The Chester County transfer tax is 2% of the sale price in most of the county, divided evenly between a 1% Pennsylvania state tax and a 1% local tax collected at recording.1Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Realty Transfer Tax Three municipalities charge more: Malvern Borough and Tredyffrin Township each add a 1.5% local rate for a 2.5% total, and Coatesville adds 2.5% locally for a 3.5% total.2Chester County, PA – Official Website. Fee Schedule On a $400,000 sale, that pushes the Coatesville bill $6,000 above what you would owe in a standard-rate township.
The tax is calculated on the actual sale price in most arm’s-length deals. If no price is stated, or the transaction looks like a non-arm’s-length deal, the county compares the stated consideration against a computed market value and taxes whichever is higher.2Chester County, PA – Official Website. Fee Schedule
Who Pays It
Pennsylvania makes the buyer and seller jointly and severally liable for the whole amount.1Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Realty Transfer Tax If the tax goes unpaid, the state can come after either party for the full balance, and nothing the parties agreed to in private changes that.
In Chester County, the near-universal practice is a 50/50 split. At the standard 2% rate, each side pays 1% at closing. The split is a convention, not a legal requirement. A purchase agreement can allocate the tax any way the parties want, and sometimes one side absorbs all of it. Whatever the parties decide gets written into the sales agreement and reflected on the closing disclosure.
Who Doesn’t Pay It
Transfers between close family members are excluded from both the state and local tax. The qualifying relationships cover:3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 72 P.S. 8102-C.3 – Excluded Transactions
- Spouses
- Parents and children, including a child’s spouse
- Stepparents and stepchildren, including a stepchild’s spouse
- Siblings, including a sibling’s spouse
- Grandparents and grandchildren, including a grandchild’s spouse
A transfer into a trust also qualifies, so long as every beneficiary falls inside one of those family relationships. The Recorder of Deeds will ask for a complete copy of the trust agreement, all amendments, and documentation of each beneficiary’s relationship to the grantor.4Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Realty Transfer Tax Statement of Value
Transfers between former spouses are exempt when the property was acquired by one or both of them before or during the marriage and the transfer arises from a divorce decree or property settlement.5Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Pennsylvania Realty Transfer Tax No. RTT-11-001 – Exempt Transactions Property purchased after the final divorce decree does not qualify.
Other exclusions reach transfers to government entities, transfers between religious organizations, and transfers involving nonprofit industrial development agencies.1Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Realty Transfer Tax A corrective or confirmatory deed that fixes an error in a previously recorded deed is also exempt, but the Recorder will want a copy of the original deed being corrected.4Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Realty Transfer Tax Statement of Value
There is a narrow farmland exemption, added by Act 13 of 2019, for property under an agricultural conservation easement sold to a qualified beginning farmer. The buyer has to meet specific criteria, including agricultural experience and written certification from the Department of Community and Economic Development.
The One-Year Clawback
Using a family exemption as a stepping stone to a quick sale does not work. If you receive property through a family exclusion and then sell it to a non-family buyer within one year, the transfer tax is applied retroactively, calculated as though the original family member had made the transfer directly.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 72 P.S. 8102-C.3 – Excluded Transactions The savings get clawed back.
When the Sale Price Isn’t the Taxable Amount
For gifts, transfers between related parties, and other deals that aren’t arm’s-length, the taxable figure comes from the common level ratio (CLR). The Department of Revenue publishes CLR factors for each county every year, based on data from the State Tax Equalization Board.6Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Realty Transfer Tax Common Level Ratio Real Estate Valuation Factors January 2026 The current factors apply to documents accepted from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.
The math: the county’s assessed value gets multiplied by the CLR factor to produce an estimated market value, and the tax is applied to that figure or the stated consideration, whichever is higher. The rule exists so parties can’t understate a sale price on a deed to shrink the bill.
Form REV-183 and Supporting Documents
The Realty Transfer Tax Statement of Value (Form REV-183) has to accompany the deed in three situations: the full sale price isn’t stated in the deed, the deed involves no consideration or is a gift, or any party is claiming an exemption.4Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Realty Transfer Tax Statement of Value An incomplete or inaccurate form can get the deed rejected at the counter.
Specific exemptions call for specific attachments:
- Trust transfers: full trust agreement, every amendment, and each beneficiary’s relationship to the grantor
- Agent or straw party transfers: a complete copy of the agency or straw party agreement
- Transfers to government by condemnation: a copy of the resolution authorizing the taking
- Mortgage default transfers: copies of the mortgage, the note, and any assignment documentation
- Corrective deeds: a complete copy of the deed being corrected
Exemptions without a dedicated checkbox require a written explanation in Section IV. The information on the form must match the deed itself. Mismatches are one of the most common reasons documents get sent back.
Paying at Recording
Chester County does not accept credit cards, personal checks, or estate checks for the transfer tax. The acceptable methods are business checks, cashier’s checks, and money orders. The county also requires two separate checks: one for the municipal share and one for the state share.7Chester County. Chester County Recorder of Deeds Fee Brochure One combined check will hold up the closing.
Recording fees are separate from the transfer tax and can be paid by cash or credit card at the counter, with a small processing fee on card payments.2Chester County, PA – Official Website. Fee Schedule
A Note on Business-Entity Transfers
The transfer tax reaches more than deed recordings. If 90% or more of the ownership interests in a “real estate company” (an entity where real estate is 90% or more of its assets) change hands within a three-year window, Pennsylvania treats that as a taxable transfer of the underlying property. Common planning around the 90% threshold, including structures that transfer 89% now and grant an option on the remaining 11%, do not avoid the tax; the Department of Revenue counts the option grant itself toward the threshold. Anyone looking at an entity-level deal involving Chester County real estate should work through the specifics with tax counsel before relying on the structure.