Intangible tax can be a significant cost on your closing statement for a real estate transaction. You may be able to avoid this cost when you refinance your mortgage with your existing lender. Georgia law provides that you do not have to pay intangible tax again when you refinance a property with your existing lender if the intangible tax had already been paid on the initial loan. If you borrow a higher amount than what you initially borrowed you would owe intangible tax only on the difference between the higher amount and the initial amount.

As always your trusted legal resource, Justin Daniels

  • doncoia
    My home loan was originally with one company I forget who, but was sold to Wells Fargo shortly after I bought the house. Now I am refinancing with Wells Fargo and they did not add the intangible tax to the closing fees, but now several weeks after closing, there attorneys call me and say they will be sending me a bill for $600 dollars to cover the tax owed to record the deed. Is this correct?
  • doncoia
    The homeowner not only pays this tax at the time he or she borrows money to purchase the home, but also at each time the home mortgage is refinanced. The current exemption on loans refinancing current debt provided by Code Section 48-6-65 is woefully inadequate in that it exempts refinancing where the new lender is the same lender as the original lender and the original loan has never been assigned. The nature of the home lending business is such now that most home loans are sold and transferred by the originating lender so that few
    homeowners could avail themselves of that exemption. Thus, intangible taxes on notes which are secured by primary residences prove a hindrance to home ownership and it is in the best interests of the state and the economy of the state to exempt certain residential transactions from the taxes imposed by this chapter. Until HB 647 is passed, Intangible Tax will probably be imposed on any refinance that is not with the original lender.
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