The New York State mortgage recording tax is a layered tax charged whenever a mortgage is recorded with a county clerk or city register. In New York City, buyers pay roughly 1.80% of the loan amount on mortgages under $500,000 and about 1.925% on loans of $500,000 or more, while the lender separately pays 0.25%. Outside the city, combined rates typically fall between about 1.00% and 1.30% depending on the county. On a $400,000 mortgage in NYC, the buyer’s share works out to about $7,200, due at closing.
When the Tax Applies
The tax is triggered any time a mortgage is submitted for recording. Recording creates the public record that gives the lender a legally enforceable claim against the property, and the state charges for that privilege. It applies to both residential and commercial loans.
New York defines “mortgage” broadly. Beyond a standard home loan, the definition reaches deeds of trust, executory sale contracts where the buyer has possession, and assignments of rents used as collateral in cities with a population over one million. Any agreement that increases the debt secured by an existing mortgage is treated as a new taxable mortgage on the amount of the increase.1New York State Senate. New York Tax Law Section 250
Co-ops sit outside this framework in one direction and inside it in another. Because a co-op buyer purchases shares in a corporation rather than real property, no mortgage is recorded and the state tax doesn’t attach. New York City, however, imposes a separate tax that functions as a mortgage recording tax equivalent on co-op financing. If you’re buying a co-op in the city, your closing attorney will address that separately.
How the Rate Is Built
The rate isn’t a single number. It’s assembled from several components that stack together, and the total depends on where the property sits and how large the loan is. Every recorded mortgage in the state carries at least the basic tax and the special additional tax, with more added by county.
- Basic tax: 50 cents per $100 of loan principal (0.50%).
- Special additional tax: 25 cents per $100 (0.25%). On residential property with six or fewer units, the lender pays this portion, not the borrower.
- Additional tax: 25 cents per $100 (0.25%) in most counties, or 30 cents per $100 (0.30%) in counties within the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD). For one- or two-family homes, the first $10,000 of loan principal is excluded from this calculation.
On top of these statewide layers, individual counties and cities may add a local mortgage tax of 25 to 50 cents per $100.2New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Mortgage Recording Tax
New York City
NYC sits inside the MCTD and imposes its own local mortgage tax, so the combined rate is the highest in the state. For residential mortgages, the total comes to approximately 2.05% on loans under $500,000 and 2.175% on loans of $500,000 or more. In both brackets, the lender covers the 0.25% special additional tax, leaving the borrower responsible for roughly 1.80% or 1.925% depending on loan size.3New York State Senate. New York Tax Law Article 11 – 253 Recording Tax
In dollars, a $400,000 residential mortgage in NYC costs the borrower about $7,200 in mortgage recording tax. A $600,000 loan costs about $11,550. These amounts appear on your loan estimate and closing disclosure well before signing.
Outside New York City
Rates are lower elsewhere but still vary by county. A county inside the MCTD (Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, or Dutchess) uses the 0.30% additional tax rate; counties outside the MCTD use 0.25%. Add any local county tax, and most borrowers pay a combined rate between roughly 1.00% and 1.30%.2New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Mortgage Recording Tax
Form MT-15, the mortgage recording tax return, lists the exact rate for each jurisdiction. Your closing attorney or title company will pull the correct figures, but it’s worth checking the form yourself so nothing on the closing disclosure is a surprise.4New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Mortgage Recording Tax Return Form MT-15
The $10,000 One- and Two-Family Home Reduction
On a one- or two-family home, the first $10,000 of loan principal is excluded when calculating the additional tax component. The savings are small (about $30 at the MCTD rate), and your closing attorney should apply it automatically.3New York State Senate. New York Tax Law Article 11 – 253 Recording Tax
Borrower Versus Lender
The split is set by statute and isn’t negotiable. On residential mortgages secured by property with six or fewer dwelling units, the lender pays the 0.25% special additional tax. The borrower pays everything else. This holds whether the loan is under or over $500,000.3New York State Senate. New York Tax Law Article 11 – 253 Recording Tax
There is one exception. If the lender is a natural person or a credit union, the special additional tax doesn’t apply at all for residential property of six units or fewer. The total rate is slightly lower in that case. Credit union borrowers should confirm this with their loan officer, because it’s easy to miss.
Paying at Closing
The tax is due when the mortgage is submitted for recording, not at some later date. You don’t pay the state directly. The payment goes to the recording office along with the mortgage documents, and your closing attorney or title company handles the mechanics as part of the closing.
