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Maine Closing Cost Calculator
Maine transfer tax is $2.20 per $500 of value, half from each side, plus $3.80 per $500 above $1 million. Maine transfer tax rises above $1 million and is split equally between grantor and grantee by statute. Calculate both rate components before adding your quoted closing charges.
Maine transfer tax and settlement worksheet
Ordinary taxable deed recorded under the rates effective November 1, 2025: $2.20 per $500 or fraction, plus $3.80 per $500 or fraction above $1 million. Statutory tax allocation is half to each side. Confirm exemptions, including qualifying MaineHousing-assisted purchases, separately.
The rate changed for transfers from November 1, 2025
Under 36 MRSA 4641-A, the base tax is $2.20 per $500 or fractional part of the transferred value. An additional $3.80 per $500 or fractional part applies to value above $1 million. The surcharge applies only to the excess, while the base tax applies to the whole taxable value. These are the rates used for a current transfer in this worksheet.
At exactly $1 million, the base tax is $4,400 and the surcharge is zero. At $1,000,000.01, a new block is required for both the base and excess portions: $4,402.20 plus $3.80, or $4,406 total. Treating the statute as a continuous percentage would miss that boundary.
Budget the half-share on each side
The statute allocates half of the tax to grantor and half to grantee. The worksheet starts with a 50% seller share; its buyer share is the other 50%. The price table below shows the tax for the entire transfer before allocation, so do not add the full table amount to each party's budget.
Primary source: 36 MRSA 4641-A.
Confirm MaineHousing assistance before applying an exemption
The 2025 law also established a transfer-tax exemption associated with financial assistance through Maine State Housing Authority first-time homebuyer programs. First-time status alone is not the input used by this calculator. Ask the program or closing professional to confirm the exemption and enter the resulting transfer-tax quote for your side.
The effective-date and exemption summary is published by Maine Revenue Services. Add lender, title, legal and recording quotes separately to avoid treating this deed tax as the complete cost of closing.
| Parameter | Amount | In effect | Primary source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base transfer tax | $2.20 per $500 or fraction, half on each side | Transfers from November 1, 2025 | 36 MRSA 4641-A |
| Additional tax above $1 million | $3.80 per $500 or fraction of the excess | Transfers from November 1, 2025 | 36 MRSA 4641-A |
| Recording an instrument (private party) | $35 flat per instrument | From January 1, 2026 | 33 MRSA 751(1)(B) |
| Recording before 2026 (replaced) | $19 first page, $2 each additional page, $1 per indexed name above four | Until January 1, 2026 | 33 MRSA 751(1) |
Registry fees became one flat charge in 2026
Public Law 2025, chapter 328 rewrote the registers of deeds schedule in 33 MRSA 751. From January 1, 2026, an instrument recorded at the request of anyone other than the State or a municipality costs $35, however many pages or names it has. The same law repealed the $13 charge for each extra previously recorded instrument a discharge or assignment refers to.
The change cuts the cost of long documents and raises the cost of short ones. Under the old schedule, a four-page deed cost $25 ($19 plus three pages at $2) and a twenty-two-page mortgage cost $61 ($19 plus twenty-one pages at $2), $86 together. In 2026 the same pair costs $70. A one-page discharge of the seller's old mortgage went from $19 to $35. Enter the registry total charged to your side in its recording quote line; the transfer-tax model above does not include it.
Maine transfer-tax worked examples
| Scenario | Taxable value | State tax | Local amount | Tax subtotal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Below the surcharge | $400,000.00 | $1,760.00 | $0.00 | $1,760.00 |
| At the $1 million threshold | $1,000,000.00 | $4,400.00 | $0.00 | $4,400.00 |
| First fractional block above the threshold | $1,000,000.01 | $4,406.00 | $0.00 | $4,406.00 |
| Example with both rate components | $1,200,000.00 | $6,800.00 | $0.00 | $6,800.00 |
Last reviewed 2026-10-09. How the settlement worksheet works.
Questions about Maine
- What is Maine transfer tax on a $1.2 million taxable sale?
- The base tax is $5,280 and the additional tax on the $200,000 above $1 million is $1,520. Total transfer tax is $6,800. The statutory half-share is $3,400 for the grantor and $3,400 for the grantee before other closing charges.
- Does being a first-time buyer automatically exempt the sale?
- No. The Maine Revenue Services change summary ties the exemption to financial assistance through Maine State Housing Authority first-time homebuyer programs. Confirm qualification; the calculator assumes a taxable sale unless you replace the estimate with a confirmed quote.