Built from the statute and cross-checked against what the revenue department currently applies.
Verified September 21, 2026 · statute and revenue department cross-checked
The statute and the actual bill do not match. The statute still reads $2.00 per $500. A 14 percent surcharge enacted in 1969 was never folded into the statute text, so the amount actually collected is $2.28 per $500. Anyone quoting the statute alone is 12 percent low.
Advertisement
Who pays
Seller.
What to know about Massachusetts
This is the clearest example in the country of a law that does not match the bill. Cape Cod pays more because Barnstable County adds its own excise on top, bringing the combined rate to $6.48 per $1,000. Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard also charge separate 2 percent Land Bank fees paid by the buyer, which are not part of the deeds excise.
Advertisement
Sources
Statute: M.G.L. c.64D § 1 plus the 1969 surcharge
M.G.L. c.64D § 1 “exceeds one hundred dollars and does not exceed five hundred dollars, two dollars; and for each additional five hundred dollars or fractional part thereof, two dollars; provided, however, that in Barnstable county, the excise tax herein specified shall be one dollar and fifty cents for each five hundred dollars”
Massachusetts DOR Directive 95-4 “The rate of the excise (except for Barnstable county) is $2.28 per $500.00 of consideration ... The rate established by G.L. c. 64D, § 1, was increased by a 14% surcharge imposed by St. 1969, c. 546, § 23.”
Last verified: September 21, 2026.
Advertisement
Estimates only. Your closing agent or the county recorder issues the final figure, and exemptions can change what you owe. This page does not collect or store anything you enter.