The taxes are the state's, and they do not change at the county line
New York imposes a real estate transfer tax of two dollars for every $500 of consideration, or part of $500, on any conveyance where the consideration is more than $500. The seller pays it. Where a contract shifts that obligation to the buyer, the obligation still begins with the seller, and if the seller fails to pay, the buyer becomes liable and the two are jointly and severally liable for it.
A separate tax, generally called the mansion tax, applies to residential property conveyed for $1 million or more. The rate is one percent, and the buyer pays it. Where the buyer fails to pay or is exempt, the seller must. For a property that is partly residential and partly something else, the one percent reaches the consideration attributable to the residential portion rather than the whole price — a two-family house sold for $1.5 million where the residential unit accounts for $500,000 is taxed on the $500,000.
Both are reported on Form TP-584, filed with the Nassau County Clerk when the deed is recorded, and in any event no later than the fifteenth day after the deed is delivered.
The graduated supplemental rates that apply above $2 million and $3 million are New York City taxes. They do not reach Nassau County.
The tax map verification letter
Before the Nassau County Clerk will record a deed, a mortgage or a satisfaction of mortgage — or a modification or consolidation of any of those — the person presenting it obtains a verification of the tax map from the Nassau County Department of Assessment. The verification confirms that the section, block and lot on the instrument match the county's tax map. Only the letter is filed with the recording.
The requirement comes from Section 6-33.0 of the Nassau County Administrative Code, as amended by Local Law 7-2014, which the County Legislature passed on 19 June 2014.
As of November 2026 the fee is $270 per letter. The Department states that it cannot be waived or deferred, that no exception exists for not-for-profits, government agencies or municipalities, and that it is not refundable once the letter has been generated.
That figure has moved several times. It was $50 before the 2014 local law and $75 after it. By the end of 2016 it stood at $225, and Local Law 13-2016 raised it to $355 with effect from 1 January 2017. It came down to $270 in April 2023, following litigation.
In Falk v Nassau County, the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed a declaration that the fees charged under Section 6-33.0 were excessive and improper, holding that they "were exacted for general revenue purposes and not tied to the County's obligation to maintain its property registry." The decision was handed down on 19 April 2023. The county's present fee took effect six days later.
A purchaser in Nassau County pays this charge on every closing. It is worth knowing what it is for and why it stands where it does.
Getting a deed accepted by the County Clerk
Most rejections in Nassau County come down to one thing. The Clerk's own recording guide names it: invalid or missing section, block and lot numbers, and for a condominium the unit number. Those numbers belong on the first page of every document submitted, by preference in the lower left margin, and the recording office does not check whether they are correct. That verification is the filer's, which is part of what the tax map letter exists to supply.
Several other requirements catch files that are otherwise ready. Transfer tax and mortgage tax are paid by certified check, while recording fees may go on a personal check or a credit card with a convenience fee on cards. An attorney check tendered for transfer or mortgage tax carries an imprint — Iola, Trust, Special or Escrow — and an ordinary attorney check is accepted for recording fees and declined for the taxes. Post office boxes are not accepted as addresses. Signatures are original, and a photocopied RP-5217 is returned.
Acknowledgments include the venue. New York acknowledgments follow Real Property Law section 309-a and out-of-state acknowledgments section 309-b, and the notary's commission must be current on the day of signing. A nonresident individual, estate or trust files Form IT-2663 and pays the estimated income tax directly to the recording officer when the deed is filed. A check that has gone stale while a document was being corrected is itself a ground for rejection on resubmission.
Documents are presented at the County Clerk's office at 240 Old Country Road in Mineola at least an hour before the closing. Deeds, mortgages and satisfactions may also be recorded electronically.
What appears on the closing statement
Nassau County charges a recording fee for each instrument, a charge for each page, a block fee, a charge for the endorsement page the office generates, and filing fees for the RP-5217 equalization and assessment form and the TP-584 transfer tax return. A residential deed carries a notification fee as well, and a mortgage carries the New York State mortgage tax, which is calculated on the amount of the loan and varies with the type of property and the type of lender.
The Clerk publishes the schedule of these charges and revises it from time to time. Anthony provides the current figures for a particular transaction as part of the closing statement rather than from a published table, because a figure that was accurate when it was written is the kind that causes trouble when it is relied on a year later.
Underneath the county: the villages
Nassau County contains more than sixty incorporated villages, and many of them impose their own requirements on a sale — a certificate of occupancy for the house and for any addition, deck, shed or finished basement, a smoke and carbon monoxide detector affidavit, a resale or pre-sale inspection. These vary from village to village, and an open permit or an unpermitted improvement found late is among the most common reasons a Nassau closing is adjourned.
The village requirement is identified at the start of a transaction rather than at the end of one.