Michigan Real Estate Transfer Tax Calculator

How this calculator works

Michigan imposes a two-layer real estate transfer tax that combines at the county Register of Deeds when the deed is recorded. Unlike Ohio's permissive county fee (where the county component varies by board resolution) or New York's four-layer NYC stack, Michigan's transfer tax is uniform across all 83 counties: the same state rate, the same county rate, the same combined 0.86%. The two layers:

1. State Real Estate Transfer Tax (SRETT) — MCL § 207.526, statewide, $3.75 per $500 of consideration = 0.75%.
2. County Real Estate Transfer Tax (CRETT) — MCL § 207.504, statewide, $0.55 per $500 of consideration = 0.11%.

Combined: $4.30 per $500 = 0.86% of sale price. Customarily paid by the SELLER at closing.

This calculator computes both layers, surfaces the four common exemption categories, screens for the SEV-decline SRETT refund under MCL § 207.526(u), and notes the Principal Residence Exemption (PRE) buyer-side context.

Layer 1 — State Real Estate Transfer Tax (SRETT, MCL § 207.526)

The State Real Estate Transfer Tax Act of 1993 imposes a state-level transfer tax of $3.75 per $500 of consideration on every Michigan deed transfer. The state rate is the dominant share of the Michigan transfer-tax bill — about 87% of the combined total ($3.75 of the $4.30 per $500). Revenue flows to Michigan's School Aid Fund, which funds K-12 education statewide.

The SRETT is collected by the county Register of Deeds at the time of recording, alongside the CRETT and the per-page recording fee. The Register of Deeds will not record the deed until the transfer tax is paid in full (or, on exempt transfers, until the appropriate exemption affidavit is filed).

Layer 2 — County Real Estate Transfer Tax (CRETT, MCL § 207.504)

The County Real Estate Transfer Tax Act imposes a county-level transfer tax of $0.55 per $500 of consideration. Unlike Ohio (where each county sets its own permissive rate between $0 and $3 per $1,000) Michigan's CRETT rate is fixed by statute and applies uniformly across all 83 counties — Wayne (Detroit), Oakland (Pontiac), Kent (Grand Rapids), Washtenaw (Ann Arbor), Genesee (Flint), Macomb (Mt. Clemens), Ingham (Lansing), and the other 76 counties all charge the same $0.55 per $500. Revenue flows to each county's general fund.

Worked example — $300,000 Detroit home (Wayne County)

• State SRETT (0.75%): $300,000 × 0.0075 = $2,250.
• County CRETT (0.11%): $300,000 × 0.0011 = $330.
• TOTAL: $2,580 (seller pays at closing).
• Combined rate: 0.86%.

A typical Detroit-area mid-market closing. The $2,580 is a closing-table line item on the seller's side of the Closing Disclosure. The buyer pays only the small per-page recording fee on the deed and on the mortgage (Michigan has no mortgage tax — see below).

Worked example — $500,000 Ann Arbor home (Washtenaw County)

• State SRETT (0.75%): $500,000 × 0.0075 = $3,750.
• County CRETT (0.11%): $500,000 × 0.0011 = $550.
• TOTAL: $4,300 (seller).
• Combined rate: 0.86%.

A mid-to-upper market Washtenaw County home. The combined math is the canonical Michigan example — at $500K the combined transfer tax lands on a clean round $4,300, which is the dollar-handle most Michigan practitioners use as a sanity check.

Worked example — $400,000 Grand Rapids sale with SRETT refund (Kent County)

A homeowner bought a Grand Rapids home in 2019 with an SEV of $250,000 (true cash value ~$500K). They claimed the Principal Residence Exemption and occupied the property as their primary residence. They are selling in 2026 for $400,000, and the current SEV is $200,000 — the property is worth less now than at acquisition.

• State SRETT (0.75%): $400,000 × 0.0075 = $3,000 (paid at closing).
• County CRETT (0.11%): $400,000 × 0.0011 = $440 (paid at closing).
• TOTAL at closing: $3,440 (seller).

But because the SEV at sale ($200,000) is less than the SEV at purchase ($250,000), and because the seller claimed the PRE on the property, MCL § 207.526(u) potentially entitles the seller to a refund of the full $3,000 state SRETT by filing Form 2796 with the Michigan Department of Treasury within 4 years and 15 days of the sale. The $440 county CRETT is not refundable. Net effective transfer tax after refund: $440 instead of $3,440 — an 87% reduction.

This refund is widely under-claimed. Sellers do not realize it exists; closing agents focus on the recording-day math and rarely flag the post-closing refund opportunity. Any seller of a Michigan principal residence at a price below true cash value should check eligibility before the four-year statute of limitations runs.

Worked example — $250,000 inheritance transfer (any county)

A Michigan resident dies, and a $250,000 home passes to an adult child by intestate succession. The personal representative records a personal-representative deed conveying the property out of the estate to the child.

• State SRETT: $0 (exempt under MCL § 207.526 — inheritance / devise / descent).
• County CRETT: $0 (exempt under MCL § 207.505).
• TOTAL: $0.

