Tennessee levies a state Realty Transfer Recordation Tax of $0.37 per $100 of the sale price or property value, whichever is greater (approximately 0.37%), under Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-4-409. It's collected by the county Register of Deeds at recording and remitted to the TN Department of Revenue. Example: a $300,000 sale incurs about $1,110 in transfer tax. Separately, there is a distinct mortgage/deed-of-trust "indebtedness tax" of $0.115 per $100 of the loan amount (first $2,000 of debt exempt) — this applies to financed purchases and is a different tax from the realty transfer tax, though both are administered as part of the state's "Recordation Tax." Tennessee has no mansion tax or graduated/bracketed transfer tax rate — it's a flat percentage regardless of price tier. Certain transfers are statutorily exempt (transfers to a revocable living trust by the same grantor, tenancy-by-entirety creation/dissolution, division-in-kind deeds among co-tenants, divorce property settlements, etc.).
Buyers: roughly 2%-3.5% of purchase price (loan origination/lender fees, appraisal, prepaid insurance/interest, title insurance, recording fees). Sellers: roughly 1%-3% of sale price excluding commission; when the typical ~5.5%-6% real estate agent commission is included, seller-side total costs commonly run 8%-10% of sale price.
Who typically pays: By local custom, the seller pays the state transfer/recordation tax and the real estate commission at closing. The buyer typically pays lender-related closing costs (origination fee, appraisal, prepaid interest/insurance, and the mortgage indebtedness/deed-of-trust tax if financing). Title insurance and other fees are frequently negotiated and split or shifted between parties per the purchase contract. As everywhere, all of this is negotiable and concessions are common depending on market conditions.
No confirmed general county- or city-level "add-on" realty transfer tax was found currently in effect in Tennessee's major metro markets (Nashville/Davidson, Memphis/Shelby, Knox, Hamilton). Tennessee's Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) has studied proposals allowing specific counties additional local transfer tax authority (e.g., a discussed combined rate of $0.74/$100 under proposed legislation), and TN law does allow certain counties specific state authorization for a local levy in limited historical cases, but this is not a standard statewide or major-metro feature — treat any claim of an active local add-on as needing case-by-case verification with the specific county Register of Deeds rather than a default assumption. Tennessee has no state income tax, so there is no state capital-gains tax on sale proceeds either, though this is separate from transfer/closing costs. Source quality: the $0.37/$100 rate and indebtedness tax figures are corroborated by the official TN Department of Revenue tax manual and Tennessee Code Annotated § 67-4-409, not just secondary blogs.
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.