TL;DR: Unless your purchase contract says otherwise, Arkansas law has the seller and buyer each pay half of the real estate transfer tax (Ark. Code 26-60-106). The tax is $3.30 per $1,000 of the sale price, rounded up to the next $1,000, so at Redfin's $489,717 Bentonville median (three months ending September 2026) it is $1,617.00, or $808.50 each. At the Rogers median of $448,786 it is $1,481.70, or $740.85 each. Budget your half until the contract says otherwise.
What Is the Arkansas Real Estate Transfer Tax When You Sell a House?
The Arkansas real property transfer tax, usually called the deed tax, is $3.30 per $1,000 of actual consideration on transactions that exceed $100. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) describes it as levied on each deed, instrument, or writing by which lands, tenements, or other realty are sold. It also applies to transfers of mineral rights. The governing statute is AR Code Ann. §26-60-101 et seq. The tax applies to each $1,000 "or fractional part thereof" (Ark. Code 26-60-105), so the price is rounded up to the next $1,000.
The tax is a statewide rate. A sale in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers or a rural part of Madison County carries the same $3.30 per $1,000. Only the price changes the dollar amount. The base is the consideration actually paid, which is the sale price, not the county assessed value. Arkansas assesses real property at 20% of market value for property tax (Arkansas Assessment Coordination Division, Arkansas DFA, as of August 2026), but that ratio has no role in the deed tax.
If you are selling, that means the rate is not something you can negotiate or shop. The only open questions are the price it applies to and which party pays, and the rest of this post covers both.
How Much Is the Transfer Tax on a Benton or Washington County Home?
Round the sale price up to the next $1,000, divide by 1,000 and multiply by $3.30. The published price figures for the two counties come in different forms, so each is labeled below as a median or an average.
- Northwest Arkansas region median existing single-family price, calendar year 2025 (Talk Business and Politics, citing Mervin Jebaraj of the University of Arkansas Center for Business and Economic Research): rounded to 376 x $3.30 = $1,240.80.
- Bentonville city median, three months ending September 2026 (Redfin): $489,717, rounded to 490 x $3.30 = $1,617.00.
- Rogers city median, three months ending September 2026 (Redfin): $448,786, rounded to 449 x $3.30 = $1,481.70.
- Benton County average sale price, first half of 2026 (Arvest Skyline Report): rounded to 466 x $3.30 = $1,537.80.
- Washington County average sale price, first half of 2026 (Arvest Skyline Report): rounded to 424 x $3.30 = $1,399.20.
The Skyline averages run higher than the medians in the same report, $385,000 in Benton County and $362,000 in Washington County for the first half of 2026, so check which measure a figure is. The $135.30 gap between the Bentonville and Rogers amounts comes entirely from the price difference, and the $138.60 gap between the Benton County and Washington County averages works the same way.
If you are selling in the Bentonville or Rogers range, apply the formula above to your expected contract price for budgeting, then replace that figure with the amount from your actual contract once you have one.
Who Pays the Arkansas Deed Transfer Tax When Selling a House?
Arkansas law sets a default: "Unless agreed upon otherwise," the tax "shall be paid one-half (1/2) by the grantor or seller and one-half (1/2) by the grantee or purchaser" (Ark. Code 26-60-106). A purchase contract can assign it differently, so the answer for your sale is the statutory split unless your signed contract changes it.
Carry your half as a seller-side line on your net sheet: $808.50 at the Bentonville median or $740.85 at the Rogers median (Redfin, three months ending September 2026). When an offer arrives, read its closing-cost section and find the deed tax or transfer tax line. If that line is silent or ambiguous, have your agent write the allocation in before you accept.
What Should You Do With These Numbers?
- Before listing, add a deed tax line to your net sheet by applying the formula above to your expected price, and compare your half with the Bentonville ($808.50) and Rogers ($740.85) median amounts as a sanity check.
- When an offer arrives, read the closing-cost allocation and confirm in writing how the transfer tax is split before you counter or accept.
- Ask your title company or closing attorney whether an exemption applies. Ark. Code 26-60-102 lists twelve exempt transfers, including transfers to or from a government body, instruments given solely to secure a debt, a deed between divorcing spouses dividing marital property, some FHA, VA or USDA homes sold for $60,000 or less to a buyer who has not owned a home in three years, business reorganizations and beneficiary deeds.
- Request a draft settlement statement several days before closing and check that the deed tax line uses the same price as your contract, while you can still correct it.
- Ask the closing office for the county recording charge as a separate figure, rather than relying on a number from a deed-form website, so you are not guessing at it in your proceeds estimate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Arkansas real estate transfer tax rate?
The Arkansas real estate transfer tax is $3.30 per $1,000 of actual consideration on transactions over $100, according to the Arkansas DFA page current in October 2026. It is levied on each deed or writing that sells realty and also applies to mineral rights transfers. The statute is AR Code Ann. §26-60-101 et seq.
Who pays the transfer tax when selling a house in Arkansas?
Unless the contract says otherwise, the seller and buyer each pay half: the tax "shall be paid one-half (1/2) by the grantor or seller and one-half (1/2) by the grantee or purchaser" (Ark. Code 26-60-106). Budget your half on the seller side, and ask your agent to state any different allocation in the closing-cost section before you accept an offer.
How much is the transfer tax on a Bentonville home?
At Redfin's Bentonville median of $489,717 (three months ending September 2026), the transfer tax is 490 x $3.30 = $1,617.00, or $808.50 each under the default split. Your own bill depends on your actual contract price, so recalculate once you have an accepted offer.
Is the transfer tax based on assessed value?
No, the transfer tax is based on the actual consideration paid, which is the sale price. Arkansas property tax uses an assessed value of 20% of market value (Arkansas Assessment Coordination Division, Arkansas DFA, as of August 2026), but that ratio is not applied to the deed tax. A $448,786 Rogers sale (Redfin median, three months ending September 2026) carries $1,481.70 at $3.30 per $1,000.
If you want a pricing and net-proceeds estimate for your property that includes the deed tax, closing costs and the contract language to watch, call Mason Capital Group at 479-925-3333 and we will walk through it with you in a first conversation.
About the author: Cameron Torabi, Principal Broker — Mason Capital Group. 30+ years of Northwest Arkansas real estate expertise; $2.4B+ in cumulative transaction activity.
Figures in this article are drawn from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Real Property Transfer page (current October 2026); the Arkansas Assessment Coordination Division, Arkansas DFA (as of August 2026); Talk Business and Politics (calendar year 2025 regional median, article October 2026); Ark. Code 26-60-102, 26-60-105 and 26-60-106; Redfin city housing-market pages (three months ending September 2026); the Arvest Skyline Report residential report (first half of 2026); and the Arvest Bank Skyline Report as reported by Talk Business and Politics (first half of 2026, reported August 21, 2026).