What the Georgia Transfer Tax Costs Sellers on a Typical Home

The Georgia transfer tax is a tax on the deed. It is charged at $1 for the first $1,000 of the sale price plus 10 cents for each additional $100, which comes to about $1 per $1,000. At Georgia's 2026 statewide median price of $360,000, the tax is $360. By law the seller is liable, but the sales contract can shift it to the buyer.

Sellers often put the transfer tax on their worry list next to commissions and loan payoffs. It doesn't belong there. On a typical Georgia home it costs a few hundred dollars. People often confuse it with the intangible recording tax, which is charged on the buyer's new mortgage and is roughly three times as large. The sections below cover how the transfer tax is figured, what it costs at common price points, who pays, how the payment gets made at closing, and when no tax is owed.

How the Georgia transfer tax is calculated

According to the Georgia Department of Revenue, the tax "is based upon the property's sale price at the rate of $1 for the first $1,000 or fractional part of $1,000 and at the rate of 10 cents for each additional $100 or fractional part of $100."

Two details are worth knowing:

• Fractions round up. Any partial $100 above the first $1,000 counts as a full $100, so a price that isn't a round number can add a few cents.

• The shortcut is price divided by 1,000. For a round-number price, the tax in dollars equals the price in thousands. That is a rate of 0.1%.

The statute, O.C.G.A. § 48-6-1, also says the tax applies only when the consideration is more than $100. It is figured on the price net of any existing lien or encumbrance that the sale does not remove. That rule matters most when a buyer assumes the seller's existing loan, because the lien that stays in place is left out of the taxable amount. If you are selling with an assumption, ask your closing attorney to run the number for your deal.

What it costs at common Georgia price points

The figures below come straight from the DOR formula. The $360,000 and $449,292 rows use the January through June 2026 statewide median and average sale prices reported by Georgia REALTORS, which said "the year-to-date median sales price increased 0.3% to $360,000, while the average sales price rose 1.7% to $449,292."

The $550,000 result matches the example on Georgia Title & Escrow Company's transaction-tax explainer. On a median-priced home, the tax is a small fraction of what a seller typically pays in commissions or to pay off a mortgage.

Who pays the transfer tax in Georgia

The Department of Revenue states it plainly: "The seller is liable for the real estate transfer tax, though frequently the parties agree in the sales contract that the buyer will pay the tax." DOR also says the tax "must be paid by the person who executes the deed, instrument, or other writing," which is the seller in an ordinary sale.

Closing attorney Chris Pahl's page at Georgia Title & Escrow makes a related point. The statute taxes the deed and doesn't name a party, so either side can pay it if they agree to.

In practice, your purchase and sale agreement decides who pays. Find the paragraph that covers closing costs and prorations and read how it treats the Georgia transfer tax. If you want the other side to pay it, raise that during negotiation, as you would with repairs or seller concessions. Once the contract is signed, the closing attorney follows what it says.

How the tax gets paid at closing

Most sellers never write a separate check for it. The usual sequence looks like this:

• It appears on the settlement statement. The closing attorney charges it to whichever party the contract names and collects it with the other closing funds.

• A PT-61 is filed. The PT-61 Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration is e-filed through a procedure set up by the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority (GSCCCA). DOR tells filers to contact GSCCCA customer support with e-filing questions.

• The clerk certifies payment. The tax has to be paid before the deed can be recorded with the Clerk of Superior Court. The clerk then attaches a certification that the tax was paid.

When no transfer tax is owed

Under O.C.G.A. § 48-6-2(a) (FindLaw text current as of March 28, 2024), the exemptions include:

• Deeds of gift

• Transfers between spouses in connection with a divorce case

• Year's support orders

• Fiduciary or estate distributions made without valuable consideration

• Divisions of property among co-owners

• Transfers between individuals and an entity they majority-own

• Transfers where a government body is a party

• Instruments given to secure a debt, and leases

• A deed in lieu of foreclosure, but only if the purchase-money security deed was recorded at least 12 months earlier

• The deed to the first transferee at a foreclosure sale

An exemption doesn't let you skip the paperwork. Section 48-6-2(b) still requires the total consideration to be shown on the prescribed form, and Georgia Title & Escrow notes that exempt deeds still need a PT-61 filing.

