{"id":34753,"date":"2025-08-25T02:00:03","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T09:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=34753"},"modified":"2025-08-27T22:18:47","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T05:18:47","slug":"taxes-on-selling-a-house-in-washington-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/taxes-on-selling-a-house-in-washington-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Taxes on Selling a House in Washington State"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you sell a home in Washington State, you can expect to pay some sizable transfer taxes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The main thing to consider is the state\u2019s real estate excise tax<\/a> (REET). Aside from that, there are lesser local transfer taxes, as well as the standard federal tax on capital gains you make from the home sale.<\/p>\n

With the help of a top Washington State real estate agent, we\u2019ll take a look at each of these tax liabilities and how they add up when you sell your Washington home.<\/p>\n

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Connect With a Top Agent to Sell Your Washington State Home<\/h3>\n

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Our data shows the top 5% of agents across the U.S. help clients sell their home for as much as 10% more than the average real estate agent.<\/p>\n \n

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What is Washington\u2019s real estate excise tax?<\/h2>\n

This is the primary tax you\u2019ll have to pay when you sell your Washington home. It\u2019s based on the entire sales price (not just the profit), and the percentage you owe graduates as the sales price reaches specific thresholds.<\/p>\n

Effective Jan. 1, 2023, the selling price thresholds<\/a> for the state portion of REET will be as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
For the portion of the selling price that is:<\/td>\nReal Estate Excise Tax Rate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Less than or equal to $525,000<\/td>\n1.1%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Greater than $525,000 and less than or equal to $1,525,000<\/td>\n1.28%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Greater than $1,525,000 and less than or equal to $3,025,000<\/td>\n2.75%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Greater than $3,025,000<\/td>\n3.0%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Most counties and local governments in the state also charge their own smaller REETs on top of the state\u2019s rate. In most jurisdictions, this amounts to an additional 0.25% or 0.50%<\/a> of each selling price threshold.<\/p>\n

John Dirgo Deweese<\/a>, an Ocean Shores, Washington, real estate agent with 21 years of experience, says home sellers are commonly caught off guard by these taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really something that only occurs for most people with the sale of a house or something like that,\u201d Deweese explains. \u201cIt\u2019s a complete surprise to people when it comes up.\u201d<\/p>\n

For this reason, he usually breaks the news to his clients at the beginning of the selling process and explains that REETs are unavoidable.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely everyone pays this on every real estate sale,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s no exemptions, exclusions, nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Find out what taxes you may pay on the sale of a house in Washington state and how to avoid paying too much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":317,"featured_media":43495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[343,322,1309],"tags":[1310],"class_list":["post-34753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finances","category-logistics","category-washington-real-estate","tag-selling-a-house-in-washington"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTaxes on Selling a House in Washington State<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find out what taxes you may pay on the sale of a house in Washington state and how to avoid paying too much.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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