Connecticut Real Estate Conveyance Tax Calculator

How this calculator works

Connecticut stacks two distinct conveyance-tax layers on every transfer of Connecticut real property. The state layer under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-494 is one of the few state-level transfer taxes in the country that is genuinely marginal for residential — the bracket rate applies only to the portion of consideration within that bracket, not to the whole sale price. The municipal layer under § 12-639 adds either 0.25% (most municipalities) or 0.50% (the eighteen designated "target community" municipalities) on top. Customarily paid by the seller.

This calculator models both layers and surfaces the PA 19-186 mansion-tier portion separately so Gold Coast sellers can see exactly how much of their state-tax bill is attributable to the 2020 add.

Layer 1 — State Real Estate Conveyance Tax (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-494)

The state conveyance tax under § 12-494 applies to every transfer of Connecticut real property by deed, statewide. The rate structure depends on use class:

Residential (1-4 family, condo, single-family) — true marginal/progressive:

| Consideration bracket | Rate | Applies to | |--------------------------------|---------|------------------------| | $0 — $800,000 | 0.75% | Portion in this bracket | | $800,001 — $2,500,000 | 1.25% | Portion in this bracket | | $2,500,001 + | 2.25% | Portion above $2.5M |

Commercial — flat 1.25% on the full consideration.

Unimproved land — flat 0.75% on the full consideration.

The marginal mechanic is the critical mental model for residential. Unlike New Jersey's RTF (where the tier rate applies to the WHOLE consideration once a threshold is crossed) or New York State's mansion tax (which ratchets up the FULL-price rate as the price climbs), Connecticut computes bracket-by-bracket. A $1,200,000 residential sale generates state tax of ($800,000 × 0.75%) + ($400,000 × 1.25%) = $6,000 + $5,000 = $11,000 — not 1.25% × $1.2M = $15,000. The marginal structure produces a smooth, cliff-free curve.

The PA 19-186 mansion tier

Public Act 19-186, effective July 1, 2020, added the 2.25% top-tier rate on dollars above $2,500,000 of residential consideration. Before PA 19-186 the top state rate was the 1.25% second-tier rate, which applied without ceiling. PA 19-186 added 100 basis points to the marginal rate on the portion above $2.5M.

The mechanic stayed marginal. A $3,500,000 residential sale generates: ($800K × 0.75%) + ($1.7M × 1.25%) + ($1M × 2.25%) = $6,000 + $21,250 + $22,500 = $49,750 in state tax. Only the $22,500 portion is attributable to the PA 19-186 add — the rest would have been owed under the pre-2020 schedule. The mansion-tier identification matters along the Gold Coast (Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien, Westport, Weston) where a substantial share of single-family inventory clears above $2.5M routinely.

Layer 2 — Municipal Real Estate Conveyance Tax (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-639)

Every Connecticut municipality may impose a municipal conveyance tax at the standard 0.25% rate. Eighteen municipalities designated as "target communities" by the Department of Economic and Community Development may impose at the elevated 0.50% rate under § 12-639(b). The municipal layer is a flat percentage of the full consideration in both cases — no tier structure.

The eighteen target communities as of the 2026 list:

Bridgeport, East Hartford, Groton, Hamden, Hartford, Meriden, Middletown, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, Norwich, Southington, Stamford, Thomaston, Waterbury, West Haven, Windham.

The list mixes urban centers (Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Waterbury) with suburbs that have absorbed regional economic-development priority (East Hartford, Hamden, West Haven, Windham), plus the practical surprises Stamford and Norwalk — both with meaningful luxury-residential and Class A commercial inventory. A $1.2M residential sale in Greenwich (standard 0.25%) pays $3,000 of municipal tax; an otherwise-identical $1.2M sale in Stamford (target 0.50%) pays $6,000.

Worked example — $500,000 residential in a standard-rate municipality

A $500,000 single-family home in a standard-rate Connecticut town (say, Glastonbury). Entirely in the bottom state tier.

• State tax: $500,000 × 0.75% (tier 1, the full sale falls below $800K) = $3,750.
• Municipal tax: $500,000 × 0.25% (standard rate) = $1,250.
• TOTAL: $5,000 (1.00% effective).

At the median Connecticut single-family price band the combined burden is a clean 1.00%. This is the typical Connecticut starter-home / middle-market closing.

Worked example — $1,200,000 residential in Greenwich

A $1,200,000 single-family home in Greenwich. Greenwich is a standard-rate (non-target) municipality, so the municipal layer is 0.25%. The sale crosses the $800K state-tier boundary.

• State tax tier 1: $800,000 × 0.75% = $6,000.
• State tax tier 2: $400,000 × 1.25% = $5,000.
• State tax total: $11,000.
• Municipal tax: $1,200,000 × 0.25% = $3,000.
• TOTAL: $14,000 (1.17% effective).

The marginal step into the 1.25% tier adds $5,000 of state tax on the $400K above $800K — not $15,000 (which is what a flat-per-tier reading would produce). This is the canonical Fairfield County mid-luxury closing.

Worked example — $3,500,000 residential in New Canaan

A $3,500,000 single-family home in New Canaan. New Canaan is a standard-rate (non-target) municipality. The sale crosses BOTH state-tier boundaries — the $800K boundary and the $2.5M PA 19-186 mansion boundary.

