NJ Mansion Tax 2026: the Graduated Percent Fee, Who Pays It, and a Realty Transfer Fee Calculator

NJ mansion tax rates for 2026

The Graduated Percent Fee replaced the old flat 1% buyer fee on July 10, 2025. The Division of Taxation’s memo of July 2, 2025 calls it “a straight application of a percentage of total consideration,” which means one rate times the whole price, with no marginal brackets.

The fee applies to deeds for Class 2 residential property of one to four units, co-op units, Class 3A farm property that includes a home, and Class 4A commercial property other than industrial or apartment buildings. The property class is the one on the municipal tax list. The county recording officer collects the fee when the deed is offered for recording, together with the base realty transfer fee, and a Form RTF-1EE affidavit must be attached to every deed over $1,000,000.

Sources: the Division of Taxation realty transfer fee page (updated Sept. 28, 2026), the July 2, 2025 memo and P.L.2025, c.69.

Who pays the mansion tax in NJ?

The seller.P.L.2025, c.69, approved June 30, 2025, rewrote N.J.S.A. 46:15-7.2 to impose the fee “upon the grantor,” and it applies to transfers on or after July 10, 2025. From 2004 until then, the buyer paid a flat 1% on purchases over $1,000,000. The seller has always paid the base realty transfer fee, so today a seller over $1,000,000 pays both.

• A contract can move the cost, not the liability. The Division’s July 9, 2025 policy memo says contract provisions that allocate the fee differently “are private legal arrangements,” and its exemptions notice says the parties “are able to apportion or shift the burden of payment in their contract negotiations.” Legally, the seller still owes it, and only the seller can claim a refund.
• The recording date decides the rate. The same memo makes the date the deed is submitted to the county the operative date, not the contract or closing date.
• The 2025 grace period is over. Sellers whose contracts were fully signed before July 10, 2025 could claim back anything above 1% only if the deed was recorded by November 15, 2025. Every 2026 sale is on the new schedule.
• One state guide is out of date.The Division’s “Buying or Selling a Home in New Jersey” PDF (last modified August 12, 2025) still says buyers may pay an additional 1% fee. The Division’s memos and its realty transfer fee page, updated September 28, 2026, say the seller is statutorily responsible.

If you are the buyer, the statute leaves you with no state transfer fee on a home purchase, unless your contract shifts some of it to you. Read that clause with your attorney. For the rest of your cash to close, see the NJ buyer closing costs guide.

How to calculate the mansion tax and realty transfer fee

1. Base realty transfer fee. For a price over $350,000, charge each slice of the price at its rate per $500: $2.90 on the first $150,000, $4.25 up to $200,000, $4.80 up to $550,000, $5.30 up to $850,000, $5.80 up to $1,000,000 and $6.05 above that. Sales of $350,000 or less use a lower schedule.
2. Mansion tax.If the price is over $1,000,000, multiply the whole price by its band’s rate.
3. Add them.That is the seller’s state transfer cost. County recording fees are separate.

What sellers owe at six price points

Standard sale, base fee from the Division’s per-$500 schedule, mansion tax from the July 2, 2025 memo. The Division’s memo uses the same $2.75 million example: $68,750 of Graduated Percent Fee “in addition to the other grantor fees.”

What this means in practice: list and negotiate with the line in view. An offer of $2,010,000 instead of $2,000,000 leaves the seller $10,321 less, not $10,000 more, after the two state fees. Run any figure through the calculator above before you set a price or counter. Commission, payoff and attorney fees come on top and are not modeled here.

• The typical Bergen house is under the line. New Jersey Realtors’ September 2026 report puts the Bergen County single-family median at $835,000, up 1.2% from a year earlier, and $885,000 for the year to date, up 4.1%. The townhouse and condo median was $527,000. A seller at $835,000 owes a base transfer fee of $7,676 and no mansion tax.
• About one sale in ten statewide is over $1 million. In fiscal year 2025, 10,917 of New Jersey’s 109,844 non-exempt Class 2 residential sales (9.9%) were over $1,000,000, and 2,206 (2.0%) were over $2,000,000, where the new higher rates now apply. The old 1% buyer fee raised $268,129,474 that year (unaudited), per the Treasury’s first Realty Transfer Fee Statistical Report.
• The loan side starts near the same number. The 2026 conforming loan limit for a one-unit home in Bergen County is $1,209,750, against a national baseline of $832,750. A buyer paying $1,500,000 with 20% down borrows $1,200,000, inside that limit; at $2,000,000 with 20% down the $1,600,000 loan is a jumbo loan. Where your loan lands decides which program fits, and that is the conversation to have before you write an offer near a mansion-tax line.

