Virginia Recordation Tax Calculator

How this calculator works

Virginia stacks four distinct recordation taxes on a single real-estate transfer under the Recordation Tax Act (Va. Code Title 58.1, Chapter 8). Inside the nine Northern Virginia Transportation Authority localities the combined burden runs ~0.83% of consideration; elsewhere in the Commonwealth it runs ~0.43%. Most "Virginia closing cost calculators" elsewhere on the web model only the state recordation tax (§ 58.1-801) and miss the three companion layers — which is why a $700,000 Fairfax County sale shows up in lender pre-quotes as costing $1,750 in recordation tax when the actual line item is closer to $5,833.

This calculator models all four layers and surfaces the customary grantor (seller) / grantee (buyer) split so each side knows their exposure before the contract is signed:

1. State Recordation Tax — Va. Code § 58.1-801, statewide, $0.25 per $100 (= 0.25%).
2. Grantor's Tax — Va. Code § 58.1-802, statewide, $0.50 per $500 (= 0.10%).
3. City/County Recordation Tax — Va. Code § 58.1-3800, up to 1/3 of state (~0.0833%).
4. Northern Virginia Congestion Relief Tax — Va. Code § 58.1-815.4, NoVA only, 0.40%.

Layer 1 — State Recordation Tax (§ 58.1-801)

The State Recordation Tax under Va. Code § 58.1-801 applies to every transfer of Virginia real property by deed of bargain and sale, statewide, no residential / commercial distinction. The rate is $0.25 per $100 of consideration — 0.25% of the sale price. Customarily paid by the grantee (the buyer). The rate has been stable for decades; this is the baseline tax the other three layers stack on top of.

A $500,000 Richmond standard sale produces $1,250 of state recordation tax. A $2,000,000 McLean estate sale produces $5,000.

Layer 2 — Grantor's Tax (§ 58.1-802)

The Grantor's Tax under Va. Code § 58.1-802 is $0.50 per $500 of consideration — 0.10% of the sale price. It is statewide. It is structurally a seller-side levy: the statute names the grantor as the responsible taxpayer, and the convention follows the statute. Half the revenue goes to the state general fund and half to the locality where the property sits (§ 58.1-802.B).

On a $700,000 sale, the grantor's tax is $700. Modest in dollar terms, but real — and the layer that establishes the seller's customary slot in the four-layer stack even outside the NVTA zone.

Layer 3 — City/County Recordation Tax (§ 58.1-3800)

Va. Code § 58.1-3800 authorizes Virginia cities and counties to adopt a local recordation tax up to one-third of the state recordation tax. With the state rate at 0.25%, the 1/3 cap is $0.0833 per $100 — 0.0833% as a decimal (0.000833). The overwhelming majority of Virginia localities adopt the full 1/3 cap; a small number have historically adopted a smaller fraction by ordinance.

Customarily paid by the grantee (alongside the state recordation tax). On a $700K sale at the full 1/3 cap, the county layer is $583.

The calculator clamps any override rate to the 0.000833 cap. § 58.1-3800 does not authorize a locality to exceed the cap, and a clerk's office would not record at a higher rate.

Layer 4 — Northern Virginia Congestion Relief Tax (§ 58.1-815.4)

The fourth layer is the heavy one — and the one most commonly missed in NoVA closing-cost estimates. Va. Code § 58.1-815.4 imposes a $0.40 per $100 (= 0.40%) recordation-time tax on transfers of real property within the nine Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) localities. Revenue funds NVTA transportation projects across the region. Customarily paid by the grantor — structurally a second seller-side levy that doubles the grantor's exposure inside the NVTA zone.

The nine NVTA localities: the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William, plus the independent cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park.

On a $700K Fairfax County sale, the congestion-relief tax adds $2,800 to the grantor's bill. On a $1.5M Arlington luxury home, $6,000. The NoVA congestion-relief tax is, by itself, the single largest of the four layers across most realistic sale prices in the NoVA market.

Worked example — $400,000 Richmond standard sale

A $400,000 single-family home in Richmond (outside NVTA). Standard sale, no exemption.

