When a Minnesota deed is presented for recording, the county collects the deed tax: 0.0033 of the net consideration, meaning the price less any mortgage or other lien that stays on the property, and 0.0034 in Hennepin and Ramsey counties. When there is no price, or the net consideration is $3,000 or less, the tax is a flat $1.65, or $1.70 in those two counties. So a gift deed to a relative pays $1.65, not nothing. The statute then lists fifteen instruments that pay no deed tax at all, among them a deed between former spouses under a divorce decree, a personal representative's deed of distribution, and a transfer on death deed.
Every taxable deed must state on its face the amount of tax due or the exemption it claims, and the recorder will not record it otherwise. This page gives the rate and how net consideration is figured, the minimum-tax sentence the Department of Revenue asks for, each exemption in plain English, the designated transfers to your own trust or company that pay the minimum, and the separate Certificate of Real Estate Value. The Minnesota quitclaim deed page has the deed itself.
The Rate, and What It Is Charged On
The deed tax is imposed on each deed or instrument by which real property in Minnesota is conveyed, and it is due when the deed is presented for recording. The statute puts the tax on the instrument rather than on either party; whoever presents the deed pays it, and in a sale the buyer and seller settle it between themselves. The rate is 0.0033 of the net consideration. Consideration is the total value given for the property: cash, payments still to come, anything else of value, and any debt the buyer takes over. Net consideration subtracts the balance of any lien that attached before the sale and stays on the property, such as a mortgage the buyer assumes. On a $150,000 sale where the buyer assumes a $50,000 mortgage, the tax is figured on $100,000.
Hennepin and Ramsey counties are allowed by two special statutes to add an environmental response fund tax of 0.0001 on the same base, and both do, so the rate there is 0.0034. Except for a gift, when the consideration includes something other than money, the law presumes the consideration equals the property's fair market value unless shown otherwise. The Department of Revenue's examples put seller-paid closing costs, auction premiums, and the value of improvements included in the price all inside the taxable amount, and the price of personal property sold with a one-, two-, or three-unit home inside it too.
The $1.65 Minimum, and the Sentence That Claims It
When there is no consideration, or the net consideration is $3,000 or less, the tax is $1.65, or $1.70 in Hennepin and Ramsey. That is the tax on a gift deed, on a deed for "one dollar and other good and valuable consideration", and on a deed severing a joint tenancy, which the Department of Revenue treats as made without consideration in most cases. The tax is still due; the deed is not exempt.
Because the deed must state its tax on its face, the Department asks that a minimum-tax deed carry this sentence, or its equivalent, on the front: "This deed transfers Minnesota real property in exchange for $3,000 or less of consideration." The state's own quitclaim form has a "Deed tax due" line at the top where $1.65 is written. The same sentence tells the recorder that no Certificate of Real Estate Value is needed, since that certificate is required only on a sale for more than $3,000. The Department's Form DT1 can be filed instead of the sentence, as a certification of the deed's tax treatment, but the sentence is simpler.
The Fifteen Exemptions
These instruments pay no deed tax. Most are not deeds at all; the ones a family transfer can meet are marked.
- (1) A contract for deed under which the buyer takes possession, and its assignment or cancellation.
- (2) A mortgage, and its amendment, assignment, extension, partial release, or satisfaction.
- (3) A will.
- (4) A plat.
- (5) A lease, and its amendment, assignment, or memorandum.
- (6) A deed to or from the United States or a federal agency.
- (7) A deed for a cemetery lot.
- (8) A deed of distribution by a personal representative, which is how an estate passes a house to an heir. This one is exempt; a deed from the heir onward is taxed.
- (9) A deed to or from a co-owner partitioning their undivided interest, meaning co-owners dividing one property into separately owned pieces. If a co-owner pays for part of what they receive, that part is taxed.
- (10) A deed under a permanent school fund land exchange.
- (11) A sheriff's or referee's certificate of sale in a mortgage or lien foreclosure.
- (12) A certificate of redemption from such a sale, issued to the owner.
