If you are buying a home in New York City, the closing day tax stack is the part of the deal most buyers don’t actually see until the wire goes out. There is the mortgage recording tax, a city transfer tax, a state transfer tax, a mansion tax that kicks in at $1 million, a second supplemental mansion tax that kicks in at $2 million, county recording fees, and a few line items the lender adds for good measure. This guide breaks all of it down in plain English, with the exact form numbers, the agency phone numbers, and the 2026 rates straight from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Form MT-15 (1/25) and the NYC Department of Finance Real Property Transfer Tax page.
The closing tax stack, in one paragraph
For a typical NYC home purchase with a mortgage, the buyer pays the mortgage recording tax, the mansion tax (if it applies), the supplemental mansion tax (if it applies), and the title insurance and recording fees. The seller pays the New York State base real estate transfer tax and the NYC Real Property Transfer Tax (RPTT). Those last two are technically the seller’s bill, but the contract can shift them to the buyer, and the State and City can come after either party if the other doesn’t pay. That is the whole map. Now here are the actual numbers.
1) Mortgage recording tax (MRT) — buyer pays
The mortgage recording tax is charged when your mortgage is recorded with the New York City Register’s Office (for the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens) or the Richmond County Clerk’s Office (for Staten Island). It is calculated on the loan amount, not the purchase price.
For a one-, two-, or three-family house or an individual residential condominium unit inside NYC, the combined State plus City mortgage recording tax rates published in Form MT-15 (1/25), Mortgage Recording Tax Return, Table 4, are:
- Loan under $500,000: $2.05 per $100 of mortgage debt — 2.05%
- Loan of $500,000 or more on a 1–3 family house or residential condo: $2.175 per $100 — 2.175%
- All other mortgages of $500,000 or more (commercial, larger residential buildings): $2.80 per $100 — 2.80%
The lender is legally responsible for the 0.25% “special additional tax” portion, which in practice means the borrower’s effective rate on a residential loan is reduced by $0.25 per $100. Most NYC lenders disclose the borrower’s effective MRT on the loan estimate. If yours does not break it out, call the lender before closing and ask for the borrower-paid MRT line item in dollars.
One small but real relief: if the mortgage is on a one- or two-family residence, the first $10,000 of principal is excluded from the “additional tax” component (the MCTD 0.30% piece in the five boroughs). It is automatic — you don’t file a separate form — but verify it appears in your closing math.
A worked example. On a $700,000 mortgage to buy a Brooklyn brownstone, the gross MRT at 2.175% is $15,225. Subtract the 0.25% lender-paid portion ($1,750) and the residential additional-tax exclusion ($10,000 × 0.30% = $30) and the buyer’s check is roughly $13,445. On a $450,000 condo mortgage in the Bronx at 2.05%, the gross MRT is $9,225, the borrower’s share after the lender’s 0.25% piece is around $8,100.
The legal authority is Title 11, Chapter 26 of the NYC Administrative Code and NY Tax Law section 253-a. For technical MRT questions, the State assistance line is 518-457-8637. For NYC City Register questions including ACRIS filing, the NYC Department of Finance customer service line is 311 (or 212-NEW-YORK from outside the city).
2) NYC Real Property Transfer Tax (RPTT) — seller pays
The City’s transfer tax is paid when the deed is recorded. From the NYC Department of Finance RPTT page, the residential rates are:
- 1-, 2-, or 3-family house, residential condo, or co-op apartment sold for $500,000 or less: 1.0% of the price
- Same property type sold for more than $500,000: 1.425% of the price
For commercial property and larger residential buildings (4+ units), the rates are 1.425% under $500K and 2.625% at $500K and above. The RPTT applies whenever the sale or transfer is more than $25,000.
The seller files Form NYC-RPT (built inside ACRIS, the Automated City Register Information System) within 30 days after the transfer. Filing late triggers a 5% per-month penalty (capped at 25%) plus interest. Even on a fully exempt transfer, the return still has to be filed in those 30 days.
