Delaware Notary Fees: Caps, Travel Add-Ons, and Penalties

Delaware notary fees are capped at $5.00 per notarial act on paper records and $25.00 per notarial act on electronic records, under Title 29, Section 4311 of the Delaware Code.¹ A notary is free to charge less, or nothing at all, but cannot go above those ceilings for the act itself.

What the Two Fee Caps Cover

The caps apply to standard notarial acts: acknowledgments, oaths, verifications, and witnessing signatures.¹

Paper (tangible) records: $5.00 maximum per act.
Electronic records: $25.00 maximum per act.

The gap between the two ceilings reflects the added cost of the tamper-evident technology a notary must use for electronic acts. If you are comparing notarization quotes, the record format is what drives which cap applies.

Travel Fees and Add-Ons

The Delaware notary fee statute does not separately authorize travel fees, mileage charges, or convenience fees on top of the per-act maximum. If a mobile notary quotes a price above the statutory cap, that additional charge is not grounded in the fee statute itself. The number to check against is the per-act ceiling for the record type in front of you.

Penalties for Charging Above the Cap

The consequence for a notary who exceeds the fee limits is direct: the Secretary of State may revoke the commission, and the notary cannot be reappointed for two years.¹

A fee violation is also listed as an independent ground for discipline under Delaware’s broader misconduct provisions, so it can trigger action beyond commission revocation alone.² The Governor holds formal authority to deny, refuse to renew, revoke, suspend, or impose conditions on a notary commission, and that authority is routinely delegated to the Secretary of State.³

A notary facing disciplinary action is entitled to notice and a hearing under Delaware’s administrative procedures. State discipline does not block a separate civil or criminal remedy the affected party may want to pursue.²

When the $25 Electronic Cap Applies

Since August 1, 2023, Delaware notaries have been able to apply to perform notarial acts electronically or remotely.⁴ Electronic notarization involves notarizing an electronic record instead of a paper one, using an approved tamper-evident technology. The notary must notify the Secretary of State before performing any electronic act and identify the specific technology they intend to use. No one can compel a notary to use a technology the notary has not chosen.⁵ The $25 ceiling applies to these acts.¹

Remote online notarization is a separate capability that lets a signer appear before the notary through live audio-visual technology rather than in person. Delaware requires identity verification through personal knowledge, a credible witness, or at least two different types of identity proofing, and the notary must create and retain an audio-visual recording of the session for at least 10 years.⁵ Notaries performing electronic or remote services must use a provider from Delaware’s approved technology list.⁶

Recording the Fee in the Journal

Every fee charged has to be logged. Delaware notaries must keep a journal of all notarial acts and retain it for at least 10 years after the last entry. A notary may only use one journal at a time, whether the work is on paper, electronic, or both.⁷

A paper journal must be a permanent, bound register with numbered pages. An electronic journal must use a permanent, tamper-evident format that complies with Secretary of State regulations. Each entry must be made at the time of the act and include:

Date and time of the notarial act
Description of the record and the type of act performed
Full name and address of each person involved
How the signer was identified (personal knowledge or an ID document, with the document type, issue date, and expiration date)
The fee charged, if any

The journal is a notary’s primary defense if a notarization is later challenged, so the fee line matters as much as the identity line.⁷

Federal Tax Treatment of Notary Fees

Fees earned for performing notarial acts are not subject to federal self-employment tax. The IRS treats notary service as a public office rather than a trade or business, so the 15.3% self-employment tax that normally applies to freelance income does not apply to the notarial portion of a notary’s earnings.⁸ The underlying regulation classifies notary service outside the definition of “trade or business” for self-employment tax purposes.⁹

The exemption is narrow. It covers income from notarial acts themselves. Related services like loan signing or document preparation stay subject to self-employment tax. The IRS uses the example of a self-employed attorney who is also a notary: only the notary fees escape the self-employment tax; the attorney fees do not.⁸ Notary fees remain reportable as income on the federal return; the exemption is from self-employment tax, not income tax.

A notary operating as an independent contractor can deduct ordinary business expenses tied to the work, including commission application fees, seal and stamp costs, journal expenses, and professional liability insurance premiums. A dedicated home office and a proportional share of utilities may also be deductible.

1
Justia. Delaware Code 29-4311 – Fees for Services
2
Justia. Delaware Code 29-4334 – Grounds to Deny, Refuse to Renew, Revoke, Suspend, or Impose a Condition on Commission of Notary Public
3
Justia. Delaware Code 29-4301 – Commission as a Notary Public
4
Delaware Notary Public. Important Information for Delaware Notaries
5
Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code Title 29 Chapter 43 – Notaries Public
6
Delaware Notary Public. Approved Technology Providers
7
Justia. Delaware Code 29-4332 – Journal of a Notary Public
8
Internal Revenue Service. Persons Employed in a U.S. Possession/Territory – Self-Employment Tax
9
eCFR. 26 CFR 1.1402(c)-2 – Public Office