[Adopted 2-2-1982 by Ord. No. 249]
For the purposes of this article, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to
them by this section:
Any deed, instrument or writing whereby any real estate within
the corporate limits of the City of New Castle, or any interest therein,
shall be quitclaimed, granted, bargained, sold or otherwise conveyed
to the grantee, but shall not include the following:
Any will;
Any lease, other than the following:
[Amended 8-3-1983 by Ord. No. 249A]
Any writing purporting to transfer a title interest
or possessory interest for a term of more than five years in a condominium
unit or any unit property subject to the Unit Property Act.[1] In determining the term of such writing, it shall be presumed
that any rights or options to renew or extend will be exercised.
Any writing purporting to transfer a title interest
or possessory interest of any lessee or other person in possession
of real estate owned by the state or other political subdivision thereof.
Any mortgage.
Any conveyance between corporations operating
housing projects pursuant to Chapter 45 of Title 31 of the Delaware
Code, and the shareholders thereof.
Any conveyance between nonprofit industrial
development agencies and industrial corporations purchasing from them.
Any conveyance to nonprofit industrial development
agencies.
Any conveyance between husband and wife.olders
thereof.
Any conveyance between persons who were previously
husband and wife, but who have since been divorced; provided that
such conveyance is made after the granting of the final decree in
divorce, and the real estate or interest therein subject to such conveyance
was acquired by the husband and wife, or husband or wife, prior to
the granting of the final decree in divorce.
Any conveyance between parent and child or the
spouse of such a child.
Any conveyance to a trustee, nominee or straw
party for the grantor as beneficial owner; for the beneficial ownership
of a person other than the grantor where, if such person were the
grantee, no tax would be imposed upon the conveyance pursuant to this
chapter; or from a trustee, nominee or straw party to the beneficial
owner.
Any conveyance between a parent corporation
and a wholly-owned subsidiary corporation; provided that such conveyance
is without actual consideration.
Correctional deeds without actual consideration.
Any conveyance to or from the United States,
the State of Delaware or any of their instrumentalities, agencies
or political subdivision.
[Amended 8-3-1983 by Ord. No. 249A]
Any conveyance by the owner of previously occupied
residential premises to a builder of new residential premises when
such previously occupied residential premises are taken in trade by
such builder as a part of the consideration from the purchaser of
new, previously unoccupied premises.
Any conveyance to the lender holding a bona
fide mortgage, which is genuinely in default, either by a sheriff
conducting a foreclosure sale, or by the mortgagor in lieu of foreclosure.
Any conveyance to a religious organization or
other body or person holding title to real estate for a religious
organization, if such real estate will not be used following such
transfer by the grantee, or by any privy of the grantee, for any commercial
purpose.
Any conveyance to or from a nonprofit corporation
organization of real estate acquired for the purpose of rehabilitation
and resale without profit.
Any transfer to or from a corporation, or a
partnership where all the grantors or grantees own stock of the corporation
or interests in the partnership, in the same proportion as their interest
in or ownership of the real estate being transferred; provided, however,
that this subsection shall not apply to any transfer from a corporation
or a partnership unless the grantees have owned more than 50% of the
stock of the corporation or the interests in the partnership continuously
throughout the three-year period immediately prior to the date of
transfer; and provided further that this subsection shall not apply
to any transfer to a corporation or a partnership unless the grantors
have owned more than 50% of the stock of the corporation or the interests
in the partnership continuously throughout the three-year period immediately
prior to the date of transfer; for purposes of this provision, stock
of the corporation or interests in the partnership which have transferred
by reason of death, bankruptcy or otherwise involuntarily shall not
be considered in determining whether the fifty-percent requirement
hereby established has been satisfied.
[Amended 8-3-1983 by Ord. No. 249A]
The making, executing, delivering, accepting or presenting
for recording, of a document.
The City of New Castle Treasurer.