• State Recordation (0.25%): $400,000 × 0.0025 = $1,000 (grantee).
• Grantor's Tax (0.10%): $400,000 × 0.0010 = $400 (grantor).
• County Recordation (1/3 cap): $400,000 × 0.000833 = $333 (grantee).
• NoVA Congestion: $0 — Richmond is not in the NVTA zone.
• TOTAL: $1,733 (~0.43% effective).
• Grantee customary share: $1,333. Grantor customary share: $400.

The non-NoVA stack is dominated by the grantee side — the grantee absorbs $1,333 of the $1,733 total, leaving the grantor with the modest grantor's tax line.

Worked example — $700,000 Fairfax County standard sale

The canonical NoVA suburban closing. $700,000 single-family home in Fairfax County. Standard sale, no exemption.

• State Recordation (0.25%): $700,000 × 0.0025 = $1,750 (grantee).
• Grantor's Tax (0.10%): $700,000 × 0.0010 = $700 (grantor).
• County Recordation (1/3 cap): $700,000 × 0.000833 = $583 (grantee).
• NoVA Congestion (0.40%): $700,000 × 0.0040 = $2,800 (grantor).
• TOTAL: $5,833 (~0.83% effective).
• Grantee customary share: $2,333 (state + county recordation).
• Grantor customary share: $3,500 (grantor's tax + NoVA congestion).

The NoVA congestion-relief tax alone ($2,800) is the single largest line item — bigger than the state recordation tax, the grantor's tax, and the county recordation tax combined. The NoVA premium versus a Richmond peer at the same sale price is exactly $2,800; the rest of the math is identical.

Worked example — $1,500,000 Arlington luxury home

The high-end NoVA example. $1,500,000 single-family home in Arlington County.

• State Recordation (0.25%): $1,500,000 × 0.0025 = $3,750 (grantee).
• Grantor's Tax (0.10%): $1,500,000 × 0.0010 = $1,500 (grantor).
• County Recordation (1/3 cap): $1,500,000 × 0.000833 = $1,250 (grantee).
• NoVA Congestion (0.40%): $1,500,000 × 0.0040 = $6,000 (grantor).
• TOTAL: $12,500 (~0.83% effective).
• Grantee customary share: $5,000. Grantor customary share: $7,500.

At this price band the NoVA congestion tax dwarfs everything else and the grantor's recordation-tax burden meaningfully exceeds the grantee's — the opposite of the customary residential allocation that holds outside NoVA.

Worked example — $300,000 gift to a child

A $300,000 home gifted from a parent to a child, no consideration. Va. Code § 58.1-811(D) applies.

• State Recordation: $0 (exempt under § 58.1-811(D)).
• Grantor's Tax: $0 (exempt).
• County Recordation: $0 (exempt).
• NoVA Congestion: $0 (exempt).
• TOTAL: $0 in recordation tax.

The clerk's administrative recording fee — typically a flat $20-$50 — still applies. So do federal gift-tax reporting obligations if the transfer exceeds the annual exclusion. The § 58.1-811(D) exemption is narrow: it covers transfers to a spouse, parent, or child without consideration. Gifts to siblings, nieces, in-laws, and other family members are not exempt and run the full four-layer stack.

The NVTA congestion-relief tax in context

The Northern Virginia Congestion Relief Tax was enacted in 2007 to fund the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, which finances transit (Metrorail expansion), road (I-66, I-95 corridors), and bridge projects across the NoVA region. The recordation-tax revenue stream sits alongside several NVTA funding sources (sales-tax surcharge, grantor's-tax surcharge on commercial transfers, gas-tax local addition). On the residential side, the recordation surcharge is the most visible line on a closing statement and the most material number for sellers planning a NoVA sale.

The geographic boundary tracks NVTA membership: nine localities in, every other Virginia jurisdiction out. A property one mile across the Prince William / Stafford line pays the NoVA premium; a property one mile on the Stafford side does not.

