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Vermont · VT

Sell your land in Vermont.

Vermont just rewrote Act 250. Act 181 of 2024 replaced town-by-town jurisdiction thresholds with a location-based tier system, and Tiers 1A and 1B took effect January 1, 2026 with Tiers 2 and 3 following December 31, 2026. Whether your parcel needs a state land use permit now depends on where it sits.

Tax sale type
Tax deed
Redemption period
1 year
Rate on redemption
12% annual interest
Closings handled by
Attorney

Figures describe Vermont generally. Counties administer their own sales and their own calendars — your county treasurer is the only source for a payoff figure or a sale date you can act on.

Local detail

What actually matters about land in Vermont

Act 250 is now location-based

Act 250, 10 V.S.A. chapter 151, is Vermont's state land use permit. Historically jurisdiction turned on town-wide thresholds: roughly an acre of development, or ten acres in towns with permanent zoning and subdivision bylaws. Act 181 of 2024 replaced that with three tiers derived from regional future land use maps. Tier 1A areas are fully exempt. Tier 1B exempts 50 or fewer housing units on ten acres or less. Tier 2 is everything else and holds the prior rules. Tier 3 will carry expanded jurisdiction over critical natural resources under Board rules. Tiers 1A and 1B took effect January 1, 2026; Tiers 2 and 3 on December 31, 2026.

Land gains tax now reaches only subdivisions

Vermont still taxes short-term land gains under 32 V.S.A. chapter 236, but the tax is far narrower than its reputation. H.541 of the 2019 session, effective January 1, 2020, redefined the land it reaches: only Vermont land that the transferor both purchased and subdivided within six years before the sale, plus timber and timber rights sold within six years of purchase where the underlying land also sells within six years. Ordinary resales of an unsubdivided parcel no longer fall inside it. Where it does apply, the rate rises with the percentage of gain and falls with years held, and the buyer withholds 10 percent of the purchase price on Form LGT-177 within 30 days.

Current Use charges 10 percent to develop

Vermont's Use Value Appraisal program, 32 V.S.A. chapter 124, assesses enrolled agricultural land and managed forestland at use value rather than fair market value. Section 3757 imposes a land use change tax when enrolled land is developed, at 10 percent of the full fair market value of the changed land determined without regard to the use value appraisal. If only part of a parcel is developed, the changed portion is valued as a separate parcel and divided by the town's common level of appraisal. The tax is on top of the annual property tax and is due 30 days after the notice is mailed.

Town clerks hold the land records

Vermont has no county recorder. Deeds, mortgages and easements are recorded with the clerk of the town where the land lies, so a title search means a trip to that town office, and a parcel straddling a town line has two record sets. Towns also bill and collect property tax, and tax sales are run by the town collector under 32 V.S.A. chapter 133, with a collector's deed issuing after redemption expires. On the sale itself, the property transfer tax under 32 V.S.A. § 9602 applies at a general rate of 1.25 percent plus a clean water surcharge. The 3.4 percent non-principal-residence rate reaches residential property fit for year-round habitation, so bare land is generally taxed at the general rate.

Questions

Selling land in Vermont

Does my Vermont land need an Act 250 permit?

It depends on where the parcel sits, and the only reliable answer is a jurisdictional opinion from the Act 250 district coordinator. Act 181 of 2024 shifted Act 250 to a location-based tier system drawn from regional future land use maps. Tier 1A is fully exempt, Tier 1B exempts 50 or fewer housing units on ten acres or less, Tier 2 keeps the prior thresholds, and Tier 3 adds protection for critical natural resources. Tiers 1A and 1B started January 1, 2026; Tiers 2 and 3 start December 31, 2026.

Will I owe Vermont land gains tax when I sell?

Probably not, unless you subdivided the land yourself within the last six years. 32 V.S.A. chapter 236 still imposes a land gains tax, but H.541 of the 2019 session narrowed the definition of taxable land effective January 1, 2020 to Vermont land the seller both purchased and subdivided within six years before the sale. A straight resale of a parcel you never divided falls outside it. Where the tax does apply, the buyer withholds 10 percent of the purchase price and files Form LGT-177 within 30 days.

My land is in Current Use. What happens when I sell?

A sale does not by itself trigger the land use change tax. Under 32 V.S.A. chapter 124 the enrollment can continue if the new owner files the required application with the Department of Taxes and keeps the qualifying agricultural or forest use, including a current forest management plan for managed forestland. Development is the trigger. Section 3757 then charges 10 percent of the full fair market value of the changed land, valued without regard to use value, and the bill goes to the owner at the time of the change.

Sources for the figures above

These are secondary references, accurate enough to orient you and not a substitute for the statute or your county. Tax procedure changes; nothing here is legal advice.

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