Illinois real estate transfer tax has up to three layers: state at $0.50 per $500 of value, county at $0.25 per $500, and a municipal tax in the minority of towns that impose one. In Lake County only six municipalities levy it, and in Lake Forest it is the buyer who pays at $4.00 per $1,000.
| Same $800,000 house | State | County | Municipal | Seller pays | Buyer pays |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libertyville | $800 | $400 | None | $1,200 | $0 |
| Lake Forest | $800 | $400 | $3,200 | $1,200 | $3,200 |
| Buffalo Grove | $800 | $400 | about $2,400 | about $3,600 | $0 |
Source: 35 ILCS 200/31-10; 55 ILCS 5/5-1031; City of Lake Forest; Lake County transfer tax pamphlet. Confirm municipal rates with the town before closing.
State. $0.50 for each $500 of value or fraction of $500, under 35 ILCS 200/31-10. That is $1.00 per $1,000. Confirmed on the Illinois Department of Revenue rate page.
County. $0.25 for each $500, that is $0.50 per $1,000, authorized by 55 ILCS 5/5-1031 in the Counties Code. Worth noting the correct citation, because a great deal of published material cites the Property Tax Code for the county tax, which is wrong.
Combined state and county: $1.50 per $1,000. On a $500,000 sale, $750. On a $1,000,000 sale, $1,500.
Municipal. Only where a municipality has adopted an ordinance. Most Lake County towns have not.
Per Lake County's transfer tax pamphlet, exactly six communities in the county impose a municipal real estate transfer tax:
Buffalo Grove, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire, Mettawa and North Chicago.
Property in those six requires a municipal transfer stamp, or a letter of exemption, before the deed can be recorded.
Everywhere else in Lake County, including Libertyville, Mundelein, Gurnee, Lake Bluff, Deerfield, Vernon Hills and Grayslake, there is no municipal transfer tax at all.
The county pamphlet dates from December 2022 and ordinances change, so confirm with the municipality before closing. But the shape of it is stable: this is a minority practice in Lake County, not a default.
The City of Lake Forest's own transfer tax page sets the tax at $4.00 per $1,000 of net consideration, rounded up to the next $5.00 increment, payable by the buyer before closing. It applies to transactions closing on or after July 5, 2006.
On a $1,200,000 Lake Forest purchase that is $4,800, and it is the buyer's cost.
Two details worth knowing. Transactions that are otherwise exempt under the city code still attract a $50 minimum. And residents who both buy and sell a residence inside Lake Forest within a one-year period can claim a rebate of up to $2,000, provided they apply within a year of the transaction. It is the kind of thing nobody tells you unless you ask.
For a buyer comparing Lake Forest against a neighboring town with no municipal tax, this belongs in the cash-to-close calculation from the first conversation. For a seller, it is a reason your Lake Forest buyer may be tighter on cash than their pre-approval suggests.
The state and county tax is customarily the seller's. But the accurate version is more careful than most articles allow.
Neither 35 ILCS 200/31-10 nor 55 ILCS 5/5-1031 names the seller expressly. The tax is imposed on the privilege of transferring title, which is the grantor's privilege, and that is the basis for the settled Illinois practice. Lake County's pamphlet is deliberately neutral, saying it may be paid by buyer or seller and to check your contract.
Municipal tax follows the local ordinance, and ordinances differ. Lake Forest puts it on the buyer. Other towns put it on the seller. Some leave it to the contract.
The contract can reallocate any of it. What it cannot do is make the liability disappear.
This is where transfer tax stops being a line item and starts being a reason your closing moves.
Municipalities that impose the tax require a stamp before recording, and many condition the stamp on other things: a final water bill paid, a point-of-sale inspection completed, outstanding code violations cleared.
A point-of-sale inspection requirement discovered two weeks before closing can move the date. Ask early which requirements your municipality attaches to its stamp, and build them into the timeline rather than discovering them.
Illinois exempts a defined list of transfers. The Department of Revenue reproduces the statutory list at 35 ILCS 200/31-45 verbatim in its PTAX-203 instructions, revision October 2024.
The main categories: transfers to or from governmental bodies and certain charitable, religious or educational organizations; deeds securing debt; deeds that correct or confirm a previously recorded deed without additional consideration; transfers where actual consideration is under $100; tax deeds; deeds releasing security; deeds of partition; transfers under corporate reorganizations; subsidiary-to-parent transfers for no consideration beyond stock cancellation; actual exchanges of real estate, except to the extent money changes hands; and deeds to a mortgage holder in foreclosure or in lieu of foreclosure.
