The line labeled deed stamps or excise tax is often one of the largest transfer charges on a Massachusetts closing cost worksheet.
County rates for 2026, the custom placing this cost on the seller, and the step-by-step math explain how the charge works.
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Both buyers and sellers can then estimate the tax on any sale price and confirm where it belongs on the settlement statement.
What the Deed Excise Tax Is and What It Costs
The Massachusetts deed excise tax is a one-time tax charged when real estate changes hands, governed by Chapter 64D of the Massachusetts General Laws. You will also hear it called the real estate transfer tax or "deed stamps," a name that comes from the excise stamps bought at the Registry of Deeds when the deed is recorded.
A deed cannot be recorded at the County Registry of Deeds until the tax is paid. The rate is $4.56 per $1,000 of the sale price everywhere in Massachusetts except Barnstable County, where it is $6.48 per $1,000.
| Where | Per $500 | Per $1,000 | As a percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide (13 counties) | $2.28 | $4.56 | 0.456% |
| Barnstable County (Cape Cod) | $3.24 | $6.48 | 0.648% |
The $4.56 per $1,000 statewide rate applies in Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Worcester counties. Buyers and sellers should confirm current schedules with their local registry before closing.
Why the Statute Says $2.00
If you look up the statute online, the base text sets the tax at $2.00 for a sale price over $100 up to $500, plus $2.00 for each additional $500 or fraction of $500. A 14% statutory surtax applies on top of that base rate, bringing the effective tax to $2.28 per $500, or $4.56 per $1,000.
Why Cape Cod Pays More
Barnstable County is the only county in Massachusetts that collects its own county excise alongside the state tax. Since July 1, 2016, the Cape Cod rate has been $6.48 per $1,000, made up of $3.42 in state excise plus $3.06 in county excise.
Watch out for older online calculators and blog posts that still quote $5.70 or $6.12 per $1,000 for Barnstable County. Both figures are outdated and will leave your Cape Cod estimate hundreds or thousands of dollars short.
Who Pays: The Seller, by Custom
By long-standing Massachusetts custom, the seller pays the deed excise tax at closing. The closing attorney deducts it from the seller's gross proceeds on the settlement statement and sends the payment to the Registry of Deeds when recording the new deed.
The statute itself only requires that the tax be paid before the deed is recorded and does not name which party must pay. Because the law is silent on who writes the check, the Purchase and Sale (P&S) agreement can shift the cost in two common situations:
- Builder or developer contracts: A builder's own P&S form may handle closing costs differently than a standard resale form, so have your attorney confirm who pays the excise before you sign.
- Negotiated deals: In a competitive market, a buyer could offer to cover some of the seller's costs, including the excise, to strengthen an offer—a negotiation choice rather than a requirement.
A move-up buyer selling one Massachusetts home and buying another sees both sides: you pay the excise on the home you sell, while your seller typically pays it on the home you buy.
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How to Calculate It
The tax is charged in $500 steps, and any fractional part of $500 counts as a full $500 step. The quick estimate—dividing the price by 1,000 and multiplying by $4.56 (or $6.48 on Cape Cod)—is exact only when the sale price is an even multiple of $500.
Registries and closing attorneys use four steps:
- Start with the taxable consideration on the deed (the sale price minus any lien that remains on the property after the sale).
- Divide that number by 500.
- Round any decimal or remainder up to the next whole number to get the number of $500 steps.
- Multiply the steps by $2.28 statewide or $3.24 in Barnstable County.
Worked Examples
- $600,000 sale: 1,200 steps × $2.28 = $2,736.00 statewide, or 1,200 steps × $3.24 = $3,888.00 on Cape Cod—a $1,152 difference.
- $750,250 sale: $750,250 ÷ 500 is 1,500.5, which rounds up to 1,501 steps × $2.28 = $3,422.28 statewide; even $750,001 is 1,501 steps and $3,422.28.
Keep that rounding rule in mind when you negotiate. A counteroffer at $650,100 instead of $650,000 pushes the price into the next $500 step and adds $2.28 statewide (or $3.24 on the Cape)—a tiny amount, but the closing attorney's software calculates it to the cent.
