Real Estate Property Transfers

A Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) Affidavit must be completed and accompany any legal document transferring ownership of real property. The affidavit will not be accepted by the Treasurer’s office unless all areas 1-7 are fully completed.

Excise documents will be accepted in our office Monday through Thursday from 9:00am to 3:45pm and Friday from 9:00am to 2:45pm. Excise documents submitted through the Simplifile portal will be processed Monday through Thursday at 9:00am, 10:30am, 12:30pm, 2:00pm, and 3:30pm. On Fridays, the Simplifile portal times will be 9:00am, 10:30am, 12:30pm, 2:00pm, and 2:30pm.

PLEASE NOTE:

  • The excise affidavit must bear original signatures.

  • Payments for excise taxes and recording fees must be made using separate checks. Excise taxes should be paid to the Kittitas County Treasurer. Recording fees should be paid to the Kittitas County Auditor. Packages with all fees paid with a single check will be rejected. When mailing in affidavits, be sure to include both checks with all of the documents.

  • Excise affidavits must have a valid, deliverable mailing address. Street addresses for properties in the following cities/towns will cause an excise affidavit to be rejected: Snoqualmie Pass, Roslyn, Ronald, Easton, South Cle Elum, Kittitas and Vantage. All these cities/towns require delivery to a post office box.

  • Mobile homes require a separate affidavit for change of ownership.

  • Some Special Exemptions may require additional documentation; the use of a Supplemental Statement, a death certificate, etc. If using a WAC exemption code, please read the specific information to see if additional documentation is required.

  • Our office mails one tax statement per parcel each year in mid-February. These statements include two payment coupons. If you purchase real property during the tax year, you are responsible for any taxes not paid as of the closing of escrow. Information on tax amounts owed and payment history can be found on our website https://taxsifter.co.kittitas.wa.us/Search/Results.aspx. You may also contact the Treasurer’s office via email at treasurer@co.kittitas.wa.us or phone (509) 962-7535 to request a current statement.

  • Any transfers of real property done after January 1st, 2020 are subject to the graduated real estate excise tax rate structure, below, with the exception of land classified as agricultural/timberland. Those are calculated at a flat rate of 1.28%.

Graduated REET structure

Sale price thresholds Tax rate
$525,000 or less 1.10%
$525,000.01 – $1,525,000 1.28%
$1,525,000.01 – $3,025,000 2.75%
$3,025,000.01 or more 3%

Forms

The following forms can be found on the Washington State Department of Revenue website:

  • Real estate excise tax affidavit for Single location code
  • Real estate excise tax affidavit for Multiple location codes
  • Supplemental statement
  • Mobile home affidavit
  • Tax Rates

Resources

Search

Notice: Browsing of files prior to March 2012 is not currently available. Excise affidavits prior to January 2013 may not be available.

The Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) Affidavit search allows you to search our database of REET records and view their associated affidavits. If the search results have an associated file that is ready for viewing, the Excise # will be a link to that document. If the document is not ready for viewing yet, please check back later.


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