Why does a four-figure line item labeled "excise tax" show up on a Camas closing statement, and why does the number jump if your sale price crosses a specific threshold? Sellers who have only ever sold property in Oregon ask me some version of this question almost every time, and it usually happens at the worst possible moment: while reading a preliminary net sheet for the first time.
Washington's Real Estate Excise Tax, known as REET, is not a fee your escrow officer invented. It is a state tax that applies to nearly every property sale in Washington, and it is calculated in a way that most online closing cost calculators flatten into a single misleading percentage. If you are selling a home in Camas this year, especially if your only real estate experience is on the Oregon side of the river, this is the cost that will not match your expectations.
The tax itself is graduated, and that matters more than the headline rate
Washington replaced its old flat REET rate in 2020 with a graduated structure, and the current tiers, effective as of the Washington Department of Revenue's rate schedule for 2026, look like this at the state level:
| Portion of sale price | State REET rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $525,000 | 1.10% |
| $525,001 to $1,525,000 | 1.28% |
| $1,525,001 to $3,025,000 | 2.75% |
| Above $3,025,000 | 3.00% |
That state rate is only half the picture. Camas, like most Washington cities, adds a local REET on top, and the Department of Revenue's own local rate table lists Camas at a 0.50% local rate, effective January 1, 2026. So the rate that actually lands on a Camas closing statement is the state tier plus that 0.50%, which means:
| Portion of sale price | Combined Camas rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $525,000 | 1.60% |
| $525,001 to $1,525,000 | 1.78% |
Here is the part that catches people off guard. This is not a flat rate applied to your whole sale price. It is graduated, meaning the first $525,000 of your sale is taxed at 1.60 percent, and only the portion above that is taxed at the higher rate. Most calculators you find with a quick search apply one blended percentage to the entire price, which either overstates or understates what you will actually owe.
What this looks like on an actual Camas sale
Camas home prices have moved well past that $525,000 threshold. In the three months ending May 2026, Camas homes sold for a median price of $826,000, according to Redfin's tracking of the local market. Zillow's home value index, a smoothed estimate rather than a raw sold-price median, put the typical Camas home at $717,897 as of June 30, 2026, and Movoto reported a $839,900 median for homes that closed that same month. Wherever exactly your home lands in that range, the practical result is the same: almost every Camas seller today crosses into the second REET tier.
Run the math on a home that sells at $826,000, the trailing median for spring 2026:
- The first $525,000 is taxed at 1.60 percent, which comes to $8,400.
- The remaining $301,000 is taxed at 1.78 percent, which comes to $5,357.80.
- Total REET owed: $13,757.80.
That is before title insurance, escrow fees, prorated property taxes, or your listing agent's commission. It is a single line item, and it is larger than most sellers coming from Oregon have ever seen on a closing statement, because it likely did not exist the last time they sold.
The Oregon comparison, and a naming coincidence worth knowing
Oregon has banned real estate transfer taxes statewide since 1997, under ORS 306.815, and voters locked that ban into the state constitution in 2012 with Measure 79. If you sold a home anywhere in the Portland metro on the Oregon side, you almost certainly never paid a transfer tax at all.
There is exactly one exception, and it creates a small irony worth knowing if you are moving between the two states: Washington County, Oregon, carries a grandfathered transfer tax of $1 per $1,000 of sale price, or 0.1 percent, because that tax predates the 1997 ban. So a seller moving from a home in Washington County, Oregon, to a home in Camas, Washington, goes from a tax named after a county to a tax named after a state, and the rate jumps from a tenth of a percent to somewhere between 1.6 and 1.78 percent depending on price. The names overlap. The bills do not.
This is also why REET does not fit neatly into the "Washington has no income tax, no capital gains tax on real estate, so it must be a low tax state" assumption that a lot of Oregon-to-Washington movers carry with them. Washington funds a meaningful share of local infrastructure and housing programs through this tax instead, and it applies at the time of sale regardless of whether you made a profit. If your home lost value since purchase, you still owe REET on the sale price. It is not calculated on your gain.
Who actually pays it, and why the deadline is not flexible
In Washington, the seller is customarily responsible for REET, though it can be negotiated between buyer and seller as part of the purchase agreement, and the buyer becomes liable if the tax goes unpaid. The Clark County Treasurer's Office processes REET for Camas transactions, and the tax is due within 30 days of the sale. More importantly for your closing timeline: the deed will not record until the excise tax and a small processing fee are paid in full. Your escrow company will collect the correct combined rate at closing precisely because there is no path to recording the sale without it.
What to do with this before you list
- Ask your escrow or title company to run your specific combined REET estimate at your anticipated list price, not a generic online calculator that may not reflect Camas's 0.50 percent local rate.
- Build REET into your net sheet as a fixed cost, not a rough percentage, since the graduated structure means the effective rate creeps upward as your price climbs past $525,000.
- If you are pricing near a round number close to $525,000, understand that a small increase in offer price can shift a meaningful portion of your proceeds into the higher tier.
- If you are relocating from the Oregon side, budget for this line item explicitly. It has no equivalent in most Oregon transactions, and it is often the single largest closing cost sellers do not anticipate.
- Confirm the current combined rate with your title company before you sign, since local rates can be revised and the figures above reflect the schedule in effect for 2026.
A short FAQ
Does the buyer ever pay REET in a Camas sale? Washington law places the obligation on the seller by default, but buyer and seller can agree to split it or shift it as part of contract negotiations. It is worth discussing explicitly if you are structuring an unusual offer.
Is REET the same as my annual property tax bill? No. Property tax is assessed annually based on your home's assessed value and funds ongoing local services. REET is a one-time tax triggered only when the property changes hands, calculated on the sale price.
Can I estimate my REET before listing? Yes. Once you have a realistic target price, your title company can calculate the exact combined state and local rate for a Camas property. Given the graduated structure, this is worth doing before you set your list price rather than after an offer comes in.
Selling in Camas comes with real numbers that do not show up until the closing statement is in front of you, and REET is the clearest example. If you are weighing a sale on either side of the river and want a net sheet that accounts for what you will actually walk away with, Casey Hilton can walk you through the current numbers for your specific property. Get a free home valuation and a clear-eyed look at your closing costs before you list.
