Two charges on a metro Atlanta settlement statement generate more questions than anything else on the page, and neither usually gets explained before closing day. The Georgia real estate transfer tax and the intangible recording tax are both state charges tied to recording documents at the county courthouse. They are calculated two different ways, attach to two different pieces of paper, and customarily land on opposite sides of the statement. What follows is the arithmetic and the process only.
How much is the transfer tax in Georgia?
The Georgia Department of Revenue states the real estate transfer tax rate as "$1 for the first $1,000 or fractional part of $1,000 and at the rate of 10 cents for each additional $100 or fractional part of $100." That works out to roughly one dollar per thousand dollars of consideration. On a $450,000 sale the tax is $450. On a $1,000,000 sale it is $1,000. The governing code sections are O.C.G.A. 48-6-1 through 48-6-10.
O.C.G.A. 48-6-1 applies the rate to each deed conveying realty "when the consideration or value of the interest or property conveyed (exclusive of the value of any lien or encumbrance existing prior to the sale and not removed by the sale) exceeds $100.00." In an ordinary Atlanta resale where the seller pays off the existing loan at closing, the measure is the contract price.
The fractional part rule, and why the number is rarely round
The phrase "fractional part" does real work. Any partial $100 increment counts as a full $100. Take the August 2026 median sale price for the city of Atlanta, reported by Redfin at $427,467, up 9.1 percent year over year with a median 57 days on market. The first $1,000 costs $1.00. The remaining $426,467 divides into 4,264.67 increments of $100, and the fraction rounds up to 4,265 increments at 10 cents each, or $426.50. Total transfer tax: $427.50.
The charge scales linearly and never caps. The Atlanta REALTORS Association Market Brief for March 2026 put the average sales price at $525,500 against 17,723 active listings and a 4.0 month supply, and a $525,500 sale carries $525.50 in transfer tax.
Who pays the transfer tax in Georgia, the buyer or the seller?
The Department of Revenue answers this directly: "The seller is liable for the real estate transfer tax, though frequently the parties agree in the sales contract that the buyer will pay the tax." The default under state law sits with the seller, and the purchase and sale agreement can move it. In metro Atlanta practice the seller customarily pays it, and it appears as a seller debit on the statement.
Because the liability is statutory but the allocation is contractual, the contract controls. If someone offers to "cover the transfer tax" in a concession package, that is a figure you can compute from the price in advance. For how the rest of the charges divide, see our breakdown of Atlanta buyer closing costs in 2026.
How the tax actually gets paid
Payment runs through the Clerk of Superior Court. The Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority states that "before a deed, security instrument, or other writing can be recorded in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court, the real estate transfer tax must be paid." The vehicle is Form PT-61, the Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration, filed electronically through the Authority's portal, one per applicable deed.
What is the intangible recording tax and who pays it?
The intangible recording tax is a separate charge on the security instrument, not on the deed. The Department of Revenue sets the intangible recording tax rate "at the rate of $1.50 for each $500.00 or fractional part of the face amount" of a long term note secured by real estate. That is roughly three dollars per thousand borrowed, measured against the loan amount rather than the price. The code sections are O.C.G.A. 48-6-60 through 48-6-77.
On who pays, the statute and the practice differ. O.C.G.A. 48-6-61 provides that "the collecting officer shall collect the tax due on the security instrument from the holder of the instrument," meaning the lender. In practice the borrower funds it at closing as part of the loan charges, and on a financed Atlanta purchase it appears as a buyer debit.
The Department of Revenue notes the security instrument must be recorded "within 90 days from the date of the instrument executed to secure the note," and that "failure to pay the tax will incur a 50 percent penalty of the tax amount and 1 percent interest per month."
The 62 month rule that decides if the tax applies at all
The tax only attaches to a long term note. O.C.G.A. 48-6-60 defines that as a note secured by real estate "when any part of the principal of the note falls due more than 62 months from the date of the note or from the date of any instrument executed to secure the note." House Bill 586, effective July 1, 2025, raised the threshold from three years to 62 months, which moves more loans to the short term side of the line. For a standard residential purchase this changes nothing: a 15 year or 30 year mortgage is a long term note under either version of the rule.
Is there a cap on the intangible tax?
Yes. O.C.G.A. 48-6-61 states that "the maximum amount of any intangible recording tax payable as provided in this Code section with respect to any single note shall be $25,000.00." The Department of Revenue repeats the same figure. The cap is per note, not per transaction or per property.
Working backward from the rate, the ceiling binds at a note of roughly $8.33 million, a threshold Georgia Title and Escrow Company describes the same way. Below that point the charge is linear: a $1,000,000 note produces 2,000 increments of $500 at $1.50 each, or $3,000.
