Who pays what
Buying or selling a house in Jamaica brings a handful of taxes and fees. The law sets some of the amounts, custom decides who pays, and you agree the rest with your lawyer and agent.
| Cost | Who pays | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer tax | Seller | 2%Source: TAJ Technical Advisory: amendment to the Transfer Tax Act 2019 |
| Stamp duty on the agreement and transfer | Shared, by custom | J$5,000Sources differSource: TAJ: stamp duty reform |
| Stamp duty on a mortgage | Buyer | J$6,250Source: TAJ: rates and fees |
| Registration fee, for each J$1,000 above J$2,000 | Shared, by custom | J$5Source: National Land Agency: price list, land valuation and land titling |
| Registration fee on a mortgage lodged with the transfer | Buyer | 50%Source: National Land Agency: price list, land valuation and land titling |
| Legal fees, before GCT | Each side its own | 3%Not confirmed by an official sourceSource: Jamaica Star: what are the costs involved in a real estate transaction (4 July 2022) |
| Estate agent's commission, before GCT | Seller | 5%Not confirmed by an official sourceSource: Jamaica Star: what are the costs involved in a real estate transaction (4 July 2022) |
An NHT loan adds a service charge, a share of the loan that depends on pay: 0%Source: JIS: NHT reduces deposit on open market loans for contributors earning less than $30,000 a week at J$30,000 a week or less, 2%Source: JIS: NHT reduces deposit on open market loans for contributors earning less than $30,000 a week up to J$42,001 and 5%Source: JIS: NHT reduces deposit on open market loans for contributors earning less than $30,000 a week above that. Lenders also charge for valuation and survey. Those vary, so put in your lender’s fee if you know it.
What is law and what is custom
Transfer tax, stamp duty and the registration fee are set by Tax Administration Jamaica and the National Land Agency. Who pays them is a custom. By custom the seller pays transfer tax, buyer and seller split stamp duty and the registration fee on the transfer, and each side pays its own lawyer. That split comes from news reports. The law doesn’t set it, and you can agree a different one. The calculator tags every line as set by law, custom, our assumption or the lender’s.
Stamp duty used to be 4% of the price. It has been a flat amount since 1 April 2019, so any page that still quotes 4% is out of date.
Legal fees and commission
We found no official scale for legal fees Not publishedSource: Jamaica Homes: how legal fees work when buying property in Jamaica (2026). The figure the calculator starts with is the customary one reported by the Jamaica Star in 2022, which is 3% of the price before GCT. Agent commission is agreed with the agent and customarily falls on the seller. Both lines are assumptions, which is why you can change them. An attorney who prepares the transfer papers for a flat fee has been reported at J$10,000 to J$30,000, shared by buyer and seller, and that is separate from the fees above.
The deposit
On signing the agreement for sale the buyer customarily pays a deposit of 10%Not confirmed by an official sourceSource: Myers, Fletcher & Gordon: transfer tax has been slashed, so why are you still paying a 10% deposit?, and a law firm reports the Transfer Tax Act calls for at least 7.5%Not confirmed by an official sourceSource: Myers, Fletcher & Gordon: transfer tax has been slashed, so why are you still paying a 10% deposit?. Neither figure comes from an official page, so ask your lawyer what applies to your sale. The deposit counts toward the price. Our mortgage calculator adds it to the closing costs to show the cash you need.