The two state charges, and the one most answers get wrong
Two separate charges are owed to the State of New Jersey when a deed is recorded. The Realty Transfer Fee applies to nearly every sale and is calculated in $500 increments across a banded schedule. The Graduated Percent Fee, still widely called the mansion tax, applies only once the price passes $1,000,000.
Two things about the second charge changed on July 10, 2025, and a great deal of published guidance has not caught up. It is now paid by the seller, not the buyer. And above $2,000,000 the flat 1 percent became a graduated scale.
One thing did not change, and it is the point most often got wrong: the fee has applied to the entire consideration — not merely the portion above the threshold — since the charge was introduced in 2004. The $1,000,000 threshold is unchanged too. So an answer that says one percent, paid by the buyer is describing the law before July 2025; an answer that says charged only on the amount above a million has never been right.
Realty Transfer Fee
| Portion of price | Sale over $350,000 | Sale of $350,000 or less |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $150,000 | $2.90 | $2.00 |
| $150,000 to $200,000 | $4.25 | $3.35 |
| $200,000 to $350,000 | $4.80 | $3.90 |
| $350,000 to $550,000 | $4.80 | n/a |
| $550,000 to $850,000 | $5.30 | n/a |
| $850,000 to $1,000,000 | $5.80 | n/a |
| Above $1,000,000 | $6.05 | n/a |
The rates above are the combined Realty Transfer Fee: the basic fee under N.J.S.A. 46:15-7, the supplemental fee added by P.L. 2004 c.66, and the general purpose fee added by P.L. 2004 c.113, which applies only above $350,000. The State's own RTF-1 exemption form names the same three. The fee is charged on each $500 of consideration or part thereof, so the total is banded rather than a flat percentage.
Graduated Percent Fee, the mansion tax
| Sale price | Rate | Fee at the top of the band |
|---|---|---|
| $1,000,000 or less | none | $0 |
| Over $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 | 1.0% | $20,000 |
| Over $2,000,000 to $2,500,000 | 2.0% | $50,000 |
| Over $2,500,000 to $3,000,000 | 2.5% | $75,000 |
| Over $3,000,000 to $3,500,000 | 3.0% | $105,000 |
| Over $3,500,000 | 3.5% | 3.5% of the whole price |
N.J.S.A. 46:15-7.2 as amended effective July 10, 2025 (P.L. 2025, c. 69). Applies to Class 2 residential property, co-operative units, farmland with a residence, and Class 4A commercial property.
Because the bands are cliffs rather than marginal brackets, one additional dollar of price at $2,000,000 increases the fee by $20,000.
That is not a rounding effect. A sale at exactly $2,000,000 is charged 1 percent, or $20,000. A sale at $2,000,001 is charged 2 percent of the whole price, or $40,000. The same cliff exists at every band edge, which is why the last few thousand dollars of a negotiation near a threshold are rarely worth what they appear to be worth.
Sellers who pay a reduced Realty Transfer Fee
A partial exemption applies to a one or two family residence owned and occupied at the time of sale by a New Jersey resident who is 62 or over, legally blind, or permanently and totally disabled. The disabled test is conjunctive on the affidavit: permanently and totally disabled, and not gainfully employed, and receiving disability payments. Qualifying low and moderate income housing is covered separately.
It is a personal exemption, so it is not available to estates or to legal entities, and where a property is jointly owned every owner must qualify — except a married couple or civil union partners holding as tenants by the entirety, where only one need qualify.
Separately, a small number of deeds are fully exempt under N.J.S.A. 46:15-10 — among them consideration under $100, deeds between spouses or between parent and child, deeds recorded within 90 days of a judgment of divorce between the parties, and confirmatory or correcting deeds. A full exemption is claimed in section 4 of the same RTF-1 affidavit, and no Realty Transfer Fee is due at all.
| Sale price | Standard fee | Partial-exemption fee | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| $400,000 | $3,215 | $1,495 | $1,720 |
| $750,000 | $6,775 | $3,200 | $3,575 |
Partial exemptions under N.J.S.A. 46:15-10.1. Claimed on the RTF-1 Affidavit of Consideration filed with the deed. Eligibility is defined by the statute and confirmed on that affidavit, not by the brokerage.
Non-resident sellers, and the “exit tax” that is not a tax
What is called the New Jersey exit tax is an estimated Gross Income Tax payment, not a separate tax. A seller who is not a New Jersey resident — an individual, estate or trust — must make it before the deed can be recorded: the gain on the sale multiplied by the highest Gross Income Tax rate, 10.75 percent, and in no case less than 2 percent of the consideration stated in the deed. The seller hands the completed declaration and the payment to the settlement agent at closing, and the county clerk will not record the deed without them. It is a prepayment against the seller’s New Jersey return for the year of the sale; whatever exceeds the tax actually owed is refunded through that return or a separate refund claim. A New Jersey resident makes no such payment and instead certifies residency on the State’s exemption form, as does any seller whose sale qualifies under the federal principal-residence exclusion.
Technical Bulletin TB-57(R), revised June 15, 2026, on the estimated payment required by N.J.S.A. 54A:8-8 through 8-10; Form GIT/REP-1, the Nonresident Seller’s Tax Declaration (the 10.75 percent and 2 percent computation in its instructions); Form GIT/REP-3, the Seller’s Residency Certification/Exemption (box 1, resident taxpayer; box 2, principal residence under 26 U.S.C. § 121). Refunds of an overpayment are claimed on the NJ-1040NR or Form A-3128.
Commission
Commission is the largest single line in most seller settlements and it is not set by statute. It is negotiated and agreed in writing before a property is marketed. Since the multiple-listing policy changes that took effect in August 2024, any compensation offered to a buyer broker is agreed and documented separately and is no longer published through the listing service. Igor Beyder operates as a New Jersey transaction broker, and how that engagement is structured and compensated is set out in writing at the outset.
Four worked examples
| Sale price | Realty Transfer Fee | Graduated Percent Fee | Total to the State |
|---|---|---|---|
| $750,000 | $6,775 | $0 | $6,775 |
| $1,200,000 | $11,995 | $12,000 | $23,995 |
| $2,600,000 | $28,935 | $65,000 | $93,935 |
| $3,000,000 | $33,775 | $75,000 | $108,775 |
Figures computed on the schedules above, and the build recomputes every row from them. The last row is one dollar from the next band: at $3,000,001 the Graduated Percent Fee is 3.0 percent of the whole price, $90,000, so the State charge rises by $15,000 on a $1 change in price. A full estimate, including title, recording, attorney, payoff and tax proration, is available in CloseQalc, which uses the same sources.
Related: how a defensible number is arrived at in the first place is set out in how a home is valued.
What this page is not
This is a description of how the charges are calculated, not legal or tax advice, and it does not account for the facts of any particular transaction. Smoke certificate and certificate of occupancy fees are set by municipal ordinance and vary between boroughs. Confirm the figures for a specific sale with your attorney.