Legal authority: NYC Administrative Code Title 11, Chapter 21; enabling statute NY Tax Law section 1201(b).
3) New York State base real estate transfer tax — seller pays
The State piles on top of the City. From the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance “Real estate transfer tax” page, the base State rate is $2 for each $500 of consideration — a flat 0.4%. On a $900,000 Queens condo, that is $3,600 to Albany on top of the $12,825 RPTT to the City.
The State filing is Form TP-584-NYC (6/25), the NYC-specific version of TP-584. It is filed with the deed; same 15-day window if recorded outside the recording office, but in practice it flows through ACRIS at the same moment the NYC-RPT does.
4) Mansion tax — buyer pays at $1M and again at $2M
The “mansion tax” is the 1% surcharge most New Yorkers have heard of. It is on the buyer. It applies to residential real property when the price is $1,000,000 or more. At $1,000,000 flat, the mansion tax is $10,000, and the dollar value of structuring a deal at $999,000 versus $1,000,001 is real — that’s the famous “mansion tax cliff.”
What far fewer buyers know is that the 2019 New York State budget layered a second, progressive mansion tax on top, for NYC properties only, starting at the $2 million mark. From the TP-584-NYC instructions and the NYS transfer tax page, the supplemental tax on residential NYC sales of $2 million or more runs in tiers from 0.25% up to 2.9%, climbing as the price climbs. The total mansion tax burden — base 1% plus the supplemental — therefore tops out near 3.9% for ultra-luxury residential sales.
The 2019 law also added a $1.25 per $500 additional base tax (0.25%) on NYC residential conveyances of $3 million or more, and on non-residential conveyances of $2 million or more. Both are reported on Form TP-584-NYC.
One narrow relief added in 2025: as of May 9, 2025, conveyances of real property for open space, parks, or historic preservation purposes to a qualifying tax-exempt corporation are exempt from the additional mansion tax. Almost no residential buyers will use this exemption, but it is on the form.
5) Recording fees and the small line items
The NYC Register charges per-document recording fees that are separate from the tax. A typical residential deed plus mortgage package in 2026 runs roughly $250 to $400 in recording and ACRIS fees, before tax. A non-deed RPTT filing has a flat $100 filing fee. There is also a state-mandated RP-5217-NYC real property transfer report filing (an information return, not a tax) that goes in with the deed.
For Staten Island purchases, the recording is done in person at the Richmond County Clerk’s Office, not ACRIS, even though the RPTT return must still be created electronically through ACRIS.
6) The full bill at three real price points
Here is what the buyer-side and seller-side closing tax math actually looks like in 2026, assuming a 20% down conventional mortgage on a 1–3 family house or residential condo in any of the four ACRIS boroughs.
$650,000 purchase, $520,000 mortgage
- Buyer MRT (~1.92% effective after 0.25% lender piece and the $10K residential exclusion): about $9,980
- Buyer mansion tax: $0 (under $1M)
- Seller RPTT (1.425% over $500K): $9,263
- Seller NYS base transfer (0.4%): $2,600
- Total NYC + NYS closing taxes: roughly $21,843
$1,400,000 purchase, $1,120,000 mortgage
- Buyer MRT (1.92% effective): about $21,490
- Buyer mansion tax (1% on entire price ≥ $1M): $14,000
- Seller RPTT (1.425%): $19,950
- Seller NYS base transfer (0.4%): $5,600
- Total NYC + NYS closing taxes: roughly $61,040
$2,500,000 purchase, $2,000,000 mortgage
- Buyer MRT on residential 1–3 family / condo loan ≥ $500K (1.925% effective): about $38,470
- Buyer base mansion tax (1%): $25,000
- Buyer supplemental NYS mansion tax on residential ≥ $2M (approx. 0.25% at this tier per TP-584-NYC-I): about $6,250
- Seller RPTT (1.425%): $35,625
- Seller NYS base transfer (0.4%): $10,000
- Total NYC + NYS closing taxes: roughly $115,345
The supplemental mansion tax in tier 1 is shown here at the lowest published rate; verify the exact percentage in the current Form TP-584-NYC-I before relying on a number, because Albany has revised the brackets twice since 2019.
