State by state
Which states tax you for recording a mortgage
10 states do. The other 40 charge recording fees but no tax measured by your loan. The 10 are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia.
The names disguise how similar they are — documentary stamp tax, intangible recording tax, mortgage registry tax, recordation tax, mortgage tax — but the trigger is the same in every case: recording the instrument that secures your loan. Every row below is sourced to a statute or a revenue-department publication, and this is the one question in this series where all fifty states have an answer.
A fee is not a tax, and the difference is the whole point
Every state charges recording fees — a first-page charge plus a per-page amount for handling the document. Those do not change if your loan is bigger. A mortgage tax is calculated on the debt the instrument secures, so it does. Published summaries merge the two constantly, which is how a state that charges nothing but fees ends up described as having a mortgage tax — and how Kansas, which repealed its mortgage registration tax effective 2019, is still quoted as having one.
50 of 50 states answered so far. Every answer below rests on a named primary source — a statute, a bar opinion, a regulator publication or a statewide form. Where none exists, the row says so instead of guessing, and research on the remaining states is ongoing.
| State | Answer | What the authority actually says |
|---|---|---|
| Alabamalicensed here | Taxes the mortgage | Alabama imposes recordation tax on mortgages, deeds of trust, and other listed instruments. |
| Alaskalicensed here | Fees only | Alaska charges the same page-based recording fees for all documents rather than imposing a tax on mortgage debt. |
| Arizona | Fees only | Arizona charges a flat recording fee, not a tax on mortgage debt; its separate real-estate transfer fee applies to deeds or sale contracts and expressly excludes security-only transfers. |
| Arkansaslicensed here | Fees only | Arkansas charges uniform recorder fees for mortgages and deeds of trust. Its separate real-property transfer tax is imposed on instruments that convey sold real estate, not on the mortgage securing the debt. |
| Californialicensed here | Fees only | California does not impose a state tax measured by mortgage debt when a mortgage or deed of trust is recorded. Documentary transfer tax applies to conveyances; separately, state law authorizes flat recording fees on real-estate instruments. |
| Colorado | Fees only | Colorado imposes a documentary fee on instruments that grant or convey real property, not a tax on recording a mortgage or deed of trust. Ordinary recording fees still apply. |
| Connecticut | Fees only | Connecticut charges flat or per-page recording fees for mortgages. Its separate real-estate conveyance tax applies to sales or transfers of real property, not to mortgage debt. |
| Delaware | Fees only | Delaware expressly excludes mortgages from the documents subject to its realty transfer tax. Mortgages remain subject to ordinary recording and satisfaction fees. |
| Florida | Taxes the mortgage | Florida imposes documentary stamp tax on mortgages and other evidences of indebtedness filed or recorded in the state. |
| Georgialicensed here | Taxes the mortgage | Georgia imposes an intangible recording tax when an instrument securing a long-term note is recorded. The lender is legally responsible, though the Department of Revenue permits passing it to the client. |
| Hawaii | Fees only | Hawaii imposes conveyance tax on transfers of realty, not on mortgage debt. Mortgages are subject to ordinary document-recording fees, including any activated temporary fee that applies to every recorded document. |
| Idaho | Fees only | Idaho prescribes flat recorder fees for trust deeds and mortgages rather than imposing a state tax measured by the secured debt. |
| Illinoislicensed here | Fees only | Illinois imposes real-estate transfer tax when title is transferred. Mortgages instead incur statutory recording fees and a flat program surcharge, not a tax measured by the secured debt. |
| Indiana | Fees only | Indiana prescribes a flat recorder fee for mortgages rather than imposing a state tax measured by the secured debt. |
| Iowa | Fees only | Iowa imposes real-estate transfer tax on instruments that grant, assign, transfer, or convey realty, not on mortgage debt. Recorded mortgages incur the general per-page and per-transaction recorder fees. |
| Kansaslicensed here | Fees only | Kansas repealed its mortgage registration tax statutes. Mortgages now incur the register of deeds’ ordinary page-based recording fees rather than a tax measured by secured debt. |
| Kentucky | Taxes the mortgage | Kentucky imposes a flat state tax on each mortgage, financing statement, or security agreement, collected by the county clerk before the instrument’s original filing. |
| Louisianalicensed here | Fees only | Louisiana applies statutory document-recording charges to instruments filed in the parish mortgage records rather than a statewide tax measured by mortgage debt. |
| Mainelicensed here | Fees only | Maine imposes real-estate transfer tax on deeds and controlling-interest transfers, not on mortgage debt. Mortgages are recorded under the general flat instrument fee. |
