Perquimans County is one of only seven counties in North Carolina that levies a local excise tax on the transfer of real estate. The land transfer tax equals $1.00 per $100.00 or fraction thereof (1% rounded up to the next dollar) of the sales price or value of the property. The tax is levied on deeds and certain longterm leases. The Tax Department certifies on the document the amount of transfer tax due and the tax is paid to the Register of Deeds at the time the document is recorded. The other counties that levy a land transfer tax are: Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Pasquotank and Washington.
The Tax applies to:
- Regular property sales (regardless of profit or loss)
- Exchange of property (whether exchange is for money, real estate, personal property, or any other consideration)
- Deeds from non-profit or religious organizations
- Leases (or a memorandum of lease) that are for a term of more than 10 years or have an option to renew the lease beyond 10 years
- Leases (or a memorandum of lease) that are for substantially the same property and parties of a previous lease(s), and when the term of the new lease added to the term of the old lease(s) exceeds 10 years
- Timber deeds
The Tax does not apply to:
- Deeds of gift
- Foreclosure deeds or deeds in lieu of foreclosure to the mortgage holder
- Deeds from Local, State, or Federal Government
- Certain leases with a term of less than 10 years (See above)
- Transfer in which no consideration is paid or due (consideration is an inducement, something of value given in return for a performance or a promise of performance by another)
- Transfers by operation of law, by will, by intestacy, merger or consolidation
In order to record a deed, one must present either a copy of the sales contract for the property or a completed Affidavit of Consideration or Value which shows the sales price. The value taxed includes the amount of any lien or encumbrance remaining on the property at the time of sale.