# Delaware — Real estate transfer tax by state: rate, who pays, brackets and first-time buyer relief

For Delaware, tax name is realty transfer tax; state rate is 3 percent of the value of the property represented by such document, unless the municipality or county where the property is located has enacted the full 1½ percent realty transfer tax authorized by § 1601 of Title 22 or § 8102 of Title 9, in which case 2½ percent; who pays is Said tax is to be apportioned equally between grantor and grantee; local add-on is unless the municipality or county where the property is located has enacted the full 1½ percent realty transfer tax authorized by § 1601 of Title 22 or § 8102 of Title 9, in which case 2½ percent; first-time buyer relief is that portion of the realty transfer tax payable by the first-time home buyer shall be reduced by an amount equal to ½ percent multiplied by the lesser of the value of the property or $400,000, verified against its source on 2026-08-31.

- **State:** Delaware _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Tax name:** realty transfer tax _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **State rate:** 3 percent of the value of the property represented by such document, unless the municipality or county where the property is located has enacted the full 1½ percent realty transfer tax authorized by § 1601 of Title 22 or § 8102 of Title 9, in which case 2½ percent _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Who pays:** Said tax is to be apportioned equally between grantor and grantee _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Local add-on:** unless the municipality or county where the property is located has enacted the full 1½ percent realty transfer tax authorized by § 1601 of Title 22 or § 8102 of Title 9, in which case 2½ percent _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **First-time buyer relief:** that portion of the realty transfer tax payable by the first-time home buyer shall be reduced by an amount equal to ½ percent multiplied by the lesser of the value of the property or $400,000 _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Minimum or exemption floor:** No tax shall be imposed on conveyances when the actual value of the property being transferred is less than $100 _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Citation:** § 5402. Rate of tax; when payable; exception _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> § 5402. Rate of tax; when payable; exception [For application of this section, see 81 Del. Laws, c. 56, § 2 and 81 Del. C. 384, § 3]. (a) Every person who makes, executes, delivers, accepts or presents for recording any document, except as defined or described in § 5401(5) of this title, or in whose behalf any document is made, executed, delivered, accepted or presented for recording shall be subject to pay for and in respect to the transaction, or any part thereof, a realty transfer tax at the rate of 3 percent of the value of the property represented by such document, unless the municipality or county where the property is located has enacted the full 1½ percent realty transfer tax authorized by § 1601 of Title 22 or § 8102 of Title 9, in which case 2½ percent, which tax shall be payable at the time of making, execution, delivery, acceptance or presenting of such document for recording. Said tax is to be apportioned equally between grantor and grantee.

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### First-time buyer relief

> (c) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, for any first-time home buyer who enters into a transaction, on or after August 1, 2017, who would otherwise be subject to the rate of tax set forth in subsection (a) of this section, that portion of the realty transfer tax payable by the first-time home buyer shall be reduced by an amount equal to ½ percent multiplied by the lesser of the value of the property or $400,000.

### Minimum or exemption floor

> (b) No tax shall be imposed on conveyances when the actual value of the property being transferred is less than $100.

## Source

- https://delcode.delaware.gov/title30/c054/sc01/index.html

Last verified: 2026-08-31. Review by: 2027-08-31.
Part of [Real estate transfer tax by state: rate, who pays, brackets and first-time buyer relief](https://referencesource.org/state-real-estate-transfer-tax/).