The submission includes the mortgage itself and a completed Form MT-15, which itemizes the loan amount, the applicable rates, and the lender’s share. If the mortgaged property spans jurisdictions with different rates, the full Form MT-15 is used to allocate the tax across them.4New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Mortgage Recording Tax Return Form MT-15
Where the paperwork goes depends on the property. Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx use the Office of the City Register. Staten Island requires both electronic and paper filings. Every other county uses its county clerk’s office. Payment is usually made by certified funds such as a bank check or attorney escrow check. In the four boroughs served by the City Register, the Automated City Register Information System (ACRIS) allows electronic filing and can calculate the tax and generate the required cover pages.5New York City Department of Finance. ACRIS
Cutting the Tax on a Refinance With a CEMA
Refinancing normally means recording a brand-new mortgage and paying the full recording tax on the full new loan amount. A Consolidation, Extension, and Modification Agreement (CEMA) is the workaround. With a CEMA, you pay the tax only on the “new money,” meaning the difference between the new loan amount and the unpaid principal balance of the old one.
An example makes the math concrete. If you owe $350,000 on your current mortgage and refinance into a $400,000 loan, a CEMA limits the tax to the $50,000 increase rather than the full $400,000. In NYC, where the borrower’s rate is 1.80% or higher, that can save well over $5,000 on a single closing.
The catch is cooperation. A CEMA requires your current lender to assign the existing mortgage to the new lender rather than discharging it. No lender is required to do this, and many charge an assignment fee. The current lender’s attorney also needs to locate the original note and mortgage. If those documents are missing, some lenders will accept a lost-note affidavit and others won’t. All of this adds time and legal fees, so weigh the total against the projected tax savings.
Refinancing with the same lender is simpler, since no interbank assignment is needed. Either way, raise the CEMA option early. Skipping one when it’s available is among the more expensive oversights in a New York refinance.
Modifications That Don’t Trigger New Tax
Not every change to a loan creates a new tax bill. Modifications that adjust the interest rate or extend the term without increasing principal generally don’t trigger the recording tax. If a modification does increase the amount secured by the mortgage, the increase is treated as a new taxable mortgage and the tax applies to that added amount.1New York State Senate. New York Tax Law Section 250 Adding a co-borrower can raise harder questions. When in doubt, have a real estate attorney review the modification before it’s recorded.
Exemptions
A narrow set of transactions and entities are exempt. Federal entities including the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, agricultural credit associations, and federal home loan banks are explicitly exempt.6New York State Senate. New York Tax Law Article 11 – 252 Exemptions Certain public benefit corporations and mortgages recorded as part of a federal bankruptcy reorganization also qualify.
Reverse mortgages that conform to New York Real Property Law sections 280 or 280-a are exempt. To claim the exemption, the lender must provide documentation in a format approved by the Commissioner of Taxation and Finance. Without that documentation at recording, the tax is assessed on the total loan proceeds the lender is obligated to advance.7New York State Senate. New York Tax Law Article 11 – 252-A Other Exemptions
Loans through certain affordable housing programs run by the New York State Housing Finance Agency or the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development may qualify, particularly on low-income housing projects. The details depend on the specific program.
One exemption that does not exist, despite persistent rumors: there is no mortgage recording tax break for first-time homebuyers. Legislation to create one has been introduced in the state senate but has not been enacted as of 2026. Every residential buyer pays the same rates.
Federal Tax Treatment
The mortgage recording tax isn’t deductible as an itemized federal deduction. The IRS does allow you to add recording fees and transfer or stamp taxes to the original cost basis of your home. A higher basis means less taxable profit when you sell, which can matter if your gain exceeds the home-sale exclusion ($250,000 for single filers, $500,000 for married couples filing jointly).8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 530 (2025) Tax Information for Homeowners
Keep your closing disclosure and proof of payment. Reconstructing these numbers years later is far harder than filing them away now.
If You Were Overcharged
If the tax was calculated incorrectly, or an exemption you qualified for wasn’t applied, you can file Form MT-15.1, Claim for Refund, with the recording officer. The deadline is two years from the date the erroneous payment was received by the recording office. If the refund is based on the borrower’s statutory right of rescission, the deadline is the later of two years from payment or one year from the date the mortgage was discharged.9New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Form MT-15.1 Claim for Refund If the administrative process doesn’t resolve the dispute, judicial review is available through an Article 78 proceeding in New York State Supreme Court after administrative remedies have been exhausted.