Indiana has NO real estate transfer tax at the state level, and — despite some SEO-blog claims to the contrary — no genuine percentage-based transfer tax at the county level either. Indiana is consistently listed (alongside states like Texas, Montana, Missouri, and Kansas) as one of the roughly dozen+ states with no real estate transfer tax at all. What Indiana has instead are flat statutory recording fees under Indiana Code 36-2-7-10/-10.5/-10.7: recording a deed costs a flat $25 in all counties except Marion County (Indianapolis), where it's a flat $35 (mortgages are $55/$65 respectively). On top of that, every county charges a small flat "Assessor's Fee" and "Auditor's Transfer Fee" tied to the mandatory Sales Disclosure Form (State Form 46021, required under IC 6-1.1-5.5) — these vary modestly by county but are flat dollar fees (commonly cited around $10-20 per form), not a percentage of sale price. Some low-authority blog articles (e.g., kdshomebuyers.net) claim Marion County charges "$2 per $1,000 of sale price" and Lake County "$3 per $1,000" as a transfer fee — I could NOT verify this against any official source (the authoritative Indiana Recorders Association fee schedule, citing the actual Indiana Code sections, shows Marion County's deed recording fee as a flat $35, not percentage-based). This claim should be treated as unverified and likely inaccurate/outdated or a conflation with a different fee; do not present it as fact without confirming directly with the specific county recorder or auditor.
Buyers: roughly 2%-5% of purchase price (some sources cite a narrower 0.7%-3% for buyer-specific fees excluding prepaids). Sellers: roughly 6%-10% of sale price when real estate agent commissions are included (agent commissions are the dominant component; excluding commission, seller-side closing costs alone are much smaller, closer to 1%-3%).
Who typically pays: Costs are split by local custom and are fully negotiable in the purchase contract. Buyer customarily pays: loan origination/lender fees, appraisal, home inspection, prepaid property taxes and homeowners insurance (escrow setup), and often title insurance (lender's policy). Seller customarily pays: real estate agent commissions (both sides, historically, though this is evolving post-NAR settlement), prorated property taxes up to closing, title-related fees/owner's title policy in many transactions, and mortgage payoff/release costs. Seller concessions (seller covering part of buyer's closing costs) are common and negotiated deal-by-deal, especially in buyer's markets.
No well-documented, officially-sourced county or city transfer tax variation exists in Indiana — this is a key differentiator from states like Illinois or New York. What does vary by county is: (1) the flat deed-recording fee (flat $25 statewide, but $35 in Marion County specifically per IC 36-2-7-10.5), and (2) the small flat Sales-Disclosure-Form-related Assessor's/Auditor's fees, which differ county to county (e.g., $10 in LaGrange County) but remain flat-dollar administrative fees rather than ad valorem transfer taxes. Every real property sale in Indiana requires filing a Sales Disclosure Form (State Form 46021) per IC 6-1.1-5.5, and the county recorder cannot record the deed without it — this is a compliance/paperwork requirement, not a tax. Treat any claim of a Marion County or Lake County percentage-based "transfer fee" (e.g., "$2 per $1,000") as unverified — it appeared only in one low-authority blog and was not corroborated by the official Indiana Recorders Association statutory fee schedule.
Facts on this page reflect research current as of 2026-07-05. Programs, rates, and laws change — confirm current figures with the relevant state agency before relying on them.