Illinois Transfer Tax Calculator: What to Expect

This simple calculator can help home sellers in Illinois estimate their transfer taxes. To get a ballpark idea of the transfer fees you might pay in the Prairie State, enter your home’s estimated selling price above.

Need a selling price? Try HomeLight’s free Home Value Estimator to see what your house might be worth. To receive a more accurate listing price, contact a top Illinois real estate agent and request a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA), a report that will compare your home against nearby listed and recently sold properties.

How the Illinois Transfer Tax is Calculated

Illinois’s transfer tax, known as a Real Estate Transfer Tax, is calculated at a rate of $0.50 per $500 of the property’s sale price.

For example, if you sold your home for $286,000 (Illinois’s median home price), you could expect to pay $286 in Illinois transfer taxes.

Another Transfer Tax Illinois Sellers Typically Pay

Many counties and local governments also charge home sellers a real estate transfer tax. Chicago, and Cook County, for example, charge their own rates, in addition to state transfer tax rates. In Illinois, you are responsible for taxes imposed by counties that may fall at a rate of $0.25 per $500 of the value.

»Learn more: Understanding Illinois’s Transfer Tax

See the bigger home sale picture: To see what your entire home sale might cost, try HomeLight’s Illinois Seller Closing Cost Calculator. You’ll also get a preliminary look at your estimated net proceeds.

Does the Seller Always Pay the Illinois Transfer Tax?

While it’s customary for the seller to pay the Illinois transfer tax, who pays can sometimes be a point of negotiation between the buyer and seller during the closing process.

Common exemptions for transfer tax sales include

Transfers between spouses or former spouses as part of a divorce settlement.
Transfers of homestead property between spouses with only an existing mortgage or lien as consideration.
Transfers to governmental entities such as the United States, Florida government agencies, counties, municipalities, and political subdivisions.
Personal Representative’s deeds according to a probated will (with potential tax on excess shares).
Certain gifts where no consideration (money) is exchanged.

Make Buying and Selling Easier: Most Illinois sellers are also buyers looking to purchase a new home. With HomeLight’s Buy Before You Sell program, you can make a non-contingent offer on your new home and only move once. Watch this short video to learn more.

More Resources to Plan Your Illinois Home Sale

Here are some additional tools to help you plan your Illinois home sale:

Sell fast without paying fees or commissions: Get a cash offer today.

With HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform, you can receive a no-obligation, all-cash offer for your Illinois home in 24 hours. If you accept the offer, you can close in as few as 10 days. Answer a few questions about your Illinois home to get started. Along with your cash offer, you’ll also receive an expert estimate of what a top Illinois agent might be able to get for your home. Receive both selling options with one tool.

As you look ahead to your next home purchase, here are some helpful buyer tools:

Illinois Transfer Tax Calculator