How to Transfer a Deed in Pennsylvania: Tax, Recording, and Exemptions

To transfer a deed in Pennsylvania, you prepare a new deed that meets the state’s content and formatting rules, have the current owner’s signature notarized, pay the state and local realty transfer taxes, and record the deed at the Recorder of Deeds office in the county where the property sits. The state transfer tax alone is 1% of the property’s value, and most municipalities and school districts add their own on top, so the combined bill on a $300,000 property often lands at $6,000 or more.

Choose the Right Type of Deed

Pennsylvania uses three deed types, and the choice controls how much protection the new owner has if a title problem shows up later.

A special warranty deed is the standard choice for a Pennsylvania sale. The grantor guarantees that nothing they did during their ownership harmed the title, but makes no promises about earlier owners.¹
A general warranty deed gives the broadest protection, guaranteeing clean title all the way back through every prior owner. It’s rarely used in modern Pennsylvania transactions.¹
A quitclaim deed makes no promises at all. The grantor hands over whatever interest they have without guaranteeing it’s free of liens or other claims. Quitclaims are the usual pick for transfers between spouses and other family members.¹

If you’re buying, insist on a special warranty deed at minimum. If you’re moving property to a family member or into a trust for estate planning, a quitclaim is the norm.

What Information the Deed Must Contain

Before drafting, gather:

Full legal names and mailing addresses of every grantor (the person transferring) and grantee (the person receiving).
The property’s legal description from the current deed or a survey. This is the metes-and-bounds or lot-and-block description, not the street address.
The consideration, meaning the price or value exchanged. Gift transfers still need a stated consideration, typically one dollar.
The tax parcel number, sometimes called the Uniform Parcel Identifier. Many counties will not accept a deed for recording without it.²
The current recorded deed, so you can copy the legal description and confirm the chain of ownership.

The deed itself must identify the grantor and grantee by full legal name and address, state the grantor’s intent to transfer ownership, include the full legal description, state the consideration, and specify what type of warranty (if any) the grantor is giving. Two items people commonly leave off: a “return to” name and address for mailing the recorded deed back, and a statement identifying who prepared the document.¹

The grantee also has to attach a signed certificate of residence listing their precise address with zip code. Pennsylvania law directs the Recorder of Deeds to refuse any deed that lacks this certificate.³

Formatting, Signing, and Notarization

County recording offices reject deeds that miss their formatting rules. Specifics vary, but common requirements include letter-size paper (8.5 by 11 inches), black ink, a font size of at least 10 points, and a one-inch top margin on the first page for the recorder’s stamp.⁴ No tape, no correction fluid, no staples. Check your specific county before printing.

Every grantor must sign, and each signature must be notarized by a Pennsylvania notary. The acknowledgment must include the state, county, date, names of the people appearing, and the notary’s signature and commission expiration date.⁵ For a corporation or other business entity, an authorized officer signs on its behalf.

Pay the Pennsylvania Realty Transfer Tax

Pennsylvania charges a transfer tax every time real property changes hands. The state rate is 1% of the property’s value, and most municipalities and school districts stack their own on top, pushing the combined rate to 2% or more in many areas. On a $250,000 property, expect at least $5,000 in total transfer taxes.

The tax is calculated on the higher of the actual price paid or the property’s computed value. The computed value keeps people from reporting artificially low prices, and it comes from multiplying the county’s assessed value by a Common Level Ratio factor published by the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.⁶ The current factors apply to documents accepted from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.⁷

You complete a Realty Transfer Tax Statement of Value (Form REV-183), which walks through the math. File it in duplicate with the Recorder of Deeds along with any local transfer tax forms.⁸ The form is required whenever the full consideration isn’t stated on the deed, the transfer is a gift, or an exemption is claimed.

Family and Estate Exemptions

Not every transfer triggers the tax. Pennsylvania exempts transfers between certain family members:

Spouses, and former spouses when the transfer involves property acquired before the divorce
Parents and children, including the child’s spouse
Stepparents and stepchildren, including the stepchild’s spouse
Siblings, including a sibling’s spouse
Grandparents and grandchildren, including the grandchild’s spouse

Watch for the trap: if the family member who receives the property sells it to someone outside the family within one year, the transfer tax applies as though the original transfer had been taxable.⁹

Transfers from a deceased person’s estate to their heirs are also exempt, and family farm transfers into a family farm business qualify under a separate exemption.⁹ Even with an exemption, the full value of the transfer must be disclosed on the Statement of Value.

