Georgia’s Intangibles Tax: What Atlanta Buyers Pay at Closing and Why It Surprises Them

In Georgia, buyers pay a state intangibles tax when they take out a mortgage, $1.50 for every $500 of loan amount, which works out to about $1,050 on a $350,000 loan. It shows up on your closing disclosure as a separate line item called the “intangible recording tax,” collected by your closing attorney and paid to the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the property sits. Most buyers have never heard of it until they see it on their settlement statement for the first time, and then they have questions.

What Is Georgia’s Intangibles Tax?

Georgia’s intangibles tax is a state tax on long-term mortgage debt secured by real property. When your lender records a security deed against your home, the state of Georgia requires a tax to be paid based on the loan amount. It’s formally called the “intangible recording tax” because it applies to a financial instrument, the mortgage, rather than to the physical property itself.

The tax has nothing to do with the purchase price. It’s calculated on your loan amount. If you’re putting 20% down on a $500,000 home, you’re financing $400,000, and the intangibles tax is calculated on that $400,000, not the full half-million.

Legally, the lender owes this tax, since they’re the one recording the security deed. In practice, lenders pass it to the borrower every single time, it shows up as a buyer closing cost on your Loan Estimate and closing disclosure. Your closing attorney handles the collection and payment to the county on your behalf.

How Much Will You Pay?

The rate is $1.50 per $500 of loan amount. That works out to 0.30% of your mortgage principal.

Here’s what that looks like at common Atlanta price points:

The tax is capped at $25,000 per loan, a threshold you’d only hit on a loan above roughly $8.3 million. For the vast majority of Metro Atlanta buyers, you’re paying the full calculated amount with no cap in play.

Why It Shows Up on the Buyer’s Side, And How It Differs From the Transfer Tax

The intangibles tax trips buyers up partly because closing disclosures already have several tax and fee line items, and “intangible recording tax” doesn’t sound like an obvious mortgage-related charge. Let me untangle the three fees you’ll commonly see:

None of these overlap. They’re each doing something different, and they’re each separate line items on your closing disclosure. The confusion usually comes from seeing all three together and not knowing what each one is for.

This is also worth understanding in the context of your full buyer closing costs in Georgia, which typically run 2-5% of the purchase price when you add up attorney fees, lender fees, prepaid interest, homeowners insurance, and property tax escrow. The intangibles tax is one piece of that total, understanding each piece is how you avoid sticker shock at closing.

The July 2025 Rule Change: Short-Term Loans Are Now Exempt

Georgia passed HB 586, which took effect July 1, 2025, and changed the definition of a “long-term” note for purposes of the intangibles tax. Previously, any loan with a term longer than 36 months triggered the tax. Under the new law, the threshold is 62 months, so loans maturing within 62 months from the date of the note are generally exempt.

For most residential buyers taking out 15-year or 30-year mortgages, this change doesn’t affect you, your loan term is well above 62 months, and the intangibles tax still applies. But it matters for buyers using bridge loans, short-term construction financing, or certain 5-year fixed products. If you’re financing with anything other than a standard 15- or 30-year mortgage, your closing attorney will determine whether your specific loan qualifies for the exemption.

The practical implication: if you’re buying a home before selling your current one and you’re bridging with short-term financing, that bridge loan may now be exempt from the intangibles tax, potentially saving you several hundred to several thousand dollars depending on the loan size. It’s worth discussing with your lender and closing attorney early in the process.

Understanding Georgia’s due diligence period and your full contract timeline matters here too, the timing of your financing structure affects which rules apply at closing.

A Few More Things Buyers Ask About This Tax

VA loan buyers get a break here: VA loans are fully exempt from Georgia’s intangibles tax. If you’re an eligible veteran or active-duty service member purchasing with a VA loan, this line item simply doesn’t appear on your closing disclosure. It’s one of the real financial advantages of VA financing in Georgia.

Can the seller pay it? By convention, no, the intangibles tax is treated as a buyer’s cost because it’s tied to the buyer’s mortgage. But like most closing costs, it can be addressed through seller concessions. If you’re negotiating a deal where the seller is offering credits, the intangibles tax can be part of what those credits cover. I’ll help you structure that kind of request when it makes sense.

Does it apply to refinances? Yes. Every time a new security deed is recorded in Georgia, the intangibles tax applies to the new loan. If you refinance within 62 months of a prior mortgage on which you paid the tax, there may be a credit available for the previously taxed amount, your closing attorney will calculate that at the time of the refi.

One more thing worth knowing: the intangibles tax is collected at the county level in all 159 Georgia counties. The county may vary, but the rate is the same statewide. Your closing attorney handles everything, you don’t pay the county directly or file anything separately.

Frequently Asked Questions