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Massachusetts Closing Cost Calculator
Massachusetts deeds excise is $2.28 per $500 of price ($4.56 per $1,000); in Barnstable County it is $3.24 per $500. Choose the property location and confirm the excise base. On Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard, calculate the buyer’s land-bank charge separately from the seller’s deed stamps.
Massachusetts deeds excise and settlement worksheet
Reviewed 2026–2027 ordinary deed: confirmed net excise consideration, $2.28 per $500 or fraction outside Barnstable; Barnstable $1.71 state plus $1.53 county per $500. Buyer land-bank fees in Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard are separate: ordinary 2% of confirmed land-bank consideration. Nantucket confirmed qualifying 2026 M exemption excludes up to $1.4 million; a 2027 M exemption requires the actual published exclusion and source confirmation. Other relief uses a buyer land-bank quote. Recording, legal and special transfer charges require quotes.
- Massachusetts General Laws 64D section 1: base and exemptions
- Massachusetts 2025 Deed Indexing Standards: current effective rates
- Barnstable Registry: state and county excise components
- Massachusetts DOR Directive 88-18: existing liens and new mortgages
- Nantucket Land Bank: buyer fee and 2026 exemption
- Nantucket Land Bank: enacted 2026 M exemption amount
- Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank: transaction processing
- Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank: governing law and regulations
Deeds excise uses $500 blocks
The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s published indexing standards give an effective rate of $2.28 per $500 or fraction outside Barnstable County. For example, $500,000 produces $2,280, while $500,000.01 moves into another block and produces $2,282.28.
Chapter 64D section 1 defines the consideration base and the threshold above $100. The model uses the effective rate including the applicable surcharge, rather than only the older base figure printed in the statute.
Barnstable has separate state and county components
The Barnstable Registry of Deeds publishes $3.42 per $1,000 for the state component and $3.06 for the county component. Together they equal $6.48 per $1,000, calculated after rounding consideration up to a $500 block.
On $500,000, that is $1,710 state plus $1,530 county, or $3,240. Both components follow the deeds-excise allocation in this worksheet. The registry page describes the $100 boundary differently from the statute and statewide standards; an exact $100 Barnstable transaction requires a confirmed quote here.
| Scenario | Taxable value | State tax | Local amount | Tax subtotal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other county; $500,000 net excise consideration | $500,000.00 | $2,280.00 | $0.00 | $2,280.00 |
| Barnstable; $500,000 net excise consideration | $500,000.00 | $1,710.00 | $1,530.00 | $3,240.00 |
| Nantucket; $1,500,000 ordinary nonexempt purchase | $1,500,000.00 | $6,840.00 | $30,000.00 | $36,840.00 |
| Nantucket; same price, confirmed qualifying 2026 M exemption | $1,500,000.00 | $6,840.00 | $2,000.00 | $8,840.00 |
A new mortgage does not reduce taxable consideration
DOR Directive 88-18 distinguishes an existing qualifying lien that remains on the property from a newly created buyer mortgage. A new mortgage or novation is not a deductible remaining encumbrance. A qualifying assumption or subject-to arrangement can have different treatment.
Enter the closing preparer’s confirmed net excise consideration. A buyer financing $400,000 of a $500,000 ordinary purchase does not automatically reduce the excise base to the $100,000 down payment. The directive’s historic rate examples are not used as current rates.
Nantucket: ordinary buyer fee and the 2026 M exemption
The Nantucket Land Bank’s current guidance assigns a 2% fee to the purchaser, using its definition of purchase price. Without an exemption, a $1.5 million purchase therefore creates a $30,000 buyer fee separate from $6,840 deeds excise.
The commission’s 2026 exemption announcement increases the qualifying M exemption to $1.4 million from January 1, 2026. For a confirmed qualifying $1.5 million purchase, only $100,000 remains subject to the 2% fee, producing $2,000.
Select that option only after eligibility has been established. Prior ownership, joint-purchaser circumstances, residency and continuing requirements matter. The calculator does not approve the claim, remove a land-bank lien or determine whether an earlier exemption must be repaid.
Martha’s Vineyard: confirm the fee or exemption separately
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank processing instructions require a 2% payment for a nonexempt transfer and separate documentation for an exemption. The ordinary mode computes that fee from the separately confirmed land-bank purchase price.
Use the quoted-fee mode for Vineyard exemption treatment, including a confirmed zero when fully exempt. Nantucket’s $1.4 million option is specific to Nantucket and cannot be applied to the Vineyard. The Vineyard’s governing law and regulations define its own member towns, consideration and eligibility rules.
The two tax bases and payer allocations can differ
A remaining mortgage deduction used for deeds excise should not be copied automatically into the land-bank base. The island purchase-price definition can include assumed obligations and other consideration. That is why the worksheet asks for both amounts.
Changing the seller’s deeds-excise percentage does not shift the buyer’s land-bank fee. If a contract reallocates the island charge, enter the full transfer-charge quote assigned to your selected side. This replaces the modeled amount rather than adding the same charge twice.
Complete the remaining settlement lines
A hypothetical $500,000 Barnstable seller with $3,240 excise, $1,000 other entered costs and $300,000 payoff has $195,760 proceeds before commission and credits. Recording, title services, lender expenses, legal charges and prorations must come from the actual closing estimates.
Last reviewed 2026-10-15. Worksheet methodology.
Nantucket M relief depends on the transfer year
The verified 2026 M exclusion is $1.4 million. For a 2027 purchase using this particular relief, enter the actual Land Bank published exclusion and confirm that source. The calculator keeps the ordinary 2% land-bank structure separate from that annual exclusion; ordinary nonexempt purchases do not require an M amount. A displayed future field is a request for an official amount, not an estimate of what the commission will announce.
Questions about Massachusetts
- Does the seller’s deeds excise include the buyer’s island land-bank fee?
- No. The worksheet allocates deeds excise separately. On an ordinary nonexempt $1.5 million Nantucket purchase, seller excise is $6,840 under the default allocation and the buyer land-bank fee is $30,000.
- What is Nantucket’s 2026 first-time-buyer exemption amount?
- For a qualifying M exemption, the 2026 maximum excluded purchase price is $1.4 million. A qualifying $1.5 million purchase leaves $100,000 subject to the 2% fee, or $2,000. Eligibility and continuing conditions must be confirmed.