| Maryland | Taxes the mortgage | Maryland applies recordation tax to the secured debt stated in an instrument of writing, subject to exemptions including qualifying purchase-money mortgages and deeds of trust. |
| Massachusetts | Fees only | Massachusetts charges a fixed registry fee to record a mortgage. Its separate deeds excise applies when real property is conveyed, not when mortgage debt is recorded. |
| Michigan | Fees only | Michigan imposes state real-estate transfer tax on instruments transferring an interest in real property. A mortgage instead carries the uniform statutory document-recording fee. |
| Minnesotalicensed here | Taxes the mortgage | Minnesota charges a mortgage registry tax on the recording of a mortgage, and a separate deed tax calculated on the sale price. |
| Mississippi | Fees only | Mississippi treats deeds of trust as documents subject to the chancery clerk’s ordinary page-based recording fee rather than imposing a tax measured by mortgage debt. |
| Missourilicensed here | Fees only | Missouri charges a uniform recorder user fee as a prerequisite to recording any instrument rather than imposing a tax measured by mortgage debt. |
| Montana | Fees only | Montana applies its statutory page-based recording fee to documents including mortgages and deeds of trust rather than imposing a tax measured by mortgage debt. |
| Nebraska | Fees only | Nebraska imposes documentary stamp tax on deeds transferring title, not on mortgages. Mortgages carry the same page-based recording fee as deeds and other instruments. |
| Nevada | Fees only | Nevada imposes real-property transfer tax on deeds transferring title, not on mortgage debt. Mortgages and deeds of trust are recorded upon payment of statutory recorder fees. |
| New Hampshire | Fees only | New Hampshire expressly exempts a mortgage or other debt-security instrument from real-estate transfer tax. Mortgages remain subject to ordinary registry recording fees. |
| New Jersey | Fees only | New Jersey’s Realty Transfer Fee applies to deeds conveying title and expressly excludes a deed used solely to provide or release security for debt. Ordinary county recording fees still apply. |
| New Mexico | Fees only | New Mexico records mortgages under its general per-document county-clerk fee schedule rather than imposing a tax measured by the mortgage debt. |
| New York | Taxes the mortgage | New York imposes a mortgage recording tax when a mortgage on real property in the state is recorded. |
| North Carolina | Fees only | North Carolina imposes excise tax on instruments conveying an interest in real property, not on mortgage debt. Deeds of trust and mortgages instead carry a fixed statutory recording fee. |
| North Dakota | Fees only | North Dakota places deeds, mortgages, and other real-estate instruments in the same page-based recorder-fee schedule rather than taxing the amount of mortgage debt. |
| Ohio | Fees only | Ohio applies its conveyance tax to the grantor named in a deed. Mortgages are recorded under the county recorder’s instrument-fee schedule rather than a tax measured by mortgage debt. |
| Oklahoma | Taxes the mortgage | Oklahoma imposes a mortgage tax that must be paid before a taxable real-property mortgage may be recorded. |
| Oregon | Fees only | Oregon records mortgages and trust deeds under its general statutory recording-fee framework, including per-page and additional instrument fees, rather than imposing a statewide tax measured by mortgage debt. |
| Pennsylvania | Fees only | Pennsylvania’s realty transfer tax applies when title is transferred by deed or another writing. Recording a mortgage instead incurs recorder-of-deeds fees, not a tax measured by mortgage debt. |
| Rhode Island | Fees only | Rhode Island imposes real-estate conveyance tax on instruments transferring an interest to a purchaser. A mortgage instead carries the flat recording fee set by statute, not a tax measured by mortgage debt. |
| South Carolinalicensed here | Fees only | South Carolina’s value-based deed recording fee applies to the privilege of recording a deed that transfers real estate, not to recording mortgage debt. |
| South Dakotalicensed here | Fees only | South Dakota’s real-estate transfer fee applies to transfers of title and expressly exempts security-only transfers. Mortgages instead carry the same fixed recording fee as deeds and other instruments. |
| Tennessee | Taxes the mortgage | Tennessee imposes mortgage tax on recording instruments evidencing indebtedness, including mortgages and deeds of trust. |
| Texas | Fees only | Texas records mortgages and other real-property instruments under statutory county filing and recording fees rather than imposing a tax measured by mortgage debt. |
| Utah | Fees only | Utah charges a fixed statutory county-recorder fee for recording an instrument rather than a tax measured by the mortgage debt. |
| Vermont | Fees only | Vermont’s property transfer tax applies to a deed transferring title. Recording a mortgage deed instead carries the town clerk’s statutory per-page fee, not a tax measured by mortgage debt. |
