New Brunswick Land Transfer Tax: Rate, Exemptions & Registration

The New Brunswick land transfer tax is one percent of the greater of the purchase price or the property’s assessed value, and it must be paid before the deed is registered.¹ On a $350,000 home with a $375,000 assessment, you would owe $3,750. There is no first-time homebuyer rebate in the province.

How the Rate Is Calculated

The Real Property Transfer Tax Act applies one percent to whichever is higher: what you actually paid, or the current assessed value on the provincial roll.¹ The “greater of” rule stops buyers and sellers from writing a low price into the deed to shrink the tax.

Two quick examples. Buy a property for $300,000 when the assessment sits at $320,000, and the tax is one percent of $320,000, or $3,200. Pay $340,000 for the same property, and the sale price controls at $3,400. The math is simple; the surprise comes when buyers budget only against the price and forget to check the assessment.

Long leases are treated like sales. A lease of 25 years or longer triggers the tax the same way a deed does. Anything shorter than 25 years does not.¹

Who Is Exempt

Section 6 of the Act lists transfers that carry no tax, and Regulation 83-106 adds more. Most fall into a handful of practical categories.¹²

Estates and Family

Property passing under a will, from an executor to beneficiaries, or from an administrator to heirs on intestacy is exempt. So is a change between joint tenancy and tenancy in common. A married person can transfer marital property, as defined in the Marital Property Act, to their spouse or into joint names without tax.

Two limits catch people out. Parent-to-child transfers are not exempt: gifting a home to your adult child still costs one percent of the assessed value. And the spousal exemption is tied to the Marital Property Act definition, so common-law partners and property outside that definition may not qualify. Confirm with your lawyer before assuming a family transfer is free.

Corrections, Security, and Enforcement

Confirmation or correction deeds, consolidation transfers, easements, and licences are exempt. So are transfers made purely as security for a debt and the later reconveyance once the debt is repaid. When a lender exercises a mortgage power of sale, or a guarantor takes title after default, no tax applies. Receiving orders and assignments under federal bankruptcy law are also exempt.

Government, Charities, and Corporate Structure

Deeds to the Crown, to Crown agencies and corporations, and to registered charities are exempt, as are transfers to a municipality, a water or wastewater commission, or a regional service commission. On the corporate side, you can move property to a corporation in which you hold at least 95 percent of the share capital, and back again, without tax. A parent corporation can transfer property to a wholly owned subsidiary, and subsidiaries under the same parent can transfer between themselves, tax-free.

Agreements and Short Leases

Signing a purchase and sale agreement does not trigger the tax; only registering the deed does. Leases under 25 years are not taxable transfers.

Paying the Tax at Registration

Every paper deed submitted for registration must include an Affidavit of Value (Form 54). Electronic submissions use a Certificate of Value with the same content.³ You declare the true consideration paid, and the province compares it against the assessed value to set the tax.

The form requires the property’s Parcel Identifier (PID) and the full legal description from the most recent survey. Because it’s sworn, inaccurate reporting creates problems well beyond a tax shortfall.

In practice, your lawyer or notary submits the deed to a Service New Brunswick Land Registry office and pays the tax out of closing funds along with registration fees. The tax must be paid before the deed is registered; there is no grace period.⁴

If You Underpay or Overpay

Unpaid transfer tax attracts interest at 1.5 percent per month, compounding monthly, which works out to 19.56 percent per year. Interest runs from the day the deed was registered.2 The province can also register a certificate against the property, creating a lien that ranks ahead of mortgages and other encumbrances until the tax is cleared.¹

If you overpaid, you have one year from the date of the overpayment to apply in writing for a refund. The application needs to explain the circumstances and include documentary evidence of the overpayment.¹

How It Interacts With HST on New Builds

The transfer tax and HST are separate. New Brunswick’s HST is 15 percent and applies to newly constructed homes. The one percent transfer tax is calculated on the price or assessed value, not on the HST-inclusive total, so the two do not stack.

On a qualifying new build, the federal GST/HST new housing rebate can offset part of the federal portion of HST. Eligibility generally requires the home to be your primary residence with a fair market value below $450,000.⁵ No equivalent provincial rebate exists for the transfer tax. The one percent is a fixed cost on every non-exempt transaction, new construction or resale.

1
Government of New Brunswick. New Brunswick Code R-2.1 – Real Property Transfer Tax Act
2
Government of New Brunswick. New Brunswick Regulation 83-106 – General Regulation
3
Service New Brunswick. Purchase Price and the Affidavit of Value/Transfer
4
Government of New Brunswick. New Brunswick Code R-2.1 – Real Property Transfer Tax Act
5
Canada Revenue Agency. GST/HST New Housing Rebate