Deed Excise Tax by Sale Price
| Sale price | $500 steps | Statewide | Barnstable County |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300,000 | 600 | $1,368.00 | $1,944.00 |
| $400,000 | 800 | $1,824.00 | $2,592.00 |
| $500,000 | 1,000 | $2,280.00 | $3,240.00 |
| $600,000 | 1,200 | $2,736.00 | $3,888.00 |
| $750,000 | 1,500 | $3,420.00 | $4,860.00 |
| $750,250 | 1,501 (rounded up) | $3,422.28 | $4,863.24 |
| $900,000 | 1,800 | $4,104.00 | $5,832.00 |
| $1,000,000 | 2,000 | $4,560.00 | $6,480.00 |
| $1,500,000 | 3,000 | $6,840.00 | $9,720.00 |
| $2,000,000 | 4,000 | $9,120.00 | $12,960.00 |
Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard: The 2% Land Bank Fee
The standard $4.56 per $1,000 state deed excise applies in both Nantucket and Dukes counties, but each island also has a land bank created by a special state act. Those land banks collect an additional 2% transfer fee that is generally paid by the buyer on top of the seller's state deed excise.
Both islands offer exemptions from the land bank fee. For example, the Nantucket Land Bank exempts qualified first-time homebuyers on the first $1,400,000 of the purchase price as of January 1, 2026, so budget for the fee early and ask your closing attorney whether an exemption applies to your purchase.
When No Excise Is Due
A few common deeds owe no excise tax at all, or are taxed on less than the full price.
| Situation | What it means |
|---|---|
| Price of $100 or less | No excise; common for adding a spouse, moving a home into a revocable living trust, or family gifts |
| Mortgages | A mortgage only secures a debt; flat recording fee only, no excise |
| A government party | No excise when the federal, state, or a Massachusetts local government is a party |
| Liens that stay on the property | The balance of a lien that stays on (like an assumed mortgage) is subtracted; a normal payoff sale is taxed in full |
Rules around trusts, divorces, LLC transfers, and assumed debt depend on how the deal is structured, so confirm with a Massachusetts real estate attorney or tax professional whether an exemption applies to your deed.
What Buyers Pay at the Registry Instead
While the seller customarily pays the percentage-based deed excise, the buyer pays flat Registry of Deeds recording fees to put the new ownership and loan documents on record.
Standard buyer registry fees are $155 to record the deed, $205 to record the mortgage, $80 for the municipal lien certificate, and $35 for an optional Declaration of Homestead.
You can see how those fees fit into your full cash-to-close budget in our breakdown of Massachusetts Closing Costs for Buyers, and read our Massachusetts Declaration of Homestead Guide to see how that $35 filing raises the protection of your home from many unsecured creditors.
Is There a Boston or Local Transfer Fee?
As of October 2026, no Massachusetts city or town can charge its own transfer fee on ordinary home sales without the State Legislature's approval. Outside Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, the state deed excise is the only transfer tax on a standard residential sale.
Three proposals have made headlines in recent years, and none of them is in effect:
- 2024 Affordable Homes Act: An early version included a statewide local-option transfer fee, but lawmakers removed it before the law was signed in August 2024.
- Statewide bill (H.3056): Would let cities and towns adopt a transfer fee to fund affordable housing; it remains in the Joint Committee on Revenue, whose reporting deadline was extended to January 4, 2027, and is not law.
- Boston's home rule petition: Passed by the City Council on April 15, 2026 to charge up to 2% on the portion of a sale price over $2 million (first $2 million exempt); it needs the Legislature and Governor and is pending.
Even if Boston's petition or a similar measure were enacted, it targets only the portion of a sale price above $2 million rather than typical first-time or move-up purchases.
If you are buying in the city and want programs that lower upfront costs right now, see our guide to Boston First-Time Home Buyer Programs.
Planning Tips
If You Are Selling
Subtract the deed excise from your expected sale price on your net sheet before you set a listing price or counter an offer, using the sale price table above for a quick check.
If You Are Buying
Have your attorney confirm that the P&S agreement leaves the deed excise on the seller, and make sure any share shifted to you by negotiation appears in your cash-to-close estimate.
Once you close, you will take over ongoing local real estate taxes, which vary widely by town—check Massachusetts Property Tax Rates by Town as you compare monthly payments.
If you are relocating from out of state, note that in several other states buyers and sellers split the transfer tax 50/50 or buyers pay a percentage mortgage tax, whereas Massachusetts sellers customarily pay the full excise and mortgages pay only a flat fee. See our Moving to Massachusetts guide for more.
Next Steps
If you are buying a home—or selling your current Massachusetts property to buy your next one—getting your numbers early keeps closing costs predictable. At Make Massachusetts Your Home, operated by Next Wave Mortgage, LLC, our team compares conventional, FHA, VA, and jumbo loan options across multiple wholesale lenders.
Checking your eligibility takes no hard credit pull, pre-approvals typically take 1 to 3 business days once your documents are in, and you can schedule a free 15-minute call with a loan officer to walk through your closing cost estimate line by line.
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