The Register of Deeds will require an exemption affidavit at recording citing the applicable statutory category. The deed will not record without it, even at $0 tax owed.

Worked example — $300,000 trust transfer to same grantor (any county)

A Michigan homeowner moves a $300,000 home into their revocable living trust as a will-substitute vehicle. The grantor of the trust is also its sole beneficial owner during life — no economic change of ownership.

• State SRETT: $0 (exempt under § 207.526 — trust where grantor is sole beneficial owner).
• County CRETT: $0 (exempt under § 207.505).
• TOTAL: $0.

The same exemption applies on the way back out (e.g., trust is revoked and property re-titles to the grantor). The exemption does NOT extend to transfers into an irrevocable trust for the benefit of someone other than the grantor — that is a true economic transfer and the standard 0.86% applies on the fair-market value.

Who pays — the seller-by-default convention

Default in Michigan: the SELLER (grantor) pays both the state SRETT and the county CRETT at the time of recording. The county Register of Deeds collects both taxes before indexing the deed. As with every transfer tax, the statutory default can be reallocated by contract — the purchase agreement controls.

In standard residential closings the seller pays by default and the combined transfer tax is a closing-table line item on the seller's side of the Closing Disclosure. In some commercial transactions, REO / foreclosure sales, and sponsor-style new-construction conveyances, the convention can flip — confirm the allocation in the purchase agreement before closing.

SRETT refund mechanism — MCL § 207.526(u) for SEV declines

Michigan is unusual in providing a refund of the state transfer tax when the State Equalized Value (SEV) at sale is less than the SEV at purchase. The refund, added by 2015 PA 217, targets the post-2008-bust scenario: a seller who bought at the peak and is selling at a loss is entitled to a refund of the full state transfer tax paid, not just the portion attributable to the SEV decline.

Eligibility (simplified):

1. The seller must have claimed the Principal Residence Exemption (MCL § 211.7cc) on the property at sale.
2. The SEV at sale must be less than the SEV at purchase.
3. The sale price must be at or below the property's true cash value (roughly 2 × SEV in Michigan property-tax convention).

When all three apply, file Form 2796 (State Real Estate Transfer Tax Refund) with the Michigan Department of Treasury within 4 years and 15 days of the date of sale. The county CRETT component is NOT refundable — only the state SRETT.

The refund is the single most under-claimed line item in Michigan residential closings. On a $300K sale the refund is $2,250; on a $500K sale, $3,750. The calculator surfaces eligibility as a conditional success output whenever both SEV figures are provided.

Principal Residence Exemption (PRE) — separate from the transfer tax

The Principal Residence Exemption under MCL § 211.7cc is a separate program from the transfer tax. It does NOT reduce what the seller owes at closing. But it matters to a transfer-tax page for two reasons:

1. The SRETT refund under § 207.526(u) requires the seller to have claimed the PRE.
2. PRE filing is the single most under-claimed annual savings on the buyer side of a Michigan closing.

The 18-mill school operating exemption

A typical Michigan residential property carries about 45 mills of total millage — state education tax, county operating, township / city operating, school operating, libraries, and special assessments. The PRE exempts the homeowner's primary residence from 18 mills of that — the local school operating millage portion.

On a home with a $100,000 SEV, the 18-mill exemption saves approximately $1,800 per year in property tax — a substantial recurring savings. The mechanical effect: PRE-claimed properties pay about 27 mills total instead of about 45 mills, a roughly 40% reduction in the annual property-tax bill.

How to claim it

Buyers planning to use a Michigan property as their primary residence should file Form 2368 (Principal Residence Exemption Affidavit) with the local township / city assessor by:

• June 1 of the first year they want the exemption (full-year exemption), OR
• November 1 of that year (summer-only exemption).

The exemption auto-renews annually as long as the owner remains in the property as their primary residence — no need to re-file each year. A material change (moving out, converting to rental, etc.) requires filing a rescission affidavit.

Comparison against neighboring transfer-tax regimes

Michigan sits in the middle of the national distribution.

| Jurisdiction | Combined rate on a $400K residential | Notes | |---|---|---| | Michigan (uniform) | 0.86% ($3,440) | State $3.75 + county $0.55 per $500 | | Ohio (most counties) | 0.40% ($1,600) | State $1 + county $3 per $1,000 | | Indiana | ~0.00%-0.05% | No statewide; some county filing fees | | Wisconsin | 0.30% ($1,200) | State $3 per $1,000 | | Illinois (varies) | 0.10%-1.00% | State $0.50/$500 + county + city (Chicago = highest) | | Florida (statewide) | 0.70% ($2,800 typical) | Doc stamps on deed (0.70%) + on note + intangibles | | New York State (residential, no NYC) | 0.40% ($1,600) | State RPT only | | New York City residential ($1M+) | 2.4%-7% (4-layer) | State RPT + Mansion + NYC RPTT + NYC Additional | | California (no statewide) | ~0.11% ($440) | County doc transfer tax only |

Michigan's combined 0.86% is higher than Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and basic Illinois; comparable to Florida; and lower than most Chicago variants of Illinois transfer tax and NYC. The SRETT refund mechanism under § 207.526(u) is largely unique to Michigan in the Midwest — Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin have nothing comparable.

