Virginia transfer tax: recordation tax and grantor tax

What Virginia charges instead of a transfer tax

Virginia taxes the act of recording a deed or deed of trust at the circuit court clerk’s office. In a Northern Virginia sale like one in Arlington, five charges can apply, as of October 2026:

How the state recordation tax works

The tax applies to the greater of the price paid or the “value of the property conveyed.” The statute defines that value as the most recent property tax assessment at the time of the conveyance (§ 58.1-801). So a sale well below the county’s assessment can still be taxed on the assessment.

The same state tax applies to a deed of trust (the Virginia mortgage document): 25 cents per $100 of the amount secured (§ 58.1-803). A refinance of a debt on which the tax was already paid is taxed on a lower schedule, starting at 18 cents per $100 (§ 58.1-803, subsection E).

What Arlington County adds

A county may add a recordation tax equal to one-third of the state tax (§ 58.1-3800). Arlington County does so on the first recording of each taxable instrument, and imposes none where the state tax is only fifty cents (County Code § 27-1). The county rate is therefore about 8.3 cents per $100, on deeds and on deeds of trust.

Grantor tax and the two regional fees

The grantor tax is 50 cents for each $500 or fraction of the greater of the price or value, excluding any lien that stays on the property. The statute says the grantor (the seller) pays it, but grantor and grantee may agree that the buyer pays all or part (§ 58.1-802). The state keeps half and the locality keeps half.

Two fees run on the same base and carry the same rule on who pays:

• Regional WMATA capital fee: 10 cents per $100 in any county or city that is a member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (§ 58.1-802.3). That authority embraces Arlington County (§ 33.2-2501).
• Regional congestion relief fee: 10 cents per $100 in the planning district the statute describes (§ 58.1-802.4). Its revenue goes to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority Fund (§ 33.2-2509).

The code marks the congestion relief fee with a note on contingent expiration under 2020 acts. Check the current text of § 58.1-802.4 before you rely on the rate for a later closing.

Who pays by law and by custom

The grantor tax and the two regional fees are the grantor’s by statute, unless the parties agree otherwise. The sections I read do not say who pays the state and county recordation tax on the deed or on the deed of trust. The sales contract and the loan documents decide. Read your contract’s closing-cost clause, and ask your settlement agent to show each line on the closing statement.

Exemptions

Section 58.1-811 lists exempt transactions. Examples include deeds to the United States, the Commonwealth or a locality, deeds of partition among co-owners, and deeds transferring property under a divorce decree. A deed of gift or a quitclaim deed with no consideration also owes no recordation tax if the deed says so on its face. Several of these exemptions also remove the grantor tax and the regional fees (§ 58.1-811, subsection C). Deeds of trust that secure a debt are not subject to the grantor tax.

The 2026 General Assembly changed some exemption code citations, effective July 1, 2026. Prince William County’s clerk says documents dated after that date must show the updated code section on the first page or be rejected (Prince William County Circuit Court).

Worked example in Arlington

This is an example, not a quote. Assume a $900,000 sale in Arlington County, a $720,000 loan, a price above the assessment, and a recording in October 2026.

By statute, the seller owes $2,700 of the sale total (grantor tax and the two fees), unless the contract shifts it. Clerk recording fees come on top; see closing costs in Virginia. For the full picture of the seller’s and buyer’s other costs, see closing costs explained, and for Arlington specifics see the Arlington page.