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

For Pennsylvania, tax name is realty transfer tax; state rate is 1 percent on the value of real estate (including contracted-for improvements to property) transferred by deed, instrument, long-term lease or other writing; who pays is Both grantor and grantee are held jointly and severally liable for payment of the tax; local add-on is Pennsylvania realty transfer tax is collected, often along with an additional local realty transfer tax, by county Recorders of Deeds, verified against its source on 2026-08-31.

- **State:** Pennsylvania _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Tax name:** realty transfer tax _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **State rate:** 1 percent on the value of real estate (including contracted-for improvements to property) transferred by deed, instrument, long-term lease or other writing _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Who pays:** Both grantor and grantee are held jointly and severally liable for payment of the tax _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Local add-on:** Pennsylvania realty transfer tax is collected, often along with an additional local realty transfer tax, by county Recorders of Deeds _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_

## What the source says

> Pennsylvania realty transfer tax is imposed at a rate of 1 percent on the value of real estate (including contracted-for improvements to property) transferred by deed, instrument, long-term lease or other writing. Both grantor and grantee are held jointly and severally liable for payment of the tax.

## Where each value comes from

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

### Local add-on

> Pennsylvania realty transfer tax is collected, often along with an additional local realty transfer tax, by county Recorders of Deeds. The Recorders of Deeds remit the commonwealth's 1 percent to the Department of Revenue, and the locals have the option to share their realty transfer tax among school districts and municipalities.

## Source

- https://www.revenue.pa.gov/TaxTypes/RTT/Pages/default.aspx

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/).