Pennsylvania Realty Transfer Tax: Who Pays, How Much and When

By Alex Buys Homes·Published Sep 29, 2026·8 min read

When a house is sold in Pennsylvania, the state, and often your municipality and school district, collect a realty transfer tax. For most sellers it’s one of the larger closing costs, and it raises two questions right away: how much will it be, and who pays it?

This guide answers both, with a worked example, the exemptions in the state’s rules and current rates for Allentown and other Lehigh Valley communities. Rates and rules are current as of September 29, 2026.

What is the Pennsylvania realty transfer tax?

The tax also reaches some long-term leases and certain sales of companies that own real estate, but in a typical home sale the deed is what triggers it.

How much is the transfer tax in Pennsylvania?

The table shows 2026 rates for several Lehigh Valley communities. The local rates come from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s 2026 municipal tax data, except Allentown’s, which comes from the City of Allentown and the Lehigh County Recorder of Deeds, and Bethlehem’s, which comes from the city’s realty transfer tax ordinance.

Allentown’s total was 2% until January 1, 2026, when the city’s share rose by half a percentage point to fund housing programs. That’s a good reminder that local rates change. Bethlehem’s ordinance sets a 1% city tax but cuts it in half while the school district also collects the tax, which is why the city’s share is 0.5%. Wherever your property is, confirm the current rate with the Recorder of Deeds for its county (Bethlehem lies in both): the Lehigh County Recorder of Deeds or the Northampton County Recorder of Deeds.

Who pays the transfer tax in PA, the buyer or the seller?

“Both grantor and grantee are held jointly and severally liable for payment of the tax.” — Pennsylvania Department of Revenue

In practice, the split is negotiated in the agreement of sale. The City of Philadelphia, for example, notes that buyers and sellers commonly divide the tax 50/50, though nothing in the law requires it.

The same goes for a sale to a cash buyer: who pays the transfer tax is part of the deal, so make sure the agreement spells it out. Our guides on how to vet a cash home buyer and cash buyer vs. listing with an agent cover the other closing costs to compare.

How do you calculate Pennsylvania transfer tax?

Here is the same $250,000 sale at two local rates:

A few rules change the value the tax is based on:

• Liens that stay with the property count. If the buyer takes over your mortgage instead of having it paid off, the remaining balance is added to the price.
• Sheriff’s sales, gifts and other transfers that aren’t ordinary sales are taxed on a “computed value”: the property’s assessed value multiplied by a common level ratio (CLR) factor. The Department of Revenue publishes these factors for each fiscal year starting July 1.
• Assigned contracts. If a buyer assigns your agreement of sale to someone else for more money, as wholesalers do, your liability as the seller doesn’t include that assignment payment unless you or an affiliate receive part of it.

When is the transfer tax paid, and who collects it?

Two documents matter here:

• The deed. If it states the full value of the property and no exemption is claimed, no separate statement of value is needed.
• The Statement of Value (form REV-183). It must be filed with the deed when the deed doesn’t state the full value, the transfer is a gift or made without payment, or an exemption is claimed. For a transfer that is exempt because of a family relationship, it isn’t needed if the deed clearly shows that relationship.

Which transfers are exempt from realty transfer tax in PA?

The family exclusions in the law and the Department of Revenue’s rules cover transfers between:

• Husband and wife.
• Parents, grandparents and other direct ancestors and their children, grandchildren and other direct descendants.
• Brothers and sisters.
• A parent or grandparent and the spouse of their child or grandchild, unless that child or grandchild has died and the spouse has remarried.
• A person and their sibling’s spouse, with the same exception.
• A stepparent and a stepchild or the stepchild’s spouse, a pairing the tax law lists but the older regulations don’t.
• Former spouses, if the property was acquired by either or both of them before or during the marriage.

Two conditions trip people up. If the family member who receives the property sells it within one year, that sale is taxed as if the original owner had sold directly to the new buyer. And an estate doesn’t count as a family member for the family exclusion.

Other exclusions include:

• A transfer for no or nominal payment from an executor or administrator to the heirs or beneficiaries of an estate. See our guides to selling an inherited house and selling a house in probate.
• Transfers to and from the trustee of a living trust, under the conditions in the rules.
• Correctional or confirmatory deeds that fix an earlier deed.
• A deed given to the lender in lieu of foreclosure. If you are facing foreclosure, ask how this applies to you.
• Any transfer worth $100 or less.

A sale to an unrelated buyer, including a cash buyer, is not excluded. If you and your spouse sell to a third party during a divorce, that sale is taxed; the exclusion covers transfers between the spouses themselves. Our guide to selling a house during a divorce explains the options.

Can you avoid paying transfer tax when you sell your house?

If you’re selling in the Lehigh Valley and want a simple sale, we buy houses as-is in Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and nearby towns. Request your cash offer, and ask us to show who pays the transfer tax before you agree to anything.