1. Deeds the mansion tax does not reach

• Property outside the covered classes: vacant land, qualified farmland, industrial property and apartment buildings.
• A sale to a 501(c)(3) organization.
• Deeds that are fully exempt from the realty transfer fee, listed on Form RTF-1EE: among them deeds between spouses or civil union partners, between parent and child, an executor’s distribution under a will or the intestacy laws, a deed recorded within 90 days of a divorce decree between the two spouses, a deed for less than $100, and a deed that only corrects an earlier one.

2. Reduced base fee for qualifying seniors, blind and disabled sellers

A seller who is 62 or older, legally blind, or permanently and totally disabled, who is a New Jersey resident and owns and lives in the one- or two-family home being sold, can claim lower base rates on Form RTF-1. On a $1,200,000 sale the base fee falls from $11,995 to $6,035, a $5,960 saving. It does not touch the mansion tax: Form RTF-1EE lists no age or disability exemption, so the $12,000 still applies and the total is $18,035. Sellers planning a move to a smaller home can see how the next purchase is financed on the downsizing mortgage page.

3. Refunds when the class is wrong

The fee follows the property class on the municipal tax list. If a seller believes the class is wrong after the appeal deadline, the Division’s guidance is to pay the fee and file a claim for refund, after which Division staff inspect the property. Refund claims under N.J.S.A. 46:15-7.2(c) must be filed within 90 days of paying the fee. Ask the assessor about the class before you list, not after you close.

Not on a covered sale over $1,000,000 without an exemption: the county recording officer collects the fee before the deed is recorded. What a seller can do, legitimately:

1. Price with the lines in view.$1,000,000 owes no mansion tax; $1,000,001 owes $10,000.01. Use the “price that nets the same” column above before you set a list price or counter an offer.
2. Confirm the property class with the municipal assessor early, especially for mixed-use and farm property.
3. Check the real exemptions above with your attorney, including the reduced base rates for qualifying seniors.
4. Negotiate the contract. A clause can shift who bears the cost. It does not change the amount, and the Division treats it as a private arrangement.

Misstating the price is not a strategy. Form RTF-1EE warns that knowingly falsifying the consideration on a deed or affidavit is a fourth-degree crime, and the Division can assess any underpayment against the seller.

Other taxes and fees a New Jersey seller sees at closing

• Base realty transfer fee on every sale unless an exemption applies, with Form RTF-1 when a partial or full exemption is claimed.
• Graduated Percent Fee on covered sales over $1,000,000, with Form RTF-1EE.
• A GIT/REP form for every seller.New Jersey residents certify residency; nonresident sellers may have to make an estimated income tax payment at closing unless an exemption on the form applies. The Division’s seller guide explains which form you file.
• County recording fees for the deed, which are separate from the state fees above and not covered here.

Sources

• NJ Division of Taxation, Realty Transfer Fee page: base fee schedules, Graduated Percent Fee rates, seller responsibility (last updated Sept. 28, 2026)
• NJ Division of Taxation, Realty Transfer Fee FAQs: per-$500 rates, partial exemptions, worked answers ($325,000 standard sale $1,910; $280,000 senior sale $475)
• Division of Taxation memo, July 2, 2025: Amendments to Graduated Percent Fee on realty transfers over $1 million ($2.75 million example, $68,750)
• Division of Taxation memo, July 9, 2025: Clarification on Graduated Percent Fee implementation (recording date, contract allocation)
• Division of Taxation, General Information on the Graduated Percent Fee (covered classes, 501(c)(3) exemption, 90-day refund rule, classification refunds)
• Form RTF-1EE, Affidavit of Consideration for Graduated Percent Fee and Form RTF-1, Affidavit of Consideration for Use by Seller (partial exemption rules)
• P.L.2025, c.69 (A5804), approved June 30, 2025, effective for transfers on or after July 10, 2025
• NJ Treasury, Realty Transfer Fee Statistical Report for Fiscal Years Through FY 2025 (December 2025): FY2025 Class 2 sales by price band and collections
• New Jersey Realtors, Local Market Update for September 2026, Bergen County (current as of Oct. 9, 2026)
• FHFA, conforming loan limit values for 2026 ($832,750 baseline) and the 2026 county list (Bergen County one-unit limit $1,209,750)
• NJ Division of Taxation, Buying or Selling a Home in New Jersey (GIT/REP forms; last modified Aug. 12, 2025)

Sources were opened and checked on October 15, 2026. Fee schedules can change by law. This page explains New Jersey’s published fees; it is not tax or legal advice, not a rate quote, and not a commitment to lend. Your closing attorney or title company calculates the fee due on your deed.

Frequently asked questions

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