In the case of any document granting, bargaining, selling
or otherwise conveying any land, tenement or hereditaments, or interest
therein, the amount of the actual consideration therefor, including
liens or other encumbrances thereon and ground rent, or a commensurate
part of the liens or other encumbrances thereon and ground rent, where
such liens or other encumbrances and ground rent also encumber other
lands, tenements or hereditaments. Where such document shall not set
forth the real or bona fide consideration therefor, the value thereof
shall be determined from the price set forth in or actual consideration
for the contract of sale, or in the case of a gift or any other document
without consideration, from the actual monetary worth of the property
granted, bargained, sold or otherwise conveyed, which in either event
shall not be less than the amount of the estimated full value of such
lands, tenements or hereditaments for local tax purposes as determined
by the Board of Assessment of the city.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 22 of Title 25 of the
Delaware Code.
A.
Except as provided herein as to transactions involving
documents relevant to the conveyance of real estate valued in excess
of $1,000,000 in Industrial Districts or Industrial Office Park Districts,
every person who makes, executes, issues or delivers any document,
or in whose behalf any document is made, executed, issued or delivered,
shall pay therefor and in respect thereof, or for and in respect of
the vellum, parchment or paper upon which such document is written
or printed, a tax at the rate of 1 1/2% of the value of the property
represented by such document, which tax shall be payable at the time
of the making, execution, issuance or delivery of such document; said
tax is to be apportioned equally between grantor and grantee unless
otherwise provided for by agreement of the parties; provided, however,
that for the first transaction involving new construction in an Industrial
District I or Industrial Office Park District IOP, after the effective
date of this chapter and within 10 years thereafter, the applicable
tax shall be at the rate of 1/2% of the value of the property represented
by the document in excess of $1,000,000, in addition to the tax at
the rate of 1 1/2% on the first $1,000,000 of value.
[1]
Editor's Note: This chapter also provided
that it shall become effective upon its passage by Council and approval
by the Mayor and shall remain effective as to such reduced rate of
1/2% for 10 years thereafter. Upon the expiration of such ten-year
period, the applicable transfer tax rate for all transactions, regardless
of value, shall be 1%.
B.
Where a person acquires title to any lands, tenements
or hereditaments as a nominee or as a straw party for the real grantee
or purchaser, the transfer of such title by such nominee or straw
party of the real grantee or purchaser shall be exempt from this tax.
C.
Where a person acquires title to any lands, tenements
or hereditaments for the purpose of holding the same as a nominee
or as a straw party for the grantor, such transfer of title to the
nominee or straw party shall be exempt from this tax.
D.
Notwithstanding Subsection A, "document" shall not include any conveyance to a first-time homebuyer of a property located in the Downtown Development District (DDD); provided, however, that only that portion of the tax, not to exceed 1/2 of the total taxes due, that is attributable to and payable by the first-time homebuyer under this article shall be exempt.
[Added 10-24-2019 by Ord. No.
523]
(1)
For purposes of this Subsection D, "first-time homebuyer" means:
(a)
A natural person who has at no time held any direct legal interest
in residential real estate, wherever located, and who intends to occupy
the property being conveyed as his or her principal residence within
90 days following the transaction;
(b)
Spouses purchasing as joint tenants or tenants by the entirety,
when neither spouse has ever held any direct legal interest in residential
real estate, wherever located, and both of whom intend to occupy the
property being conveyed as their principal residence within 90 days
following the transaction; or
(c)
Individuals purchasing as joint tenants or cotenants, when none
of the individuals has ever held any direct legal interest in residential
real estate, wherever located, and both of whom intend to occupy the
property being conveyed as their principal residence within 90 days
following the transaction.
(2)
The realty transfer tax exemption for first-time homebuyers described
herein shall remain valid for only as long as the City's DDD
program remains certified by the State of Delaware.
A.
The payment of the tax imposed by this article shall
be evidenced by the affixing of one or more documentary stamps to
every document by the person making, executing, issuing or delivering
such document, regardless of the situs of the actual making, executing,
issuing or delivering of such document.
B.