| Virginia | Taxes the mortgage | Virginia imposes state recordation tax on deeds of trust and mortgages, subject to statutory exceptions. |
| Washington | Fees only | Washington’s real-estate excise tax applies to sales of real property; the Department of Revenue expressly excludes mortgages and deeds of trust from the affidavit process. Mortgages instead incur statutory instrument-recording fees. |
| West Virginia | Fees only | West Virginia’s value-based excise tax applies to the privilege of transferring title to real estate. A trust deed or other real-estate security instrument instead carries the fixed statutory recording fee. |
| Wisconsin | Fees only | Wisconsin’s real-estate transfer fee applies to conveyances of ownership interests, while a conveyance solely providing or releasing security for debt is expressly exempt. Mortgages remain subject to ordinary recording fees. |
| Wyominglicensed here | Fees only | No Wyoming state tax measured by mortgage debt was identified. State law records deeds, mortgages, and other instruments under the county clerk’s general page-based recording charges; local charges still require transaction-level confirmation. |
Why this one matters most on a refinance
A transfer tax attaches to a deed conveying property, so a refinance escapes it by transferring nothing. A mortgage tax attaches to recording the security instrument — and a refinance records a new one every time. So in these 10 states it is not a one-off cost of buying; it is a charge that recurs on every refinance and scales with the balance, which belongs in the break-even calculation rather than being treated as a fixed cost of doing the transaction. How that break-even actually works is the mechanics.
Why this page covers states I cannot lend in
The question is national and the published answers are unreliable. I am licensed to originate in 14 states — marked in the table — and this page offers nothing anywhere else. It exists because getting this particular boolean wrong changes a refinance decision, and because no one source states it cleanly.
Common questions
Which states have a mortgage recording tax?
Ten of the fifty, on the research behind this page: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia. The other forty charge recording fees but no tax measured by the debt. The names differ — documentary stamp tax in Florida, intangible recording tax in Georgia, mortgage registry tax in Minnesota, recordation tax in Alabama, Maryland and Virginia — and the mechanism is the same one: a charge triggered by recording the instrument that secures your loan.
What is the difference between a recording fee and a mortgage tax?
A recording fee is a charge for handling a document, typically a first-page fee plus a per-page amount, and it does not change if your loan is larger. A mortgage tax is calculated on the debt the instrument secures, so it rises with the loan. The two get merged constantly in published summaries, which matters because only one of them makes a bigger loan cost more to record.
Do I pay mortgage tax when I refinance?
In the states that have one, ordinarily yes, and that is what separates it from a transfer tax. A transfer tax attaches to a deed conveying property, so a refinance escapes it by transferring nothing. A mortgage tax attaches to recording the security instrument, and a refinance records a new one by definition. It is therefore a cost that recurs every time you refinance rather than once when you buy.
Does Kansas still charge a mortgage registration tax?
No. Kansas legislation phased the rate to zero and repealed the governing statutes effective January 1, 2019, so mortgages recorded since then do not carry it. Calculators and articles still quoting it are working from repealed law. Recording fees were increased in part to replace the revenue, but a flat charge for recording a document is a different thing from a levy scaled to the loan.
Who is legally responsible for the mortgage tax?
It depends on the state, and legal liability is not the same question as who economically pays. In Georgia the lender is legally responsible for the intangible recording tax, though the Department of Revenue acknowledges the parties may agree otherwise between themselves. Elsewhere the statute sets a prerequisite to recording rather than assigning a party, leaving the closing documents and the purchase contract to allocate the charge.
Why is my closing cost estimate different from a national calculator?
Frequently this tax, in either direction. National tools generally do not model a charge that only ten states impose, so an estimate in one of those states comes in short — and an estimate quoting a repealed or misapplied one comes in high. The error surfaces at the offer stage rather than at closing, which is where being wrong about it is most expensive.
Reference material, not legal or tax advice, and not an offer to lend in any state. Rates, exemptions and statutes change, and several of these taxes carry exemptions that turn on the transaction; what applies to a specific file is worth confirming with the professionals conducting it. Jeff Moran, NMLS #483943, through C2 Financial Corporation, NMLS #135622. Equal Housing Opportunity.