What is South Dakota's real estate transfer tax rate?

South Dakota charges a real estate transfer fee of 50 cents for each 500 dollars of the property's value or consideration, which works out to a rate of about 0.10 percent. The fee is collected by the county Register of Deeds when the deed is recorded.

How is the fee rounded?

The value or consideration is treated in 500-dollar increments, with any fraction of 500 dollars counted as a full increment. So the price is effectively rounded up to the next 500 dollars before the 50-cent-per-500 rate is applied, which this calculator does for you.

Which transfers are exempt in South Dakota?

South Dakota law exempts a range of transfers, including gifts where no consideration changes hands, transfers between spouses or in a divorce, transfers to or from a government body, and deeds where the consideration is 100 dollars or less. If your transfer qualifies, mark it exempt and the fee is zero.

Who pays the transfer fee, the buyer or the seller?

South Dakota law does not assign the transfer fee to a specific party, so who pays it is a matter of negotiation in the purchase agreement. By local custom the seller often pays, but the contract controls — confirm the allocation before closing so there are no surprises.

Is this the same as property tax?

No. The transfer fee is a one-time charge paid when the deed is recorded at sale, while property tax is an annual ad valorem tax based on the assessed value of the property. This calculator computes only the one-time transfer fee, not your ongoing annual property tax.

South Dakota Real Estate Transfer Tax Calculator

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South Dakota charges a real estate transfer fee of 50 cents per 500 dollars of the property’s value or consideration — roughly 0.10% — collected by the county Register of Deeds when the deed is recorded. The value is counted in 500-dollar increments, so any fraction of 500 dollars rounds up. This tool applies that rule and accounts for common exemptions.

How it works

The consideration is divided into 500-dollar units (rounding up), and each unit is charged 50 cents:

units      = ceil(consideration ÷ 500)
transfer fee = units × $0.50

Equivalently the effective rate is $0.50 ÷ $500 = 0.10% of value, with the rounding-up step nudging it slightly higher on amounts that aren’t a clean multiple of 500. Exempt transfers — gifts, spousal transfers, government transfers, or consideration of 100 dollars or less — owe nothing.

Example and notes

On a 250,000 dollar home, the consideration divides into 250,000 ÷ 500 = 500 increments, so the fee is 500 × 0.50 = 250 dollars. A 250,300 dollar price rounds up to 501 increments, making the fee 250.50 dollars. This is a one-time recording fee, not your annual property tax. South Dakota law doesn’t fix who pays it, so check your purchase agreement to see whether the buyer or seller is responsible.