The Massachusetts Deeds Excise: $4.56 per $1,000, Who Pays It, and What It Comes to on a Median Sale

On a settlement statement the deeds excise shows up on the seller’s side, usually as a line called tax stamps. The rate behind it is $2.28 for every $500 of the price, outside Barnstable County.

The rate, and where the odd number comes from

M.G.L. c. 64D §1 levies an excise on a deed conveying real estate when the consideration, net of any lien or encumbrance left on the property, exceeds $100. The statutory rate is $2 for the first $500 and $2 for each additional $500 or fraction of it. On top of that, a 14% surcharge was imposed by St. 1969 c. 546 §23. The Department of Revenue’s directive on enforcement of the deeds excise puts the combined rate at $2.28 per $500 of consideration, or fraction of it, in excess of $100. Per $1,000, that’s $4.56. Registries round an odd price up to the next $500 before applying the rate.

The one county with its own rate

The statute carves out Barnstable County, where the statutory rate is $1.50 per $500 rather than $2. With the 14% surcharge that comes to $1.71 per $500, or $3.42 per $1,000, and the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds adds a county rate of $3.06 per $1,000, for a combined $6.48 per $1,000 on Cape Cod. The Department of Revenue’s directive states its $2.28 figure as the rate except for Barnstable county. Everything below assumes a sale outside it.

Who pays

Under c. 64D §2 the excise is paid by the person who makes or signs the deed, or for whose benefit it’s made. That’s the grantor, meaning the seller, and Massachusetts closings follow the statute: the stamps come out of the seller’s proceeds. The excise is self-assessed and paid by affixing adhesive stamps, which the Department of Revenue prepares and the registries of deeds sell.

On this summer’s prices

The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® July 2026 report puts the statewide single-family median sale price at $715,000, up 2.9% from a year earlier, and the condominium median at $565,000, down 1.4%. Run the excise on those. $715,000 is 1,430 units of $500, and 1,430 times $2.28 is $3,260.40. The condo median is 1,130 units, and 1,130 times $2.28 is $2,576.40. Sale prices in Newton or Brookline run well above the state median, so the stamps run higher there.

What isn’t stamped

The chapter doesn’t apply to any instrument given to secure a debt, so a buyer’s mortgage carries no stamps. It also doesn’t apply to a deed to which the Commonwealth, a city or town of the Commonwealth, or the United States or any of their agencies is a party. The rate doesn’t change by property type either; a condo and a three-family are stamped the same way.

If you’re pricing a sale this fall, I’ll put together a net sheet with the stamps and your mortgage payoff on it, so you know your number before closing. This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Diana Kim, REALTOR®, eXp Realty.