Bill > S1187

Introduced Session

This bill eliminates the three most recently enacted realty transfer fees: the supplemental fee created in 2003 and the general purpose fee and "mansion" fee created in 2004. The supplemental fee applies to sellers and consists of a graduated fee, applicable to non-exempt property sales generally. The general purpose fee applies to a seller and consists of a graduated fee, applicable to non-exempt real property exceeding $350,000. The "mansion" fee consists of 1 percent of the purchase price and applies to buyers of residential and commercial property exceeding $1,000,000. The three fees substantially increase the cost of buying and selling real property for New Jerseyans. As an example, the total transfer fee costs of selling a $750,000 home is now $6,775. This amount is almost double the $3,525 cost from the first half of fiscal year 2003. These realty transfer fees are actually taxes, as they add to the cost of a transaction to increase State revenue, rather than cover a cost of a transaction or service. As such, the realty transfer fees in New Jersey are an abuse of legitimate fee processes. In contrast, the Realty Transfer Tax Act of Pennsylvania is properly called a tax, as it is a state tax on the transaction of transferring realty. The elimination of the fees helps reduce costs to New Jerseyans and makes the New Jersey fee process more legitimate.

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Diane Allen (R)*,  Anthony Bucco (R),  Steven Oroho (R), 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee (on 02/08/2016)