Are any transfers exempt?
Both taxes have statutory exemption lists, and they are separate lists. On the transfer tax side, O.C.G.A. 48-6-2 exempts, among other instruments, "any instrument or writing given to secure a debt," "any deed of gift," "any lease of lands, tenements, standing timber, or other realty," "any transfer of real estate between a husband and wife in connection with a divorce case," and orders for year's support.
Note the first item. The security deed is never subject to transfer tax, because it secures a debt rather than conveying a sale. That is why the two charges never overlap on one document.
On the intangible side, Georgia Rule 560-11-8-.14 lists exemptions including government entities, federal and Georgia credit unions and churches as grantees, instruments providing additional security or correcting a prior recording, and instruments that do not secure a note.
Exemptions are fact specific and the state routes those questions locally: the Department of Revenue tells readers that inquiries about "taxability and exemptions" go to "the Clerk of Superior Court in the county." Your closing attorney raises the issue with the clerk, which makes it worth knowing who the Georgia closing attorney represents.
A worked example at a realistic Atlanta price point
Assume a $450,000 purchase with a $360,000 conventional loan. Georgia MLS data reported in September 2026 put the August 2026 median sales price at $400,000, down 1.7 percent year over year, against 22,897 active listings, up 3 percent from August 2025.
Transfer tax on the deed: $1.00 for the first $1,000, plus 4,490 increments of $100 across the remaining $449,000 at 10 cents each, or $449.00. Total $450.00, customarily a seller debit.
Intangible recording tax on the security deed: $360,000 divided by $500 gives 720 increments, each at $1.50, for $1,080.00. Customarily a buyer debit, well under the $25,000 ceiling.
Recording fees are a third, separate item and do not scale with price. Gwinnett County's Deeds and Land Records fee schedule lists a flat $25.00 per document, so a deed and a security deed together record for $50.00 at any transaction size.
What happens on a cash purchase with no security deed?
A cash closing pays the transfer tax and nothing else in this category. With no note there is no security instrument to present to the collecting officer and no intangible recording tax. A $450,000 cash purchase produces the same $450.00 transfer tax as a financed one, and the $1,080.00 intangible line does not appear.
Where each line lands on the settlement statement
On a financed purchase using the Closing Disclosure, both charges sit in the government fees section, which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes as covering "costs associated with transferring the property to you and registering your mortgage with the county records office." Transfer tax and deed recording relate to the transfer; intangible tax and security deed recording relate to the loan.
Read them alongside the prorations, which follow different logic: our guide to how property taxes are prorated at an Atlanta closing covers that arithmetic.
FAQ
How much is the transfer tax in Georgia? The Department of Revenue states the rate as $1 for the first $1,000 or fractional part of $1,000 and 10 cents for each additional $100 or fractional part of $100, about $1.00 per $1,000 of consideration. That is $450 on a $450,000 sale, with no maximum.
Who pays the transfer tax in Georgia? The Department of Revenue states that the seller is liable, though the parties frequently agree in the sales contract that the buyer will pay it. In metro Atlanta the seller customarily pays, and the contract controls the allocation.
What is the intangible recording tax and who pays it? It is a tax on the security instrument at $1.50 per $500 or fractional part of the face amount of a long term note. The statute directs the collecting officer to collect it from the holder of the instrument, and the borrower customarily funds it at closing. A cash purchase with no security deed pays none of it.
Is there a cap on the intangible recording tax? Yes. O.C.G.A. 48-6-61 caps it at $25,000 per single note. The ceiling binds at a note of roughly $8.33 million.
Are any transfers exempt? O.C.G.A. 48-6-2 lists transfer tax exemptions including deeds of gift, instruments given to secure a debt, leases, certain divorce related transfers and year's support awards. Exemptions turn on specific facts, and the state routes those questions to the Clerk of Superior Court in the county.
Conclusion
Both charges are mechanical once you know which document each attaches to. The Georgia real estate transfer tax runs about $1.00 per $1,000 of consideration on the deed, has no ceiling, and is the seller's liability by statute unless the contract says otherwise. The intangible recording tax runs $1.50 per $500 of the loan amount, caps at $25,000 per note, and is customarily funded by the borrower. A cash purchase pays the first and not the second.
This explains how the charges are calculated, not what they mean for you: any question about a specific transaction or a possible exemption belongs with your closing attorney and your CPA.
If you are reading a net sheet or a settlement statement and want an unhurried walk through what each line means for your situation, contact The Agency Atlanta for a conversation.
