Rate of tax; when payable; exception [For application of this section, see 81 Del. Laws, c. 56, § 2 and 81 Del. C. 384, § 3].
Del. Code tit. 30, § 5402
in effect(a) Every person who makes, executes, delivers, accepts or presents for recording any document, except as defined or described in § 5401(5) of this title, or in whose behalf any document is made, executed, delivered, accepted or presented for recording shall be subject to pay for and in respect to the transaction, or any part thereof, a realty transfer tax at the rate of 3 percent of the value of the property represented by such document, unless the municipality or county where the property is located has enacted the full 1½ percent realty transfer tax authorized by § 1601 of Title 22 or § 8102 of Title 9, in which case 2½ percent, which tax shall be payable at the time of making, execution, delivery, acceptance or presenting of such document for recording. Said tax is to be apportioned equally between grantor and grantee.
(b) No tax shall be imposed on conveyances when the actual value of the property being transferred is less than $100.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, for any first-time home buyer who enters into a transaction, on or after August 1, 2017, who would otherwise be subject to the rate of tax set forth in subsection (a) of this section, that portion of the realty transfer tax payable by the first-time home buyer shall be reduced by an amount equal to ½ percent multiplied by the lesser of the value of the property or $400,000. The first-time home buyer reduction set forth in this subsection shall apply to the grantee’s portion of the realty transfer tax as defined in subsection (a) of this section and shall not relieve the grantor from payment of the grantor’s portion of the realty transfer tax as defined in subsection (a) of this section.
(d) Every person who makes, executes, delivers, accepts or presents for recording any document defined or described in § 5401(5) of this title, or in whose behalf any such document is made, executed, delivered, accepted or presented for recording shall be subject to pay for and in respect to the transaction, or in any part thereof, a realty transfer tax at the rate of 3 percent of the value of the property represented by such document, unless the municipality or county where the property is located has enacted the full 1½ percent realty transfer tax authorized by § 1601 of Title 22 or § 8102 of Title 9, in which case 2½ percent, which tax shall be payable as follows:
(1) The tax on the consideration attributed to the first year of the term shall be payable at the time of making, execution, delivery, acceptance or presenting of such document for recording;
(2) The tax on the consideration attributed to each successive year of the term thereafter shall be paid annually to the Division of Revenue.
(e) There shall be no tax imposed on any document described in § 5401(5) of this title entered into prior to July 7, 1973.
(f) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, the rate of tax on documents described in § 5401(9) of this title shall be 2% on amounts exceeding $10,000, which shall be borne by the owner of the building whose construction is made subject to tax under § 5401(9) of this title. The 2% tax on documents described in § 5401(9) of this title does not apply to that portion of any contract or agreement or undertaking for the construction of affordable housing units, so long as the construction is financed using funding provided by the federal government, this State, or a county or municipality of this State for the purpose of constructing affordable housing units. For purposes of this subsection, “affordable housing units” is as defined in § 5401(1)y.2. of this title.
(g) A transfer on death deed authorized under Chapter 2 of Title 25 does not require any of the following to be recorded with or accepted by a Recorder of Deeds to be effective:
(1) A transfer-tax affidavit under § 5409 of this title.
(2) A real estate tax return declaration of estimated income tax form, regardless of whether derived from § 1126, § 1606, or § 1909 of this title.
(3) Any other form otherwise required under this chapter, or a law related to this chapter, enacted by a county or municipality.
Source: DE Code (Official Site)URL: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title30/c054/sc01/index.htmlFetched: 10/4/2026