- (13) An instrument that grants, creates, modifies, or ends an easement.
- (14) A decree of marriage dissolution, and a deed between the parties to the dissolution made under its terms. The quitclaim deed one former spouse gives the other for the house, as the decree directs, pays no deed tax. A deed between spouses who are not divorcing is not on the list; it pays the $1.65 minimum if no money changes hands.
- (15) A transfer on death deed, and any affidavit or document that references one. Minnesota's transfer on death deed passes property at the owner's death without probate, and neither the deed nor the affidavit that completes it after death is taxed.
Designated Transfers: Your Own Trust or Company
A separate rule covers a deed between an owner and an entity the owner controls. The statute calls these designated transfers: a deed between a person and a company that person alone owns; between a married couple and a company the two of them alone own; between co-owners and a company they own in the same shares; between the grantor of a revocable trust and the trust; and a transfer of substantially all of an entity's assets in a reorganization. A designated transfer pays the flat $1.65 whatever the property is worth. If, within six months, an ownership interest in the receiving entity is transferred so that the deal would not have qualified, the full tax comes due on the original transfer, with a penalty if the later transfer was expected all along.
A designated transfer also needs no Certificate of Real Estate Value, provided the deed says on its first page or its signature page that the conveyance is a designated transfer under section 287.20, subdivision 3a. A deed of your house into your own revocable living trust, then, carries that sentence, pays $1.65, and files no certificate.
How the Statement Goes on the Deed
The recording statute says no taxable deed shall be recorded unless it contains a statement by the grantor or grantee setting forth the amount of tax due, or that the deed is exempt. The recorder records the deed when the statement says it is exempt, or when the treasurer's receipt or tax stamps for the amount stated appear on it; a deed filed electronically has the tax data affixed electronically. Three forms of statement cover almost every family deed:
- A taxable sale: "Deed tax due: $660." on the line at the top of the state's form, with the treasurer's receipt endorsed when the tax is paid.
- A gift, a nominal price, or a sale of $3,000 or less: "This deed transfers Minnesota real property in exchange for $3,000 or less of consideration." with $1.65 on the deed tax line.
- An exempt instrument: a sentence naming the exemption, such as "This deed is exempt from deed tax under Minnesota Statutes, section 287.22, clause (14), as a conveyance between the parties to a marriage dissolution made pursuant to the decree."
Two Things the Deed Tax Is Not
It is not the Certificate of Real Estate Value. That certificate, filed online through the Department of Revenue's eCRV system, is required whenever real estate is sold for more than $3,000, by quitclaim deed or any other, and the deed cannot be recorded without its number. Its value is the full price including any lien the buyer assumes, the opposite of the deed tax's net figure, so a sale with an assumed mortgage can need a certificate for the full price while paying deed tax on part of it. A gift needs no certificate, and the $3,000 sentence on the deed says so.
It is not the recording fee, which is $46 for a deed in every county and is paid whether the deed is taxed, minimum-taxed, or exempt. And it is not the auditor's tax stamp: before either fee is paid, the county auditor must certify on the deed that no property taxes are delinquent, and that stamp is required on an exempt deed as much as on a taxed one. A personal representative's deed and a court decree get the auditor's "transfer entered" note without the tax check, and a transfer on death deed skips the auditor altogether.
Four Examples
- A parent gives a $300,000 house to a daughter. No consideration. The deed states $1.65 on the deed tax line and carries the $3,000 sentence. Deed tax $1.65, or $1.70 in Hennepin or Ramsey County, plus the $46 recording fee. No certificate of value.
- The same parent sells the house to the daughter for $200,000. Deed tax 0.0033 of $200,000, $660, or $680 in Hennepin or Ramsey. A certificate of value is filed and its number goes on the deed.
- A divorced husband deeds the house to his former wife as the decree directs. Exempt under clause (14). The deed says so; deed tax $0, recording fee $46.
- A couple deeds their cabin into their revocable living trust. A designated transfer. The deed says on its first page that it is one; deed tax $1.65, no certificate of value, recording fee $46.