Record the Deed with the County

Once the deed is signed, notarized, and the tax paperwork is ready, take everything to the Recorder of Deeds office in the county where the property sits. Submit:

The original signed and notarized deed with the certificate of residence attached
The completed REV-183 form in duplicate, plus any local transfer tax forms
Payment for the transfer taxes and recording fees

Some counties want separate checks for state tax and local fees. In Philadelphia, the state tax check goes to “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” and a separate check for city tax and recording fees goes to “City of Philadelphia.”⁵ Recording fees vary by county and depend on the number of pages, so call your Recorder of Deeds to confirm the total.

Some counties allow electronic recording through third-party vendors. Allegheny County, for example, permits e-recording for most deed types, but transfers into a trust and deeds taxable in multiple jurisdictions still require a paper submission.¹⁰

Recording is not a formality. Under Pennsylvania law, an unrecorded deed is void against a later buyer, mortgage lender, or judgment creditor who has no knowledge of your ownership.¹¹ Someone who buys the same property after you, without knowing about your deed, could end up with a superior legal claim. Recording is what protects you.

Extra Cautions for Gift Transfers

Gifting real estate to a family member follows the same deed-and-recording process, but it drags in federal tax and Medicaid rules that don’t apply to ordinary sales. Run these by an accountant or estate planning attorney before you file.

The federal gift tax annual exclusion for 2026 is $19,000 per recipient.¹² Nearly any home is worth more than that, so gifting a property almost always requires IRS Form 709. Filing doesn’t necessarily mean you owe gift tax, since the lifetime exemption shelters most donors, but skipping the filing is a problem you don’t want.¹³

The bigger issue is often cost basis. When you receive property as a lifetime gift, your basis for capital gains is the donor’s original basis, adjusted for improvements.¹⁴ If a parent bought a house for $50,000 in 1985 and gifts it to you when it’s worth $400,000, you inherit that $50,000 basis. Sell for $400,000 and you have a $350,000 taxable gain. If you instead inherit the same property at death, your basis resets to fair market value on the date of death.¹⁵ The timing of the transfer can be worth tens of thousands of dollars in capital gains tax.

Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program also reviews the 60 months of financial records before someone applies for long-term care benefits. A gift of real estate during that window can produce an ineligibility penalty, a stretch of time when the applicant cannot receive Medicaid-funded nursing home care. In 2026, each $421.20 given away translates to roughly one day of ineligibility, so a $200,000 property could produce more than a year of penalty during which the applicant pays nursing home costs out of pocket.

After the Deed Is Recorded

Some Pennsylvania municipalities require the new owner to register the deed locally after county recording. In Montgomery County, several boroughs and townships (including Lower Merion and Abington) require a separate registration, typically for a $10 fee.¹⁶ Your county recorder can tell you whether your municipality has this requirement.

If the property will be your primary residence, ask your county assessment office about the homestead exclusion for school property tax relief. Applications must generally be filed by March 1 before the tax year begins.¹⁷

Pennsylvania does not automatically reassess a property just because it changed hands. Local taxing districts can, however, appeal the assessment and request an increase after a sale. If the purchase price ran well above the assessed value, be ready for the possibility that your property taxes rise after the transfer.

1
Centre County Government. Recorderable Document Checklist
2
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 21 PS Deeds and Mortgages 10.1
3
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Pennsylvania Code 16 PS 9781 – Certificate as to Grantee Residence
4
Allegheny County, PA. Formatting Specifications
5
City of Philadelphia. Record a Deed or Other Document
6
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Common Level Ratios
7
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 2024 Common Level Ratio Real Estate Valuation Factors
8
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Realty Transfer Tax Statement of Value REV-183
9
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 72 PS Taxation and Fiscal Affairs 8102-C.3
10
Allegheny County, PA. E-Recording
11
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 21 PS 351 – Failure to Record Conveyance
12
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
13
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1015 – Basis of Property Acquired by Gifts and Transfers in Trust
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent
16
Montgomery County, PA. Recording Requirements
17
PA DCED. Property Tax Relief Through Homestead Exclusion