Montana Real Estate Transfer Tax Calculator

Montana imposes no real estate transfer tax at the state or county level, one of a group of interior Western and Mountain states, alongside neighboring Idaho and Wyoming, that has never enacted one. A Montana sale computes to $0.00 in transfer tax at any price, whether the property is a Bozeman starter home or a large ranch parcel in the eastern part of the state.

Montana pairs its lack of a transfer tax with the absence of a state sales tax as well, two revenue sources many states rely on that Montana's tax structure simply omits; the state instead leans more heavily on property and income tax. County clerk and recorder offices still charge flat fees to file a deed, and those fees, along with title insurance and any negotiated commission, remain separate from the $0 transfer tax result shown here.

1. Take the sale price entered by the user.
2. Check Montana's entry in the statutory transfer tax rate table, which records hasTransferTax: false.
3. Return $0 as the transfer tax due at any sale price, with net proceeds equal to the full sale price entered.

There are no brackets, no county variation, and no minimum tax threshold to evaluate, since no Montana taxing authority currently has legal authorization to impose a real estate transfer tax.

Baseline scenario, $380,000 sale price:

• Sale price: $380,000
• Statutory transfer tax rate: none (no statewide or local tax)
• Transfer tax due: $0.00
• Net proceeds: $380,000 (unchanged)

Higher-value scenario, $1,500,000 sale price:

• Transfer tax due: $0.00
• Net proceeds: $1,500,000 (unchanged)

The result is the same shape at both the baseline and the higher-value scenario: Montana's lack of a transfer tax does not vary with the price of the property, unlike states with bracketed or mansion-tax structures where the tax burden shifts materially at higher sale prices.

• The Realty Transfer Certificate (Form RTC). Montana requires most deed transfers to be accompanied by this disclosure form reporting the sale price to the Department of Revenue, but it is an assessment tool, not a tax, and carries no fee tied to the sale price.
• County recording fees. Montana county clerk and recorder offices charge modest, flat per-document recording fees that apply regardless of sale price; these are unrelated to the transfer tax question.
• Property tax reappraisal. A sale can prompt Montana's Department of Revenue to update its valuation of the property for future property tax purposes, using the RTC data, which is a separate and ongoing cost, not a one-time transfer tax.
• Title insurance and closing costs, which are set by the private market rather than by the absence of a transfer tax.

• Mistaking the Realty Transfer Certificate for a tax filing. It is a mandatory disclosure form used for property valuation, and while failing to file it can create title and closing complications, it does not itself impose a transfer tax.
• Assuming a nearby state's transfer tax applies. Buyers or sellers relocating between Montana and Washington, which has a significant bracketed real estate excise tax, should not assume the cost structure is comparable; it is not.
• Overlooking recording fees. These are real, if modest, and are distinct from the (nonexistent) transfer tax.
• Assuming no transfer tax means no property-price disclosure to the state. Montana still tracks sale prices through the RTC for assessment purposes even without taxing the transfer itself.

• NAR (National Association of Realtors) State & Local Issues: Real Estate Transfer Tax summary
• engine/tables/2026/state-real-estate-transfer-tax.json, verified 2026-08-21