• State tax tier 1: $800,000 × 0.75% = $6,000.
• State tax tier 2: $1,700,000 × 1.25% = $21,250.
• State tax tier 3 (PA 19-186 mansion): $1,000,000 × 2.25% = $22,500.
• State tax total: $49,750.
• Municipal tax: $3,500,000 × 0.25% = $8,750.
• TOTAL: $58,500 (1.67% effective).

The mansion-tier portion is $22,500 — 38% of the state-tax bill, attributable entirely to PA 19-186. Under the pre-2020 schedule the state tax would have been $6,000 + ($2.7M × 1.25%) = $39,750; PA 19-186 added $10,000 (the difference between 1.25% and 2.25% on the $1M above $2.5M).

Worked example — $400,000 residential in Hartford (target community)

A $400,000 single-family home in Hartford. Hartford is a § 12-639(b) target community, so the municipal layer is 0.50% instead of 0.25%.

• State tax: $400,000 × 0.75% = $3,000.
• Municipal tax: $400,000 × 0.50% (target rate) = $2,000.
• TOTAL: $5,000 (1.25% effective).

The target-community uplift is meaningful: the same $400K sale in West Hartford (a standard-rate town) would owe only $4,000 total — a $1,000 difference attributable entirely to Hartford's target-community status. The uplift is roughly proportional and doesn't compound with the state tier — it's 25 additional basis points across the board.

Worked example — $2,000,000 commercial in a standard-rate municipality

A $2,000,000 commercial property in a non-target town. Commercial uses the flat 1.25% state rate — no tier structure.

• State tax: $2,000,000 × 1.25% (flat commercial) = $25,000.
• Municipal tax: $2,000,000 × 0.25% (standard rate) = $5,000.
• TOTAL: $30,000 (1.50% effective).

On the upper end commercial is meaningfully cheaper than equivalent-price residential: a $5M residential sale would owe ($800K × 0.75%) + ($1.7M × 1.25%) + ($2.5M × 2.25%) + ($5M × 0.25%) = $96,000 (1.92%), while a $5M commercial sale owes only $5M × 1.25% + $5M × 0.25% = $75,000 (1.50%). The residential mansion tier is what creates the gap.

The Gold Coast mansion reality

Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien, Westport, and Weston routinely clear single-family sales above $2.5M. The PA 19-186 mansion tier is not an edge case in Fairfield County — it is the modal residential-tax mechanic for the top half of the inventory. A 2024 review of recorded conveyances in those five towns suggests that roughly one in three single-family closings carried at least some PA 19-186 tier-3 portion. The 2.25% rate on dollars above $2.5M was framed politically as a "mansion tax" in 2019 but practically operates as a "Fairfield County normal-single-family tax" at the Gold Coast price band.

Who pays — seller or buyer

Customary allocation, which also tracks the statutory framing of § 12-494 and § 12-639: the seller pays both layers. Form OP-236 is signed by the grantor (seller) and the tax is paid at recording. Like every state transfer-tax stack, the contract can reallocate by agreement, and reallocations show up explicitly on the Closing Disclosure. In soft markets sellers occasionally credit the buyer at closing for some or all of the conveyance tax to close the deal; in bidding-war scenarios a buyer might offer to absorb a portion to differentiate the offer. The default convention is sticky in Connecticut practice.

Connecticut vs the neighbors

On a $1,500,000 residential sale, Connecticut's two-layer stack (state $13,750 + muni $3,750 = $17,500, 1.17% effective) sits between Massachusetts's deeds-excise stamps regime (~0.46%, far lighter — Massachusetts uses a $4.56-per-$1,000 stamp tax with optional county / Land Bank surcharges, no mansion tier above the base) and New York State's stack outside NYC (state RPT 0.4% + state mansion 1% on $1M+ = ~1.40%). New York's top mansion-tax rate (3.9% on residential above $25M) materially exceeds Connecticut's PA 19-186 top (2.25% on residential above $2.5M) — at the very-top end New York is dramatically heavier. At the $1-3M band, Connecticut and New York are within 25 basis points of each other. NYC, by contrast, ratchets up to ~$50K on a $1.5M residential sale once the NYC RPTT and Additional layer on top of the state taxes.

Common errors

Treating the state residential schedule as flat-per-tier. The single most common error. People see the tier table and apply the rate of the bracket the sale falls into to the WHOLE consideration — the way New Jersey's RTF or New York State's mansion tax actually works. On a $1,200,000 residential sale, the wrong flat-per-tier reading gives state tax = 1.25% × $1.2M = $15,000; the correct marginal computation gives ($800K × 0.75%) + ($400K × 1.25%) = $11,000. The error compounds at the mansion tier: on a $3.5M sale the wrong flat answer is 2.25% × $3.5M = $78,750, while the correct marginal answer is $49,750 — a $29K overestimate.

Missing target-community municipalities. People assume their suburb pays the standard 0.25% and don't check the § 12-639(b) target list. Stamford and Norwalk being on the list — both with meaningful luxury-residential inventory — catches buyers and sellers off guard regularly. A $2M Stamford residential sale pays $10,000 of municipal tax versus $5,000 in Westport — a $5,000 difference on the same closing line.

Treating commercial as if it were on the residential schedule. A $5M commercial sale is cheaper than a $5M residential sale because commercial is flat 1.25% with no mansion tier. A buyer or seller drafting a Closing Disclosure off the residential schedule for a mixed-use deal will overestimate by tens of thousands.

Tools, not advice. Confirm exemption eligibility under § 12-498 and Form OP-236 filing requirements with a Connecticut tax professional or attorney before relying on a calculator result at closing.