Transfer tax vs. intangible recording tax

The intangible recording tax is the larger charge, and it is also where the most confusion comes from. It is charged on the security deed that secures the buyer's loan, not on the deed that transfers ownership. Perigon Legal Services describes it as a tax on new mortgage loans at $1.50 per $500, or 0.3%.

The rate and the $25,000 maximum come from the state's intangible recording tax rules (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 560-11-8), which say the tax is due "upon the recording" of the security instrument. The Department of Revenue says the Clerk of Superior Court collects it in all 159 counties.

Applying the $1.50-per-$500 rate to typical loans:

• 80% loan on a $360,000 home ($288,000): 576 × $1.50 = $864

• 95% loan on a $360,000 home ($342,000): 684 × $1.50 = $1,026

• $550,000 loan: 1,100 × $1.50 = $1,650, which matches Georgia Title & Escrow's example

On a median-priced home bought with a loan, the intangible tax is often more than twice the transfer tax. Buyers who compare the two lines on a Loan Estimate or settlement statement sometimes assume the larger one is the transfer tax. It isn't.

HB 586 and the 62-month rule

You may see HB 586 mentioned in closing documents or attorney explainers. According to Troutman Pepper, Gov. Brian Kemp signed it on May 9, 2025, and it took effect July 1, 2025. The bill changed the definition of a "long-term" note, the only kind subject to the intangible tax. A long-term note is now "any note where part of the principal is due more than 62 months (five years and two months) from the date of the note." The old threshold was three years. The rate and the $25,000 cap did not change. Troutman notes that the DOR rules had not yet been updated to reflect the change, and the Secretary of State rules page still shows the three-year definition.

For home buyers this changes very little. A standard 15- or 30-year mortgage runs far past 62 months, so it is still taxed. Based on the new definition, the benefit goes mostly to short-term commercial and construction loans. HB 586 does not affect the transfer tax at all.

Seller checklist

• Estimate it. Divide your expected sale price by 1,000. A $360,000 sale means about $360.

• Read your contract. The closing-cost paragraph of your purchase agreement decides whether you or the buyer pays.

• Ask for a net sheet. Your closing attorney can show the transfer tax next to commissions, your loan payoff, and prorated property taxes.

• Check for an exemption. If the transfer is a gift, part of a divorce, an estate distribution, or a move into an entity you majority-own, ask whether it qualifies. Remember that a PT-61 is still required.

• Keep the scale in mind. On a typical Georgia home this is one of the smallest items on your settlement statement.

Related reading

• Why Does Georgia Require an Attorney at Closing?

• The Case Against a VA Streamline Refinance in Georgia This Fall

• Should I Wait to Buy a House in Atlanta Until Rates Fall?

• More Closing Costs coverage

Sources

• Georgia Department of Revenue: Real Estate Transfer Tax

• Georgia Department of Revenue: Intangible Recording & Real Estate Transfer Tax Letter Rulings

• Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Subject 560-11-8, Intangible Recording Tax (Georgia Secretary of State)

• Troutman Pepper: Georgia Amends Intangible Recording Tax Statute and Expands Loans Exempt From Tax (June 2025)

• O.C.G.A. § 48-6-1 (FindLaw)

• O.C.G.A. § 48-6-2 (FindLaw)

• Georgia Title & Escrow Company: Georgia Transaction Taxes

• Perigon Legal Services: Closing Costs in Georgia, What Buyers and Sellers Pay

• Georgia REALTORS: Georgia Housing Market Shows Stability at Midyear