Michigan has no mortgage tax — unlike NY, FL, or IL

Michigan does not impose a mortgage recording tax. Unlike New York (NY Tax Law § 253: 1.0%-2.05% mortgage tax by county), Florida (FS § 199.133: 0.20% intangibles tax plus doc stamps on the note), or certain Cook County / Chicago variants of the Illinois transfer-tax regime, the cost of recording a mortgage in Michigan is just the flat per-page recording fee at the Register of Deeds (typically $30 first page + $3 additional under MCL § 600.2567).

This makes Michigan refinances notably cheaper than New York, Florida, or Illinois refinances — there is no percent-of-loan-amount mortgage tax to budget for. On a $300,000 Michigan refi the buyer pays only the small per-page recording fee on the new mortgage; the same refi in New York would generate $5,000-$6,000 in mortgage recording tax.

Register of Deeds recording fee — a separate small charge

Separate from the transfer tax, the county Register of Deeds charges a flat per-page recording fee under MCL § 600.2567 — typically $30 for the first page + $3 for each additional page, uniform across the 83 counties. On a typical 2-3 page warranty deed the recording fee is $33-$36 — a rounding error compared to the 0.86% transfer tax on anything but the smallest transfers.

Both charges are paid at the same closing-table step but go to different fund flows. This calculator computes only the transfer tax; budget an additional ~$35-$45 for the recording fee.

Common errors

Five mistakes turn up routinely in Michigan transfer-tax math:

1. Missing the SRETT refund opportunity. The single most under-claimed item in Michigan residential closings. Any seller of a PRE-claimed primary residence at a price at or below true cash value should check eligibility before the four-year deadline runs.
2. Conflating the PRE with the transfer-tax exemption. They are two separate programs. The PRE does NOT reduce the transfer tax owed at sale; it reduces the buyer's future annual property-tax bill by exempting 18 mills of school operating millage.
3. Forgetting to file Form 2368 by June 1. Buyers who don't file the PRE Affidavit by the deadline lose the 18-mill exemption for that year — a ~$1,800-per-$100K-SEV recurring savings that pushes to the next tax year.
4. Treating Michigan like Ohio (variable county rate). All 83 Michigan counties charge the same $0.55 per $500 CRETT — there is no county-by-county variation. Don't waste time looking up the local rate.
5. Importing assumptions from NY / FL on mortgage tax. Michigan has no mortgage recording tax. Refinances are cheap. The buyer side of a Michigan closing is dominated by the per-page recording fee, not a percent-of-loan-amount mortgage tax.

What this calculator does not do

This is a planning and screening tool. It does not:

• Verify SRETT refund eligibility. The MCL § 207.526(u) refund requires (1) a prior PRE claim on the property, (2) SEV at sale < SEV at purchase, and (3) sale price at or below true cash value. This calculator screens only on (2); the PRE-claim and true-cash-value conditions must be verified independently before filing Form 2796.
• Apply Headlee / Proposal A taxable-value math. Michigan property tax is computed on taxable value, which can differ from SEV due to the Headlee Amendment's rollback mechanic and Proposal A's annual cap. For closing-day transfer-tax purposes the wedge is small, but accurate property-tax projections require taxable-value modeling that this calculator does not perform.
• Handle foreclosure mechanics in detail. Sheriff's deeds at foreclosure auction and subsequent REO conveyances have fact-specific tax treatments — consult the Register of Deeds and the foreclosing lender on the specific scenario.
• Enumerate every exemption category. MCL § 207.526 and § 207.505 include additional narrow exemption categories that this calculator does not surface as input options.
• Compute related closing costs. Title insurance, attorney fees, the per-page recording fee under § 600.2567, property-tax prorations, lender / mortgage charges, and any HOA / condo association fees are not included.
• Apply outside Michigan. If the property is in Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, or any other state, this calculator does not apply.

How this page is maintained

The Michigan transfer-tax schedule under MCL § 207.526 (SRETT) and § 207.504 (CRETT) has been stable in its current form since the State Real Estate Transfer Tax Act of 1993 went into effect — the $3.75 state and $0.55 county per $500 rates have not changed. The SRETT refund mechanism under § 207.526(u) was added by 2015 PA 217 and has been in effect since then. The Principal Residence Exemption under MCL § 211.7cc and its 18-mill school operating exemption are likewise long-standing.

We monitor the Michigan Department of Treasury's transfer-tax and PRE guidance, Register of Deeds portals for the largest Michigan counties (Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Genesee, Washtenaw), and amendments to the State Real Estate Transfer Tax Act and County Real Estate Transfer Tax Act each session, and refresh the calculator within 30 days of any enacted change.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-16 against MCL § 207.504, § 207.526, § 207.526(u), and § 211.7cc.