Customary allocation between grantor and grantee

The customary split in Virginia residential closings:

• Grantee (buyer) pays the State Recordation Tax (§ 58.1-801) and the City/County Recordation Tax (§ 58.1-3800).
• Grantor (seller) pays the Grantor's Tax (§ 58.1-802) and the Northern Virginia Congestion Relief Tax (§ 58.1-815.4, where applicable).

The split is custom and structural — the Grantor's Tax is statutorily a seller obligation by its name — but the purchase contract can reallocate. In soft markets sellers occasionally absorb the buyer-side state and county recordation taxes to close the deal; the reverse shows up in bidding-war scenarios on NoVA trophy properties.

Deed of trust — a separate recordation tax

Virginia uses deeds of trust (not mortgages) as the lien instrument securing a real-estate loan. When a buyer finances a purchase, two instruments record at the same closing: the deed (taxed under the four layers in this calculator) and the deed of trust (taxed separately under Va. Code § 58.1-803 at $0.25 per $100 of the loan amount, with the same 1/3-of-state local layer on top). On a $700K Fairfax purchase with a $560K loan, the deed-of-trust recordation tax adds approximately $1,400 (state) + $467 (county) = $1,867 on top of the four deed-stamp layers, customarily paid by the grantee.

A pure refinance — no title transfer — does not trigger the four deed-stamp layers in this calculator, but it does trigger the § 58.1-803 deed-of-trust tax on the new loan amount. The Virginia DOR recognizes a partial credit for prior deed-of-trust recordation tax on the refinanced loan in certain circumstances.

Comparison with Maryland and DC

Virginia's combined non-NoVA effective rate of ~0.43% sits at the low end of the DC-area transfer-tax spectrum:

• Virginia (non-NoVA): ~0.43% combined.
• Virginia (NoVA): ~0.83% combined — the NoVA premium is meaningful but still well below the cross-river jurisdictions.
• Maryland: roughly 1.5%-3.0% combined depending on county (state recordation $5-$10 per $500 + 0.5% state transfer + county transfer often 1.0%-1.5%).
• District of Columbia: 2.90% combined (1.45% recordation + 1.45% transfer) on most residential transfers.

The spread is meaningful enough that cross-jurisdictional buyers in the DMV regularly negotiate the closing-cost allocation to reflect it.

Common errors

Three mistakes turn up repeatedly in Virginia recordation-tax math:

1. Forgetting the NoVA congestion premium. Lender pre-quotes for NoVA closings often model only the state recordation tax and miss the §58.1-815.4 layer entirely. On a $700K Fairfax sale the omission understates the grantor's recordation-tax burden by $2,800.

2. Miscalculating the county recordation tax at a non-1/3 rate. The cap is 0.000833 (1/3 of state). A handful of localities have adopted a smaller fraction by ordinance; the rest charge the full cap. Always confirm the locality's adopted rate, and never use a rate above the cap.

3. Assuming the § 58.1-811(D) intra-family exemption covers all family. It does not. Spouse, parent, child only. Sibling, niece, nephew, in-law, cousin — all run the full stack.

What this calculator does not do

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

• Substitute for the locality clerk's filing. Recordation tax is paid at the city or county clerk's office at the time of recording. Use this calculator to model the closing; the actual filing is a closing-agent function.
• Model the deed-of-trust recordation tax (§ 58.1-803). That tax applies to the loan amount, not the sale price, and has its own calculator.
• Enumerate every § 58.1-811 exemption category. The statute has roughly thirty enumerated exemptions; only the heavily-used § 58.1-811(D) intra-family path is surfaced here.
• Apply to transfers outside Virginia. Maryland, DC, West Virginia, and North Carolina have separate transfer-tax regimes that bear no resemblance to the Virginia four-layer stack.

How this page is maintained

The Virginia recordation regime has been structurally stable for years — the NoVA congestion-relief tax dates to 2007, the four-layer framework predates that. We monitor Virginia DOR notices, Virginia General Assembly recordation-statute amendments, and NVTA rate-setting bulletins each session and refresh the calculator within 30 days of any enacted change.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-16 against Va. Code § 58.1-801, § 58.1-802, § 58.1-811, § 58.1-815.4, § 58.1-3800.