Every deed recorded in Maine has to arrive at the county Registry of Deeds with a completed Maine Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration, known as Form RETTD, attached. The form reports the sale price or fair market value so the Register of Deeds can calculate the transfer tax owed, and the deed will not be recorded until the form is accepted and the tax is paid.1Maine Revenue Services. Maine Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration Form Buyer and seller each pay half.
When You Need to File One
A RETTD is required whenever a deed transfers Maine real property for any value.2Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 36 Section 4641-B – Collection Home sales, commercial purchases, and land deals all qualify, and so do transfers with no traditional deed: when someone acquires a controlling interest in a business entity that owns Maine real estate, the transfer must be reported to the Register of Deeds within 30 days on a separate return along with the tax payment.3Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 36 Section 4641-A – Rate of Tax Liability for Tax Miss the 30 days and both buyer and seller become jointly liable for the full tax rather than just their half.
Exempt transfers still need a RETTD. A gift between family members owes no tax, but the deed will be rejected without the form on top of it. The declaration is what tells the Register of Deeds why nothing is due.
Filling Out the Form Line by Line
The current RETTD is a PDF from the Maine Revenue Services website. If the property sits in more than one county, prepare a separate form for each.1Maine Revenue Services. Maine Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration Form
Lines 1 and 2: County and Municipality
Enter the county and municipality where the property is located. If the property spans multiple municipalities within one county, attach a Supplemental Form rather than crowding a single sheet.
Lines 3 and 4: Buyer and Seller
Enter names last-name-first for up to two buyers on Line 3 and up to two sellers on Line 4. More than two parties on either side requires a Supplemental Form. Each line has a space for a federal identification number. For a business entity, enter its federal employer identification number; the form specifically warns against putting a Social Security number in the entity field. You can enter all zeros in the ID field if a party has no federal ID number, or if the transfer involves unimproved land valued under $25,000 or improved property valued under $50,000. Both parties also list a mailing address for use after the sale.
Line 5: Property Identification
Enter the map-block-lot-sublot number the local assessor uses. If the municipality doesn’t use property tax maps, check the box provided and give the physical street address instead. Select a property type code from the list printed on the form (residential, commercial, agricultural, and so on) and enter the acreage. An estimate is acceptable when the exact figure isn’t handy. If the transfer is a gift, you can leave the property type code and acreage fields blank.
Line 6: Sale Price or Fair Market Value
Line 6a asks for the actual sale price. Enter the full amount paid, including cash, any property exchanged, and any debt the buyer assumed. For a gift, enter zero. When the price is zero or nominal, Line 6b requires the fair market value: what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller on the open market. The Register of Deeds uses whichever figure applies to compute the tax.
Exemption Checkbox
If either party is claiming an exemption, check the exemption box and write a brief explanation citing 36 M.R.S. § 4641-C. The categories are covered below.
What the Tax Will Cost
For transfers on or after November 1, 2025, Maine uses a two-tier rate.4Maine Revenue Services. Transfer Tax The first $1,000,000 of value is taxed at $2.20 per $500 or fraction of $500. Value above $1,000,000 carries an additional $3.80 per $500 or fraction, bringing the effective rate on that upper portion to $6.00 per $500.3Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 36 Section 4641-A – Rate of Tax Liability for Tax Buyer and seller each pay half.
For a $400,000 home, the math runs $400,000 ÷ $500 = 800 increments × $2.20 = $1,760 total, or $880 per side. The same two-tier rate applies to controlling-interest transfers in entities that hold Maine real estate.3Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 36 Section 4641-A – Rate of Tax Liability for Tax
Exemptions and How to Claim One
Maine law exempts several categories of transfers from the tax.5Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 36 Section 4641-C – Exemptions The commonly used ones include:
- Deeds between spouses, parent and child, or grandparent and grandchild, only when there is no actual consideration. A parent selling to a child at market price does not qualify. Deeds between spouses in a divorce proceeding are exempt regardless of consideration.
- Transfers to or from the United States, the State of Maine, or their agencies and subdivisions.
- Mortgage deeds, mortgage discharges, partial releases, foreclosure deeds, and deeds in lieu of foreclosure.
- Corrective deeds that confirm, correct, modify, or supplement a previously recorded deed without changing ownership or adding consideration.
- Deeds issued through tax lien foreclosure.
- Partition deeds dividing co-owned property among the owners without consideration. If any party ends up with more than their original undivided share, tax is due on the difference.
- Deeds in corporate mergers or consolidations where no gain or loss is recognized under the Internal Revenue Code, and deeds between a parent corporation and its subsidiary for stock consideration only.
- Deeds under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and deeds of distribution under Maine probate law.
- Deeds to or from a trustee, nominee, or straw party where beneficial ownership does not actually change.
To claim an exemption, check the exemption box on the form, note which exemption applies, and submit the RETTD with the deed as usual. No tax will be collected, but the form itself is still mandatory.1Maine Revenue Services. Maine Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration Form
Where to File and What to Pay
Submit the completed RETTD to the Register of Deeds in the county where the property is located, at the same time you present the deed for recording.4Maine Revenue Services. Transfer Tax The Register computes the tax from the value on the form and collects payment before recording. Most counties take a check made out to the Register of Deeds; some accept electronic payment.
A separate recording fee also applies. The standard charge is $40 per document ($35 base plus a $5 surcharge) for non-government filers.6Maine Registry of Deeds Association. Fees That fee is on top of the transfer tax, not in place of it.
Many counties support electronic submission through the eRETTD system, which prompts through the data entry and transmits the form digitally. Electronic filing tends to move faster and cuts down on errors from handwriting or skipped fields. Check with the specific Registry of Deeds to confirm it’s available in that county. Once the Register accepts the filing, the transaction data is forwarded to Maine Revenue Services for the statewide property transfer records.4Maine Revenue Services. Transfer Tax
Penalties for Understating Value
Reporting a sale price or fair market value below what the transaction actually was carries real cost. Maine’s general tax penalty statute applies. An underpayment caused by negligence brings a penalty of 25% of the underpaid amount or $25, whichever is greater. If the underpayment is attributable to fraud with intent to evade, the penalty rises to 75% of the underpaid amount or $75, whichever is greater.7Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 36 Section 187-B – Penalties Interest runs on top. The value on the RETTD becomes part of the permanent public record at the Registry of Deeds and feeds into municipal assessment data, so a suppressed figure can cause trouble long after closing.
Federal Reporting Is a Separate Matter
The RETTD is a Maine filing. The same sale can also trigger federal reporting. The closing agent or person responsible for closing generally files IRS Form 1099-S reporting the gross proceeds unless total consideration is under $600. Sellers of a primary residence can exclude up to $250,000 of capital gain, or $500,000 for married couples filing jointly, if they owned and lived in the home for at least two of the five years before the sale.8Internal Revenue Service. Sale of Your Home The sale price on the RETTD should match the 1099-S and the closing statement, because inconsistent numbers between state and federal filings are an easy audit flag.