The tax on the sale, before you price the house.
Connecticut calls it a conveyance tax. Massachusetts calls it a deeds excise. Either way the seller pays it at closing, it comes out of the proceeds, and it is one of the few closing numbers you can know exactly in advance.
What the transfer will cost.
Pick the state and the town. The rate changes with both.
Selling in Rhode Island? Run the net sheet, which covers it.
The consideration on the deed, not the assessed value.
Only towns that change the rate are listed. Everywhere else uses the state’s standard rate.
What the seller owes
Enter a sale price to see the tax
Connecticut’s brackets and municipal rates, or the Massachusetts deeds excise, whichever applies.
At the rate this town charges, .
The seller pays this in Connecticut, and it is settled at the closing table out of the sale proceeds rather than written as a separate cheque.
The excise is charged on each $500 or fraction of it, so a sale at $250,001 owes the same as one at $250,500. That is why the figure steps rather than sliding.
Stamford charges a higher municipal rate on the portion at or above $1,000,000. This estimate applies the 0.35% rate throughout, so treat it as a floor and call us for the exact figure.
Nantucket and the Martha’s Vineyard towns add a 2% land bank fee on top. It is the buyer’s cost, not the seller’s, so it is not in the figure above, but it will shape what a buyer is willing to pay.
Email me this transfer tax estimateThis calculator needs JavaScript. The rates below are the same ones it uses.
These calculators produce estimates for general information, not legal advice. Every transaction is different. Reach out to talk through yours.
Estimates only. Connecticut conveyance tax per CGS §12-494 and the municipal rates authorised under it; Massachusetts deeds excise per the Norfolk and Barnstable County Registries of Deeds. Rates read 2026-08-10. Exemptions exist in both states and are not modelled here, because whether one applies to your transfer is a legal question rather than an arithmetic one. Your settlement statement is the number that counts, and you will see it before you sign.
How Connecticut charges it.
Two taxes, collected as one line. The state portion is bracketed; the municipal portion depends entirely on the town.
The rate most residential sales in Connecticut sit inside from top to bottom. On a $450,000 sale the state portion is $3,375.
Marginal, not retroactive. Only the slice above $800,000 is charged at the higher rate, which is why a sale just over the line does not jump.
Again marginal, and again only on the portion above the line.
Every town charges a municipal conveyance tax. The base is 0.25%. Eighteen towns are authorised to charge up to 0.50%, and Stamford sits on its own at 0.35%. This is the piece people forget, and on a $450,000 sale the difference between a 0.25% town and a 0.50% town is $1,125.
How Massachusetts charges it.
One rate, no municipal layer, and a rounding rule worth knowing about.
Which is $4.56 per $1,000, or about 0.456% of the price. Flatter than Connecticut’s: there are no brackets, so the rate on a $2 million sale is the rate on a $200,000 one.
The fifteen Cape towns pay a surcharge funding the Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund. It is the highest transfer-tax rate in Massachusetts, not the lowest, which catches people out because the underlying statute reads the other way around.
The excise is charged on each $500 of consideration or fraction of it. A sale at $250,001 owes the same as one at $250,500. It is a small effect, but it is why a flat percentage gets the round numbers right and everything else slightly wrong.
These towns pay the standard excise, but their Land Bank Commissions add a 2% fee. That one falls on the buyer, so it never reaches a seller’s net sheet, though it certainly reaches the negotiation.
Questions people ask about it.
How much is the Connecticut conveyance tax?
The state portion is 0.75% on the first $800,000 of the sale price, 1.25% on the portion between $800,000 and $2.5 million, and 2.25% above that. Every Connecticut town adds a municipal conveyance tax on top, usually 0.25%, though eighteen towns charge up to 0.50% and Stamford charges 0.35%. The seller pays it at closing. For most residential sales the two together come to roughly 1% of the price.
Who pays the conveyance tax, the buyer or the seller?
The seller. In Connecticut the tax is owed by the party making the conveyance, and it is settled at the closing out of the sale proceeds rather than paid separately. Massachusetts works the same way: the deeds excise is the seller’s.
How much is the Massachusetts deeds excise?
$2.28 for each $500 of consideration or fraction of it, which works out to $4.56 per $1,000. The fifteen Barnstable County towns pay $3.24 per $500 instead, a surcharge that funds the Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund. Because the rate applies to each $500 or fraction, a $250,001 sale owes the same excise as a $250,500 one.
Is there conveyance tax on a refinance?
No. The tax is triggered by a transfer of ownership. A refinance replaces your mortgage but does not transfer the property, so no conveyance tax is due and no deed is recorded.
Are there exemptions?
Both states exempt certain transfers, and the calculator above deliberately does not try to guess whether yours is one of them. Whether an exemption applies turns on the facts of the transfer rather than on the price, so it is a question worth asking a person. Call us with the details and we will tell you straight.
Want the whole picture, not just the tax?
The transfer tax is one line. Send us the details and we’ll put the rest of the sale next to it, so you know the whole number before you list.
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