New Jersey transfer fee and mansion tax: rates and who pays

What is the Realty Transfer Fee?

The State imposes the Realty Transfer Fee (RTF) on the seller when a deed is recorded. It is calculated on the consideration stated in the deed, which is usually the sale price. The county recording officer collects it when the deed is recorded. Newark is in Essex County. The Division’s pages describe only this State fee; I found no separate county or city transfer tax in the official pages I read.

The fee rises in bands. The Division’s schedule for total consideration over $350,000 is, per $500 of consideration (as of October 2026):

At or below $350,000 total, a lower schedule applies: $2.00, $3.35 and $3.90 per $500 in the three bands up to $150,000, $200,000 and $350,000. The Division’s own example: a $325,000 deed with no exemption owes $1,910.

What changed on July 10, 2025?

Before that date, a separate 1% fee on sales above $1 million was owed by the buyer. P.L. 2025, c. 69, enacted June 30, 2025, turned it into the Graduated Percent Fee and moved the legal liability to the seller (Division memorandum of July 2, 2025). It applies to deeds submitted to the county recording officer on or after July 10, 2025.

The rate is a percentage of the total consideration, not just the part above each threshold:

The Division’s example: a $2.75 million deed owes 2.5% × $2,750,000 = $68,750 at recording, on top of the other seller fees. It covers Class 2 residential property, farms with a residential building, Class 4A commercial property and cooperative units of four families or less. The seller files Form RTF-1EE with the deed.

Because the whole price is taxed, the fee jumps at each threshold. At $2,000,000 the fee is $20,000; at $2,000,001 it is 2% of the total, or $40,000.02.

The Division’s FAQ page, last updated October 28, 2025, still describes the earlier buyer-paid 1% fee. The July 2025 memorandum and the Division’s current Realty Transfer Fee page, updated September 28, 2026, show the current rules. I found no further change on that page.

Worked examples

These are examples computed from the Division’s schedules above, not quotes. Exact amounts depend on the deed.

The Division’s 2026 residential statistics show Newark’s average residential sale price at about $551,500 across 970 sales, so the $550,000 row is close to a typical Newark sale. For other ways Newark sellers and buyers split costs, see closing costs in New Jersey and Newark.

Who is exempt?

An exemption must be claimed on a notarized Affidavit of Consideration (Form RTF-1). The Division lists these among the full exemptions from the RTF:

• deeds for less than $100, and deeds to or from the United States, the State or their agencies;
• deeds between spouses, or between parent and child (adopted children count; stepchildren do not);
• deeds that only provide or release security for a debt;
• a deed recorded within 90 days after a divorce decree between the same parties;
• an executor’s deed to an heir or devisee named in the will or by intestacy law.

Partial exemptions, at lower rates, exist for sellers aged 62 or older, blind or disabled sellers, and low and moderate income housing. They are personal: a trust or company cannot claim them. The Division’s example: a qualifying senior selling for $280,000 owes $475.

The Graduated Percent Fee has its own exclusions on Form RTF-1EE, including a buyer that the IRS recognizes as tax-exempt and vacant land, qualified farms, industrial property and apartment buildings.