exact recorder charges. The Maricopa County Recorder’s current fee page was not available to us, so we rely on the statute here.

What is the affidavit of legal value?

Every deed that transfers title, and every contract of sale, must have an affidavit attached when it is recorded. The seller and buyer, or an agent of either, jointly certify the facts on a form approved by the Arizona Department of Revenue (A.R.S. § 11-1133). Among other things, it lists:

• the names and addresses of buyer and seller, and where to send the tax statement;
• the legal description, the street address and the assessor’s parcel number;
• the date of sale and the total consideration paid, the cash down payment and the type of financing;
• whether personal property worth 5% or more of the price changed hands;
• whether a residence will be owner-occupied or rented.

“Value” for this purpose means the full actual consideration, including the amount of any lien. For a gift or a nominal-price deed, it means the estimated open-market price (§ 11-1131).

The county recorder must refuse to record a deed or sale contract if a complete affidavit is not attached, unless the instrument notes an exemption (§ 11-1133(C)). The affidavit is complete when every item is filled in or marked “not applicable.”

Which transfers are exempt?

Section 11-1134 lists transfers that need neither the affidavit nor the fee. The instrument must name the exemption on its face. Examples for home owners:

• a deed of gift, or a quitclaim deed with no monetary consideration;
• a transfer solely to provide or release security for a debt, including a trustee’s deed under a deed of trust;
• a deed that confirms or corrects a deed already recorded;
• a transfer of residential property for nominal consideration between spouses or an ancestor of either spouse, parent and child, grandparent and grandchild, or siblings;
• a transfer to create joint tenancy with right of survivorship, or community property with right of survivorship, between spouses;
• a conveyance made under a court order, and transfers on partition or for delinquent taxes;
• a transfer under a beneficiary deed with only nominal consideration.

Example: a $400,000 sale in Phoenix

This is an example, not a quote. A buyer purchases a Phoenix home for $400,000.

On a $400,000 sale, a percentage tax of even 1% would be $4,000. In Arizona, the price does not change the transfer charge. For the other costs of closing, see closing costs in Arizona. Property tax, the large ongoing cost, is covered in Arizona property tax. The Phoenix guide puts both in local context.