Such stamps shall be affixed in such manner that their
removal will require the continued application of steam or water,
and the person using or affixing such stamps shall cause such stamps
to be canceled in such manner that they may not be used again, either:
C.
Priority; determination of tax.
(1)
The tax imposed by this article shall be fully paid
and have priority out of the proceeds of any judicial sale of real
estate before any other obligation, claim, lien, judgment, estate
or costs of the sale, and of the writ upon which the sale is made,
and the sheriff or other officer conducting such sale shall pay the
tax herein imposed out of the first moneys paid to him/her in connection
therewith, unless previously paid by any party; provided, however,
that any tax imposed by the state shall have priority over the tax
imposed under this article.
As between the parties to any transaction which
is subject to the real estate transfer tax imposed by this article,
in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, the burden for paying
such tax shall be on both parties unless altered by contract.
A.
No document shall be recorded in the office of the
Recorder of Deeds in and for New Castle County unless one or more
documentary stamps shall have been affixed thereto as provided in
this article.
B.
The affixation of stamps to a document upon which
a tax is imposed by this article, when lodged with or presented to
the Recorder of Deeds, shall be an affirmation on the part of the
transferor that the true, full and complete value of the transaction
is fully reflected in the amount of the stamps affixed thereto.
C.
Every document, when lodged with or presented to the
Recorder of Deeds, shall set forth therein and as a part of such document
the true, full and complete value thereof, or shall be accompanied
by an affidavit executed by a responsible person connected with the
transaction showing such connection and setting forth the true, full
and complete value thereof or the reason, if any, why such document
is not subject to tax under this article.
In addition to the other duties of the Treasurer:
A.
The Treasurer shall prepare and furnish adhesive stamps
of such denominations and in such quantities as may be necessary for
the payment of the tax imposed by this article and shall make provisions
for the sale of such stamps in such places as may be deemed necessary.
B.
The Treasurer may by regulation provide for the evidence
of the payment of the tax to be shown on the document by means other
than the affixing of documentary stamps.
C.
The Treasurer is charged with the enforcement of this
article and is authorized and empowered to prescribe, adopt, promulgate
and enforce regulations relating to:
No person shall:
A.
Make, execute, issue, deliver or accept, or cause
to be made, executed, issued, delivered or accepted, any document
without the full amount of tax due thereon under the provisions of
this article being duly paid.
B.
Make use of any documentary stamp to denote payment of any tax imposed by this article without canceling such stamp as provided in § 221-4B.
C.
Fail, neglect or refuse to comply with, or otherwise
violate, the regulations prescribed, adopted and promulgated by the
department under the provisions of this article.
D.
Fraudulently cut, tear or remove from a document any
documentary stamp.
E.
Fraudulently affix to any document upon which a tax
is imposed by this article any documentary stamp which has been cut,
torn or removed from any other document upon which a tax is imposed
by this article or any documentary stamp of insufficient value, or
any forged or counterfeited stamp, or any impression of any forged
or counterfeited stamp, die, plate or other article.
F.
Willfully remove or alter the cancellation marks of
any documentary stamp, or restore any such documentary stamp with
intent to use or to cause the same to be used after it has already
been used, or knowingly buy, sell, offer for sale or give away any
such altered or restored stamp to any person for use, or knowingly
use the same.
G.
Knowingly have in his/her possession any altered or
restored documentary stamp which has been removed from any document
upon which tax is imposed by this article, and the possession of such
stamp shall be prima facie evidence of an intent to violate this subsection.
H.
Knowingly or willfully prepare, keep, sell, offer
for sale or have in his/her possession any forged or counterfeited
documentary stamps.
I.
Accept for recording in the office of any Recorder
of Deeds any document upon which the realty transfer tax is imposed
by this article without the proper documentary stamp or other evidence
of payment of the tax affixed thereto as required by this article
as is indicated in such document or accompanying affidavit.
Any person guilty of conduct prohibited in § 221-8 shall, upon conviction, be punished by imposition of a fine of not more than $500 or by imprisonment not to exceed six months, or both fine or imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.
