77.22 Imposition of real estate transfer fee.

(1) There is imposed on the grantor of real estate a real estate transfer fee at the rate of 30 cents for each $100 of value or fraction thereof on every conveyance not exempted or excluded under this subchapter. In regard to land contracts, the value is the total principal amount that the buyer agrees to pay the seller for the real estate. This fee shall be collected by the register at the time the instrument of conveyance is submitted for recording. Except as provided in s. 77.255, at the time of submission the grantee or his or her duly authorized agent or other person acquiring an ownership interest under the instrument, or the judgment creditor in the case of a foreclosure under s. 846.16, shall execute a return, signed by both grantor and grantee, on the form prescribed under sub. (2). The register shall enter the fee paid on the face of the deed or other instrument of conveyance before recording, and, except as provided in s. 77.255, submission of a completed real estate transfer return and collection by the register of the fee shall be prerequisites to acceptance of the conveyance for recording. The register shall have no duty to determine either the correct value of the real estate transferred or the validity of any exemption or exclusion claimed. If the transfer is not subject to a fee as provided in this subchapter, the reason for exemption shall be stated on the face of the conveyance to be recorded by reference to the proper subsection under s. 77.25.

(2) The secretary of revenue shall prescribe the form required under sub. (1). Forms filed on or after July 1, 2009, shall be filed electronically in the manner prescribed by the secretary. The secretary may waive the requirement to file electronically if the secretary determines, based on a written application for a waiver, that the requirement causes an undue hardship. The form shall include an application for a credit under s. 79.10 (5) and shall provide for the submission of the following:

(a) The value of the ownership interest transferred by the instrument of conveyance.

(b) The amount of the fee payable under this section.

(e) The financing terms under which agricultural land is transferred that are relevant to determining only the value of the property.

(f) Any other information the secretary requires.

History: 1971 c. 150; 1977 c. 29; 1981 c. 20; 1985 a. 54; 1985 a. 174 ss. 1, 2, 7; 1985 a. 332; 1987 a. 27; 1989 a. 31; 1991 a. 269; 1993 a. 307; 1995 a. 27 ss. 3475m to 3476, 9116 (5); 2007 a. 219; 2011 a. 32; 2015 a. 60; 2017 a. 59, 104.

The transfer by all owners of property held as a in tenancy in common to a partnership consisting of all the original tenants in common was a taxable conveyance. DOR v. Mark, 168 Wis. 2d 288, 483 N.W.2d 302 (Ct. App. 1992).

A memorandum announcing a reorganization of a land-owning partnership into a limited liability company and that the LLC was now the owner of the real estate was a document intended to transfer title to real estate. The receipt by members of ownership interests in the LLC was for value so that there was a conveyance under s. 77.21 (1) subject to taxation under sub. (1). Wolter v. DOR, 231 Wis. 2d 651, 605 N.W.2d 283 (Ct. App. 1999), 99-0671.

There need not be both a conveyance and consideration with value for a transfer to be subject to the transfer fee. F.M. Management Co. v. DOR, 2004 WI App 19, 269 Wis. 2d 526, 674 N.W.2d 922, 03-1536.