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Iowa Closing Cost Calculator
Iowa transfer tax is $0.80 per $500 of price after the first $500 is excluded. Calculate Iowa transfer tax after the first $500 exclusion, with fractional-unit rounding. Add your settlement quotes and agreed buyer–seller allocation.
Iowa deed tax and settlement worksheet
Ordinary taxable sale under Iowa Code 428A.1: exclude the first $500, then charge $0.80 for each additional $500 or fraction of taxable consideration. Confirm the declared real-property consideration and contract allocation. Gifts, corrective deeds, exemptions and recording charges require separate review.
Exclude $500 before rounding the rest
Iowa Code 428A.1 charges $0.80 for each $500 or fraction above the first $500 in an ordinary taxable sale. At $300,000, the calculation is 599 units multiplied by $0.80, producing $479.20.
The Scott County Recorder's table provides an independent small-value check: $3,000 produces $4.00, while $3,001 produces $4.80. The live worksheet reproduces both. The exemption is applied first; the remaining fraction then starts another taxable unit.
Confirm the real-property consideration
The statute's consideration definition includes an encumbrance assumed by the grantee. It also addresses personal property included in a sale: a separately stated dollar value can affect the taxable amount. Enter the amount confirmed for the real-property conveyance in the taxable-value field rather than subtracting estimated furniture values yourself.
No-consideration and corrective instruments have different treatment. This worksheet models an ordinary sale with consideration. For an exempt or unusual transfer, use a confirmed tax quote and retain the correct transaction figures for the other settlement calculations.
Declaration and recording requirements are separate
Section 428A.4 connects recording to payment of the required tax and submission of the declaration of value, subject to its exceptions. Computing a tax amount here does not submit the declaration or determine whether an exemption applies.
Enter the agreed seller share to allocate the modeled tax. Then add the recording, legal, title and lender quotes for your side. A supplied transfer-tax quote overrides that share. Buyer cash to close and seller proceeds also depend on deposit, credits, commission and payoff, so the tax alone is not a complete closing budget.
| Parameter | Amount or rule | In effect | Primary source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real estate transfer tax | $0.80 per $500 or fraction above the first $500 | Iowa Code 2026 | Iowa Code 428A.1 |
| Recording fee | $5 per page or fraction of a page | Iowa Code 2026 | Iowa Code 331.604(1) |
| Records management fee | $1 per recorded transaction | Iowa Code 2026 | Iowa Code 331.604(2) |
| Electronic transaction fee | $1 per recorded transaction, regardless of pages | Iowa Code 2026 | Iowa Code 331.604(3) |
| Title protection | Guaranty from the Iowa Finance Authority's title guaranty division; title insurance is excluded from approvable insurance kinds | Iowa Code 2026 | Iowa Code 16.91; 515.48 |
Recorder fees are counted by the page
Iowa recorders charge $5 for every page or fraction of a page, plus two $1 transaction fees: one for records management and one for the statewide electronic land-record system. A page holding two transactions is charged for each. So a three-page warranty deed costs $15 plus $2, or $17, and a twenty-page mortgage costs $100 plus $2, or $102. A buyer recording both pays $119; a one-page mortgage release costs $7.
Page count, not price, drives this charge. A $150,000 sale carries $239.20 of transfer tax (299 taxable units), yet its deed and mortgage cost the same $119 to record as those on a $600,000 sale with the same page counts. Enter the recorder total for your side in the recording quote line.
Title protection comes from a state guaranty
Iowa Code 515.48 excludes title insurance from the kinds of insurance the commissioner may approve, and section 16.91 directs the Iowa Finance Authority's title guaranty division to offer guaranties of real property titles, priced to keep that program self-sustaining. Ask the closing professional which title guaranty coverage and charge apply, and enter that figure in your side's title quote line; this site does not estimate it.
Iowa worked transfer-tax examples
| Scenario | Taxable value | State tax | Local amount | Tax subtotal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At the initial exclusion | $500.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| First taxable fraction | $500.01 | $0.80 | $0.00 | $0.80 |
| Recorder table example | $3,000.00 | $4.00 | $0.00 | $4.00 |
| One dollar above that example | $3,001.00 | $4.80 | $0.00 | $4.80 |
| Ordinary sale | $300,000.00 | $479.20 | $0.00 | $479.20 |
Last reviewed 2026-10-09. How the settlement worksheet works.
Questions about Iowa
- Is Iowa transfer tax 0.16% of the entire sale price?
- The first $500 is excluded, and the remaining amount is rounded upward to $500 units charged at $0.80 each. A flat percentage on the full price does not reproduce that calculation.
- Why does the Iowa worksheet ask for a seller percentage?
- The worksheet needs the payment allocation to turn a total deed-tax amount into buyer and seller budgets. Enter the agreement for your transaction or supply the transfer-tax quote for your own side.