Minnesota Deed Tax Exemptions — Common Questions
Is a Minnesota quitclaim deed automatically exempt from deed tax?
No. The deed tax applies to every deed conveying Minnesota real property, and the word quitclaim changes nothing. What most family quitclaim deeds get is the minimum tax, $1.65, because there is no price or the net consideration is $3,000 or less. The deeds that pay nothing are the fifteen on the statute's exemption list, such as a deed between former spouses under a divorce decree and a personal representative's deed of distribution.
Does a gift deed to my child owe Minnesota deed tax?
Yes, $1.65, or $1.70 in Hennepin or Ramsey County. Minnesota has no exemption for gifts or for transfers between relatives; a deed with no consideration pays the minimum. The deed states the minimum on its deed tax line and carries the sentence that it transfers Minnesota real property in exchange for $3,000 or less of consideration, which also excuses it from the Certificate of Real Estate Value.
Is a deed between divorcing spouses exempt from Minnesota deed tax?
Yes, if it is made under the terms of the divorce decree. The statute exempts the decree of dissolution itself and any deed between the parties to the dissolution made pursuant to the decree. The deed says on its face that it is exempt under section 287.22, clause (14). A deed between spouses who are still married is not exempt; if no money changes hands it pays the $1.65 minimum.
Is there deed tax on a transfer into my own living trust?
The minimum only. A deed between the grantor of a revocable trust and the trust is a designated transfer, taxed at a flat $1.65 whatever the property is worth. Say on the first page or the signature page of the deed that the conveyance is a designated transfer under section 287.20, subdivision 3a, and no Certificate of Real Estate Value is needed either. The same rule covers a deed to a company you alone own.
What if I do not put a deed tax statement on the deed?
The recorder will not record it. The statute says no taxable deed shall be recorded unless it contains a statement of the tax due or of the exemption claimed, and the recorder records only when the statement says exempt or the treasurer's receipt matches the amount stated. Between the parties the deed is still valid, and if a recorder accepted it by mistake the record still gives notice, but the practical result of a missing statement is a deed handed back at the counter.
Official Sources
Minnesota's laws are collected in the Minnesota Statutes, and a citation such as section 287.22 is an address: the chapter number, then the section within it. Each links to the section on the Revisor of Statutes' website, or to the Department of Revenue's own page, and opens in a new tab.
- Sections 287.20 and 287.21 — consideration, net consideration, lien and designated transfer defined; the tax on each deed, the 0.0033 rate, the $1.65 minimum for no or $3,000-or-less consideration and for designated transfers, the six-month recapture, and payment when the deed is presented for recording.
- Section 287.22 — the fifteen exemptions, including the personal representative’s deed of distribution, the partition deed, the divorce decree and deeds under it, and the transfer on death deed.
- Sections 287.241 and 287.25 — the statement of tax due or exemption that every taxable deed must carry before it is recorded, the certificate of value notice, and the treasurer’s receipt endorsed on the deed.
- Sections 383A.80 and 383B.80 — the 0.0001 environmental response fund deed tax in Ramsey and Hennepin counties.
- Section 272.115 — the Certificate of Real Estate Value on a sale for more than $3,000, its value including liens assumed, and the designated-transfer exception when the deed says so on its first or signature page.
- Sections 272.12 and 357.18 — the county auditor’s delinquent-tax certificate, and the $46 recording fee.
- Minnesota Department of Revenue — Deed Tax Rate, Deed Tax Consideration, Documenting Exempt and Minimum Tax Deeds and Severance of Joint Tenancy — the rates and examples, what is inside the taxable amount, the minimum-tax sentence and Form DT1, and the minimum tax on a deed severing a joint tenancy.
- Minnesota Department of Revenue — eCRV Guidelines — the $3,000 threshold, the list of documents that need a certificate, and the sentence to use when one is not required.
Tax rates, minimums and exemptions checked against the Minnesota Statutes and the Department of Revenue's deed tax pages on September 4, 2026.