A PTAX-203 declaration is not required for most of those, though it is still required for the governmental and charitable category and for exchanges.
Whether your transaction qualifies is a legal question for your attorney, not a judgment to make from a web page. Municipalities also maintain their own separate exemption lists, and as noted, Lake Forest charges $50 even on exempt transfers.
Same $800,000 house, three Lake County towns, to show how differently this lands.
Libertyville. State $800. County $400. Municipal none. Total $1,200, all seller.
Lake Forest. State $800. County $400, both seller. Municipal $3,200 at $4.00 per $1,000, paid by the buyer. So the seller's transfer tax cost is the same $1,200, and the buyer has an additional $3,200 of cash to find that they would not need two towns away.
Buffalo Grove. State $800. County $400. Municipal at $3.00 per $1,000, which on the village's ordinance falls on the seller, so roughly $2,400 added to the seller's side. Buffalo Grove also spans the Lake and Cook county line, so confirm which county your parcel sits in before calculating anything.
The point is not the arithmetic. It is that a buyer comparing three houses at $800,000 is comparing three different total costs, and a seller comparing net proceeds across towns is doing the same.
Rates and responsible parties should be confirmed with each municipality before closing. The county pamphlet dates from December 2022 and village ordinances are amended.
The PTAX-203 is the Illinois Real Estate Transfer Declaration. It is the form that accompanies the deed at recording and reports the transaction to the state and the county.
It captures the parties, the property, the full consideration, the type of transfer, and certain characteristics of the property.
Two things worth knowing about it.
First, the sale price you report on it becomes part of the public record and feeds the data that assessors and the portals use. That is how your sale becomes a comparable for your neighbors, and how assessment ratios are calculated.
Second, it is signed under penalty of perjury. Misstating consideration to reduce transfer tax is not a technicality. Your attorney prepares this and you should read it before signing, particularly the consideration figure and the property characteristics, which are occasionally entered wrongly and then follow the parcel.
The current instructions are revision October 2024.
Transfer tax attaches to transfers of title and of beneficial interest, not to borrowing.
Refinancing your mortgage does not transfer title, so no transfer tax arises. You will pay recording fees on the new mortgage and the release of the old one.
Adding or removing a spouse from title, transfers into a living trust, and corrections to a previously recorded deed often fall within the statutory exemptions at 35 ILCS 200/31-45. Often, not always, and the municipal ordinance may treat them differently from the state. Lake Forest, for example, charges a $50 minimum even on otherwise exempt transfers.
Transfers on death, whether by will, trust or transfer on death instrument, have their own treatment.
Every one of these is a question for your attorney rather than a conclusion to reach from a table. The cost of asking is an email. The cost of guessing wrong is a rejected recording, a delayed closing, or a back assessment.
On a typical Lake County sale, combined state and county transfer tax is modest next to commission and the property tax proration.
The municipal layer is what varies enough to matter, and in the six towns that impose it, it needs to be on the correct side of the ledger. Putting Lake Forest's transfer tax on the seller's net sheet is a several-thousand-dollar error in the wrong direction.
None of this is tax or legal advice. Your attorney and closing agent confirm what applies to your transaction and your municipality.
Transfer tax is one line of the statement; the buyer-side lines are in closing costs in Illinois.
Combined state and county transfer tax is $1.50 per $1,000 of sale price, so $750 on a $500,000 sale. Any municipal transfer tax is additional. In Lake County only six towns impose one, and in Lake Forest it is the buyer rather than the seller who pays it.
Six, per the county's transfer tax pamphlet: Buffalo Grove, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire, Mettawa and North Chicago. Everywhere else in the county, including Libertyville, Mundelein, Gurnee, Lake Bluff, Deerfield, Vernon Hills and Grayslake, there is no municipal transfer tax.
The buyer. Lake Forest charges $4.00 per $1,000 of net consideration, rounded up to the next $5.00 increment, payable before closing. A $50 minimum applies even to otherwise exempt transfers, and residents who both buy and sell within the city inside one year can claim a rebate of up to $2,000 if they apply within a year.
The seller customarily pays the state and county portions, since the tax is imposed on the privilege of transferring title. Municipal tax follows the local ordinance and varies, with Lake Forest placing it on the buyer. The purchase contract can reallocate the burden between the parties.
The document a municipality issues showing its transfer tax has been paid, required before the deed can be recorded. Many towns condition the stamp on other items such as a paid final water bill, a completed point-of-sale inspection or cleared code violations, all of which can affect your closing timeline.
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I'm Eshu Chikoti, a Lake County, IL agent. If you want the numbers in this article run for your specific home or purchase, let's talk it through — no pressure, no obligation.
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