7) The CEMA workaround for refinances
If you are refinancing rather than buying, ask your lender about a Consolidation, Extension and Modification Agreement (CEMA). A CEMA assigns your existing mortgage to the new lender instead of paying it off, and you only pay mortgage recording tax on the new money portion. On a refinance that takes a $400,000 balance up to $500,000, the MRT is calculated on the $100,000 of new money, not the full $500,000. The CEMA process is more paperwork and lender fees, so it generally only pencils out on loans of around $200,000 or more, but the savings on larger refis are substantial. CEMAs do not apply to purchases — only refinances and assumptions.
8) Forms checklist for closing
- Form NYC-RPT — NYC Real Property Transfer Tax return (built in ACRIS)
- Form TP-584-NYC (6/25) — combined NY State transfer tax return for NYC conveyances
- Form RP-5217-NYC — NY State real property transfer report (information filing)
- Form MT-15 (1/25) — mortgage recording tax return (only used when the mortgage spans multiple jurisdictions; most NYC-only loans skip it and the recording office computes the tax directly)
- Form IT-2663 — nonresident estimated income tax payment, if the seller is not a New York State resident
- Form IT-2664 — same as IT-2663 but for co-op shares
Your title company and closing attorney will assemble all of this, but every buyer and seller should at minimum verify (a) the exact MRT line on the buyer’s wire, (b) the exact RPTT line on the seller’s settlement statement, and (c) that the mansion tax tier matches the actual purchase price. Cliff errors happen.
Phone numbers and offices worth saving
- NYC Department of Finance customer service: 311 (or 212-NEW-YORK from outside the five boroughs)
- NYC Department of Finance, Land Records Division (RPTT extensions and questions): 66 John Street, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10038
- NY State Department of Taxation and Finance, Mortgage Recording Tax assistance: 518-457-8637
- NY State Department of Taxation and Finance, general MRT line: 518-457-5431
- Richmond County Clerk’s Office (Staten Island recordings): 130 Stuyvesant Place, Staten Island, NY 10301; 718-675-7700
What to do this week if you are closing soon
Three concrete steps. First, pull the current version of Form TP-584-NYC and Form MT-15 from tax.ny.gov so you are looking at the same rate tables your title company will be looking at. Second, ask your attorney for the exact buyer MRT dollar figure in writing — not the gross 2.05% or 2.175%, but the actual borrower-paid number after the 0.25% lender credit and the residential exclusion. Third, if you are within $25,000 of the $500K, $1M, $2M, or $3M cliff, run the numbers both above and below the threshold. The mansion-tax cliff alone is worth $10,000 to $25,000 in negotiating room.
Disclaimer
Tax advice in this article is informational. Consult a tax professional or the NYC Department of Finance for your specific situation. Tax rates and tier thresholds shown reflect the rates published in Form MT-15 (1/25) and the NYC Department of Finance RPTT page as of May 2026. The State legislature can amend these rates, and the supplemental NYC mansion tax tiers in particular have been revised twice since 2019 — always verify the current TP-584-NYC-I instructions before closing.
Sources
- NYC Department of Finance — Mortgage Recording Tax
- NYC Department of Finance — Real Property Transfer Tax (RPTT)
- NY State Department of Taxation and Finance — Mortgage recording tax
- NY State Department of Taxation and Finance — Real estate transfer tax
- Form MT-15 (1/25), Mortgage Recording Tax Return
- Form TP-584-NYC (6/25), Combined Real Estate Transfer Tax Return for NYC Conveyances
- ACRIS — Automated City Register Information System
