Relates to service retirement benefits for certain members of the New York city employees' retirement system

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Robert Jackson and 1 co-sponsor

S.4666 shifts higher real estate transfer fees and the controlling interest tax to sellers and raises rates in a tiered structure for high‑value transactions.

REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE

Summary — S.4666 (reprint SBA 6/26/25 1R)

Status: Reported out of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee with committee amendments (2nd reading); substituted by A5804 (6/30/2025). Fiscal impact: unavailable.

Note: although the header in the prompt referenced a different topic, the bill text and committee statement apply to New Jersey real‑property transfer fees and taxes.

Purpose

S.4666 raises the additional State transfer fee and the controlling interest transfer tax on higher‑value real‑property transactions and shifts legal responsibility for paying those charges from the buyer (grantee) to the seller (grantor). It also creates a limited refund opportunity for sellers who paid rates in excess of 1% on certain transactions that closed under prior contracts and were recorded by mid‑November 2025.

Key provisions

Amends P.L.2004, c.66 and P.L.2006, c.33; repeals section 2 of P.L.2005, c.19.

Changes the additional transfer fee (currently 1% for consideration over $1,000,000) into a tiered schedule:

> $1,000,000 up to $2,000,000: 1.0% (unchanged)
> $2,000,000 up to $2,500,000: 2.0%
> $2,500,000 up to $3,000,000: 2.5%
> $3,000,000 up to $3,500,000: 3.0%
> $3,500,000: 3.5%

Applies the same increased rate structure to the controlling interest transfer tax (applies to certain non‑deed transfers where an entity owning commercial property is sold and consideration exceeds $1,000,000).

Liability shift: the fee and the controlling interest transfer tax are imposed on the grantor (seller) instead of the grantee (buyer)/purchaser.

Collection: county recording officers collect the fee at time of deed recording and remit receipts to the State Treasurer by the 10th day of the following month.

Refund provision: sellers may apply to the Director of the Division of Taxation for refund of any fee paid in excess of 1% for transfers

recorded on or before November 15, 2025, and
pursuant to contracts fully executed before July 10, 2025. Applicants must submit required documentation to support the claim.

Existing exemptions remain (e.g., certain tax‑exempt organizations, transfers incidental to mergers below a 20% asset threshold, intercompany transfers between combined group members entered into on or after Jan 1, 2021).

Affidavit-of-consideration filing and reporting requirements for certain property classes remain in place.

Who is affected

Primary: sellers (grantors) of high‑value residential, commercial, cooperative, and certain farm properties (transactions with consideration above thresholds).

Also affected: purchasers in controlling‑interest acquisitions of entities owning commercial real estate; county recording officers; the Division of Taxation; real‑estate market participants (developers, investors).

State: expected to increase General Fund receipts from higher rates, though no fiscal estimate is provided in the committee statement.

Procedural and timeline notes

Committee amendment changed the cutoff for protected contracts from July 1 to July 10, 2025.

Refund eligibility limited to transfers recorded by Nov 15, 2025 and contracts fully executed before July 10, 2025.

The bill was reported and committed to Finance and subsequently substituted by companion Assembly bill A5804 (6/30/2025).

If you want, I can: (1) extract the exact statutory text changes, (2) draft a one‑page explainer for affected sellers/buyers, or (3) summarize likely fiscal effects and stakeholders’ perspectives.