Cook County Transfer Tax: Rates, Who Pays, and MyDec Filing

The Cook County transfer tax is $0.25 for every $500 of the sale price, charged whenever a deed is recorded in the county. It is one of up to three layers on the same transaction: Illinois adds $0.50 per $500, and Chicago or another municipality may add its own charge, which is often the largest of the three. On a $300,000 sale, the county piece alone is $150; the full stack in Chicago runs $3,600.

How the County Tax Is Calculated

The rate is $0.25 per $500 of the transfer price, or any fraction of $500.1Cook County. Cook County Code 74-100 Through 74-113 – Real Property Transfer Tax Ordinance The “fraction thereof” language matters: you round the price up to the next $500 increment before dividing.

Take a $300,250 purchase. Round to $300,500, divide by $500 to get 601 units, then multiply by $0.25. The county tax is $150.25. A clean $300,000 sale comes to exactly $150. The formula is the same whether you are selling a condo, a house, or a commercial building.

The Illinois State Tax on Top

Every deed recorded in Cook County also triggers the Illinois state transfer tax at $0.50 per $500 of value, double the county rate.2Illinois General Assembly. 35 ILCS 200/31-10 – Property Tax Code Using the same $300,250 example, the state tax works out to $300.50. Combined with the county tax, that is $450.75 before any city or village rate is layered in.

Chicago and Suburban Rates

If the property sits inside Chicago, a much larger municipal tax applies. Chicago’s total rate is $5.25 per $500 of the transfer price, split into two parts:3City of Chicago. Real Property Transfer Tax

  • City portion: $3.75 per $500, paid by the buyer.
  • CTA portion: $1.50 per $500, paid by the seller.

On a $300,000 Chicago sale, the city tax alone is $3,150. Add the county and state pieces and the transfer-tax total reaches $3,600.

Chicago is the extreme case. Many other Cook County municipalities also impose their own transfer taxes, with rates ranging from flat fees of $25 or $50 in smaller suburbs to per-thousand charges of $5 to $10 in places like Berwyn, Cicero, and Oak Park. Not every suburb has one, and rates change. Confirm the number directly with the village or city clerk where the property sits before you finalize your closing figures.

Who Pays Each Layer

Section 74-102 of the Cook County ordinance places the tax on the “seller, grantor, assignor or other transferor.”1Cook County. Cook County Code 74-100 Through 74-113 – Real Property Transfer Tax Ordinance If the seller is exempt by state law, the obligation shifts to the buyer.

Custom follows the statute. In Cook County, the seller typically pays the county and state transfer taxes, and the buyer typically pays any applicable city tax. Chicago codifies that split for its own levy: buyer pays the $3.75 city portion, seller pays the $1.50 CTA portion.3City of Chicago. Real Property Transfer Tax Everything is negotiable in the purchase contract, though. A seller can agree to cover the buyer’s share, or the other way around. The county only cares that the full amount arrives before the deed is recorded.

Exemptions

Not every deed triggers tax. The Illinois Property Tax Code lists more than a dozen exempt categories, and Cook County’s ordinance mirrors most of them. The ones you are most likely to encounter:4Illinois General Assembly. 35 ILCS 200/31-45 – Property Tax Code

  • Deeds to or from any governmental body.
  • Transfers to or from charitable, religious, or educational organizations organized exclusively for those purposes.
  • Deeds where the actual consideration is less than $100.
  • Deeds to a mortgage holder through a foreclosure, and transfers in lieu of foreclosure.
  • Corrective or confirmatory deeds that modify a prior recorded deed with no additional consideration.
  • Deeds or trust documents that secure a debt or release property from a lien.
  • Tax deeds and partition deeds.

Trusts and Spousal Quitclaims

Transferring property into a revocable living trust generally qualifies for an exemption as long as there is no change in beneficial ownership. The statute exempts trust documents where no actual exchange of beneficial interests occurs.4Illinois General Assembly. 35 ILCS 200/31-45 – Property Tax Code If you deed property into a trust you control for your own benefit, no tax is due.

Adding or removing a spouse by quitclaim for no monetary consideration often fits the corrective-deed or low-consideration exemption, depending on how the transaction is documented. Either way, you still file a transfer declaration marking the exemption. Skipping that step will hold up recording.

Claiming the Exemption

An exempt transfer still needs paperwork. The filer completes the transfer declaration, checks the exempt box, and identifies the specific legal provision. If the declaration does not describe the facts supporting the exemption, the deed will not be recorded.

Filing Through MyDec

All Cook County transfer tax declarations are filed through MyDec, a free online portal run by the Illinois Department of Revenue.5Illinois Department of Revenue. MyDec – Online Real Property Transfer Tax Declarations The system handles the state PTAX-203 form, the City of Chicago Form 7551 if the property is in the city, and Cook County’s own declaration in one workflow.

To complete a declaration you need:

  • The property’s PIN (Property Index Number).
  • The full legal description.
  • The sale price or other consideration.
  • Full names and addresses of buyer and seller.
  • The applicable exemption code, if you are claiming one.

MyDec also lets you authorize and print transfer tax stamps for the exact dollar amount of the transaction, so you do not have to buy physical stamps separately.5Illinois Department of Revenue. MyDec – Online Real Property Transfer Tax Declarations Once the declaration is approved and the tax is paid, the Cook County Clerk’s Recordings Division will accept the deed for recording. Without an approved declaration and stamp, it will not.

Combined Tax on a $300,000 Sale

How the layers stack on a clean $300,000 price:

Suburban municipalities with their own transfer taxes land somewhere between those figures. Get the local number from the village or city clerk before closing so nothing shows up short on the settlement statement.