Quick answer
Georgia's real estate transfer tax is $1.00 for the first $1,000 or fractional part of taxable consideration, plus 10 cents for each additional $100 or fractional part. The intangible recording tax is $1.50 per $500 or fractional part of a qualifying long-term note's face amount, capped at $25,000 on any single note. The first follows the transfer. The second follows the secured debt.
Decision rule. Name the taxable event and base before touching a rate. Use taxable transfer consideration for real estate transfer tax. Use the face amount of the qualifying long-term note for intangible recording tax, then apply the fraction rule, any exemption, and the cap.
| Decision point | Real estate transfer tax | Intangible recording tax |
|---|---|---|
| Taxed event | Transfer of real property | Recording a security instrument for a qualifying long-term note secured by real estate |
| Calculation base | Taxable consideration or sale price stated in the problem | Face amount of the qualifying note, not the sale price |
| Rate | $1 for the first $1,000 or fraction, plus $0.10 per additional $100 or fraction | $1.50 per $500 or fraction |
| Statutory liability or collection | Seller is liable, although the contract may allocate payment differently | Collected from the holder of the security instrument, which may pass the cost to the borrower |
| Limit | Apply the statutory consideration and exemption rules | Maximum $25,000 on a single note |
| Fast exam clue | Deed, transfer, consideration, seller | Note, security instrument, debt, lender or holder |
The two taxes can appear in the same closing problem, but they never share a calculation base merely because the transaction is the same.
Nearly every Georgia candidate can recite both rates by exam day. Far fewer can tell you, under time pressure, which number to multiply. That is what the question is really testing, and it is why the wrong answers are built out of the other tax rather than out of bad arithmetic.
Transfer tax: based on the transfer consideration
Under O.C.G.A. § 48-6-1, the rate is $1.00 for the first $1,000 of consideration or any fractional part of $1,000, then 10 cents for each additional $100 or fractional part of $100.
Written like that it sounds fiddly. Do the arithmetic once and it collapses:
- 10 cents per $100 is the same as $1.00 per $1,000.
- The first $1,000 is charged at $1.00 as well.
- For prices stated in exact $1,000 increments, the rate is the familiar $1 per $1,000 shortcut.
A $340,000 taxable transfer produces $340 of tax. For an amount that is not an exact $1,000 increment, follow the statute's $100 increments instead of rounding to the next $1,000. On $340,400, the tax is $340.40. One reliable formula for positive consideration is max($1, ceiling(consideration ÷ $100) × $0.10).
The Georgia Department of Revenue treats the seller as liable for it, and says the contract can shift who actually pays. An exam question asking who is liable wants the seller. A scenario asking who paid wants the facts given.
Intangible recording tax: charged on the loan
Under O.C.G.A. § 48-6-61, the intangible recording tax is $1.50 for each $500, or fractional part of $500, of the face amount of the note secured by the instrument. The maximum on any single note is $25,000.
$1.50 per $500 is equivalent to $3.00 per $1,000 only when the face amount falls on a full $1,000 increment. The exact method is:
- Take the face amount of the qualifying note, not the sale price.
- Divide by $500 and round any fraction up to the next unit.
- Multiply the number of units by $1.50.
A $272,000 note is 544 units of $500, so the tax is $816.
On a $272,250 note, divide by $500 to get 544.5, round up to 545 units, and multiply by $1.50. The exact tax is $817.50. Rounding the note to the next $1,000 first would produce the wrong answer.
It applies only to long-term notes. Since July 1, 2025, a note counts as long-term when any part of the principal falls due more than 62 months after the note's date, up from the old three-year line. A note due in full within 62 months owes no intangible tax. That detail is worth carrying because a question can describe a two-year seller-financed note and expect you to know the tax is not due.
Exam trap
A question gives you a sale price, a down payment and a loan amount, then asks for the intangible tax. The sale price is in the question so you will use it. Use the loan.
Working one all the way through
A house in Marietta sells for $415,000. The buyer puts 20 percent down and finances the rest on a 30-year note.
Transfer tax. Sale price $415,000. That is 415 units of $1,000. Transfer tax is $415, owed by the seller.
Loan amount. 20 percent of $415,000 is $83,000, so the loan is $332,000.
Intangible tax. $332,000 divided by $500 is 664 units. At $1.50 per unit, the tax is $996. The note runs 30 years, so it is a long-term note and the tax applies.
Two different bases, two different rates, one scenario. That is the standard shape.
Worth knowing
The $25,000 cap matters once the uncapped calculation reaches that amount. The exam may test the existence of the cap even when it does not require a large-dollar calculation.
The rest of the closing figures
Georgia closings also carry recording fees for the deed and the security deed, and the county collects those separately. They are not calculated as a percentage of anything, so the exam rarely asks you to compute them. What it does ask is which party conventionally pays what, and the usual split is that the seller pays transfer tax while the buyer pays the intangible tax and the recording fees, because the buyer is the one borrowing.
Property tax is a third thing entirely, assessed at 40 percent of fair market value, and it is worked through in the Georgia millage guide.
If you want to run these until the setup is automatic rather than remembered, the math drill will keep serving them, and the formula sheet has both rates written out.
Check yourself
1. A home in Athens sells for $268,000. What is the Georgia real estate transfer tax?
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Answer: A. Transfer tax is $1 per $1,000 of sale price. $268,000 divided by $1,000 is 268, so the tax is $268. Choice B applies the intangible rate of $3 per $1,000 to the price, which is the classic mix-up.
2. A buyer finances $310,000 on a 30-year note secured by Georgia real estate. What is the intangible recording tax?
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Answer: C. $1.50 per $500 is $3 per $1,000. $310,000 divided by $1,000 is 310, and 310 multiplied by $3 is $930.
3. Who is liable for the Georgia real estate transfer tax?
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Answer: B. The Department of Revenue treats the seller as liable, though the parties often agree in the contract that the buyer will pay. Liability and who writes the check are different questions.
4. A seller finances a buyer on a note running for two years, secured by the property. Which statement is correct?
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Answer: B. The intangible recording tax applies to long-term notes. A two-year note is not long-term under the current 62-month rule or the older three-year one. Transfer tax still applies because the property still changed hands.
FAQ
Why does Georgia charge two taxes at closing?
They tax different things. The transfer tax is on the transfer of the property itself and has been part of Georgia law for decades. The intangible recording tax is on the recording of a long-term note secured by real estate, so it follows the debt rather than the deed.
Is the transfer tax really just $1 per $1,000?
That shortcut is exact when consideration is stated in full $1,000 increments. Otherwise use the statutory $100 increments. For example, $340,400 produces $340.40, not $341.
Does the intangible tax apply to a refinance?
It can, but do not apply an all-or-nothing rule. Georgia's regulations provide relief for qualifying original-lender and original-borrower refinancing of previously taxed unpaid principal. New money and other refinancing structures can be taxable. Use the facts in the question.
What happens if the tax is not paid?
Payment of the transfer tax is a prerequisite to recording. The clerk of superior court will not record the deed until it has been paid and the payment certified on the instrument, which is why it is handled at closing rather than afterwards.
Sources
- Georgia Department of Revenue, real estate transfer tax
- Georgia Department of Revenue, intangible recording tax
- Georgia Rule 560-11-8, intangible recording tax definitions and calculations
- PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin, 7/1/2026
Recommended next lesson
Continue with Georgia property tax and millage calculations to keep the transfer, debt, and annual property-tax bases separate.