Compare Virginia's Three Recording Routes
Program and regulatory figures verified September 19, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
One number and you can see what each route to the same equity costs to record.
Compare Virginia's three recording routes
Same equity, three instruments, three rates under Va. Code § 58.1-803. Enter the amount you would record.
Illustration of state and local recordation tax only. It excludes clerk fees, title charges and lender fees, and is not a loan estimate or tax advice. Your closing agent and the clerk apply the statute to the actual instrument.
What this covers
State recordation tax on the instrument you record, plus the local recordation tax a county or city may impose at one-third of the state amount. Nothing else.
It does not include clerk of court fees, title insurance, settlement charges, or anything your lender charges. Those are separate, they vary, and they belong on a Loan Estimate rather than a web page. It also does not cover the deed side of a purchase, where state recordation tax under § 58.1-801 and grantor's tax under § 58.1-802 apply.
A note on the refinance figure
The refinance calculation here uses 18 cents per $100, which is the first tier of the graduated schedule in § 58.1-803(E) and covers the first $10 million. Residential amounts sit entirely within that tier, so the lower steps of 16, 14, 12 and 10 cents will not apply to an ordinary home loan.
The refinance rate is available where the deed of trust secures the refinancing of an existing debt on which the tax has already been paid. Whether a specific transaction qualifies is determined by your closing agent and the clerk, not by this page.
How to use the answer
As one input among several, not as the decision. The spread between routes on a typical residential amount is a few hundred dollars, which is worth knowing and is usually smaller than the cost of restructuring a mortgage you otherwise want to keep.
Where it earns more attention is at larger balances, which in Virginia means the seventeen jurisdictions where the conforming ceiling reaches $1,249,125. Background on the recordation page, and the product comparison on line versus term.
Local relief ordinances, recordation treatment of a specific instrument, and landlord obligations are legal and tax questions. Your commissioner of the revenue, your CPA or a Virginia attorney, and your closing agent own those answers. We flag them because they change the numbers we underwrite.
Frequently asked questions
How much is Virginia's recordation tax on a deed of trust?
25 cents on every $100 or portion thereof of the obligation secured, under Va. Code § 58.1-803(A), plus a local recordation tax of up to one-third of the state amount under § 58.1-814.
What rate applies to a refinance in Virginia?
18 cents per $100 on the first $10 million, under Va. Code § 58.1-803(E), where the deed of trust secures the refinancing of an existing debt on which the tax has already been paid. The schedule then steps down to 16, 14 and 12 cents on each successive $10 million and 10 cents above $40 million.
Does this calculator include closing costs?
No. It covers state and local recordation tax on the instrument only. Clerk fees, title insurance, settlement charges and lender fees are separate and usually larger, and the deed side of a purchase carries its own recordation and grantor's taxes under §§ 58.1-801 and 58.1-802.
Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about financing, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax, or real estate advice. Local tax relief ordinances, recordation treatment, and landlord obligations change and depend on your facts; your commissioner of the revenue, your CPA or a Virginia attorney, and your real estate agent each handle their own part. Loans are subject to borrower and property qualification.