What is the real estate transfer tax in Maryland?

In Maryland, a state transfer tax of 0.5% of the consideration is imposed on a deed recorded with the clerk of the circuit court, and on a sale of a home to a first-time Maryland home buyer who will live in it the rate is 0.25% and the seller pays all of it. A separate recordation tax is imposed on a recorded deed at a rate per $500 of consideration that each county or Baltimore City sets by law. The consideration taxed includes any mortgage the buyer assumes. Instruments exempt from the recordation tax as transfers to a government or public agency, or as transfers between spouses or domestic partners, are also exempt from the transfer tax. Counties and cities can add their own tax where state law lets them, so check the county where the deed is recorded. This is Md. Code, Tax-Prop. §§ 12-102, 12-103, 13-202, 13-203, 13-207.

WhatMaryland
State transfer tax0.5% of the price, plus a county recordation tax

What the statute says

“Except as provided in subsections (a–1) and (b) of this section, the rate of the transfer tax is 0.5% of the consideration payable for the instrument of writing.”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

Md. Code, Tax-Prop. §§ 12-102, 12-103, 13-202, 13-203, 13-207

Read the statute in the Maryland Code (Maryland General Assembly): mgaleg.maryland.gov.

Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.

This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.

How Seayora uses this rule

This page states the state’s rule so the costs and paperwork of a sale can be checked against it before a contract is signed. An owner on Seayora keeps each property’s owners of record and its documents in one place.

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