Who Pays PA Realty Transfer Tax?

Pennsylvania charges realty transfer tax on the value of property transferred by deed. The Commonwealth takes 1%. The municipality and the school district each levy their own on top, and that local portion is where the real variation lives.

The default answer

By long-standing custom in most of Pennsylvania, buyer and seller split the total equally. That is convention, not law. Nothing in the statute assigns the burden to either party.

The answer that actually applies

Whatever your agreement of sale says. Transfer tax allocation is negotiable like any other term, and in a competitive market it gets negotiated more often than people expect. In a seller's market a buyer may absorb the whole thing; in a slow one a seller may cover it as a concession.

The practical point: read the transfer tax clause before you assume the fifty-fifty split, particularly if you are buying somewhere the total is well above 2%.

Both parties are liable to the Commonwealth

Worth knowing: the Department of Revenue can look to either party for the tax regardless of what the contract says between you. The contract governs who reimburses whom; it does not limit the Commonwealth. In practice the tax is paid at closing out of the settlement statement, so this rarely becomes an issue.

Where it gets expensive

In most of Allegheny County the total is 2%. In the City of Pittsburgh it reaches 5%. On a $300,000 sale that is the difference between $6,000 and $15,000 — and between $3,000 and $7,500 a side if you split it.

Note: general information for Pennsylvania and Alabama property owners, not legal or tax advice. Rates, taxes, eligibility and deadlines are set by statute and by each state’s filed rate schedules and can change. Confirm the specifics with us and with a qualified professional before relying on them for a transaction.