2006 Minnesota Statutes

287.20 DEFINITIONS; DEED TAX.
    Subdivision 1. Words, terms, and phrases. Unless the language or context clearly indicates
that a different meaning is intended, the following words, terms, and phrases, for the purposes of
sections 287.21 to 287.31, have the meanings given to them in this section.
    Subd. 2. Consideration. (a) "Consideration" means generally the total monetary value that is
given in return for a conveyance of real property in this state and includes all lump-sum payments,
all prior or future installment payments that are required under the agreement between the parties,
and the fair market value of any property taken, or to be taken, in exchange.
(b) Consideration does not include the reasonable and lawful amounts of interest paid for the
privilege of paying the purchase price in installments and the fair market value of any items of
intangible personal property that are conveyed by the taxable instrument.
(c) Consideration does not include the amount paid for the personal property located on the
real property being conveyed and transferred as a part of the total consideration, except that the
amount paid for the personal property located on the real property being conveyed must be
included if the real property being conveyed is a one-, two-, or three-unit residential structure.
(d) When a conveyance of real property is made pursuant to a contract for deed, the
consideration is the price for the real property reflected in the contract; except that, subject to
the limitations under section 287.221, if the contract for deed, or other agreement entered into
as a condition to the seller executing the contract, requires the property to be improved during
the term of the contract and the price of the real property as reflected in the contract does not
include the consideration for the required improvements, then the consideration is the price for
the real property as reflected in the contract and the consideration for the required improvements
added during the term of the contract.
(e) "Total consideration" has the same meaning as consideration.
(f) "Consideration, exclusive of the value of any lien or encumbrance remaining at the time
of sale" or "net consideration" means the amount of consideration as reduced by the amount
outstanding under any lien that attached to the real property prior to the time of sale and that is
not released or satisfied as a result of the sale.
(g) Except in the case of a gift, when the amount of the consideration for a conveyance
includes something other than money or promises to pay money, the consideration for that
conveyance is rebuttably presumed to equal the fair market value of the real property being
conveyed.
    Subd. 3. Consolidation or merger. "Consolidation" or "merger" means the combination of
all of the assets of two or more corporations, limited liability companies, or partnerships, or any
combination of these entities, whether or not title to the assets is taken by a newly created entity
or by a preexisting entity that survives the consolidation or merger in an altered form.
    Subd. 3a. Designated transfer. "Designated transfer" means any of the following:
(1) a transfer between (i) an entity owned by a sole owner, and (ii) that sole owner;
(2) a transfer between (i) an entity in which a husband, a wife, or both are the sole owners,
and (ii) the husband, wife, or both;
(3) a transfer between (i) an entity with multiple co-owners, and (ii) all of the co-owners, so
long as each of the co-owners maintains the same percentage ownership interest in the transferred
real property, whether directly or through ownership of a percentage of the entity;
(4) a transfer between (i) a revocable trust, and (ii) the grantor or grantors of the revocable
trust; or
(5) a transfer of substantially all of the assets of one or more entities pursuant to a
reorganization, as defined in section 287.20, subdivision 9.
For purposes of this definition of designated transfer, an interest in an entity that is owned, directly
or indirectly, by or for another entity shall be considered as being owned proportionately by or for
the owners of the other entity under provisions similar to those of section 267(c)(1) and (5) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended through December 31, 2004.
    Subd. 4. Documentary stamps. "Documentary stamps" means all stamps issued by the
county for use in payment of the taxes imposed by sections 287.21 to 287.37.
    Subd. 5. Lien. "Lien" means any legal claim, other than an easement, created by contract,
statute, or law on the real property of another as security for a debt or obligation. For purposes of
the deed tax, the term "encumbrance" is synonymous with the term "lien" and an easement is
not a lien.
    Subd. 6. Person. "Person" includes any individual, partner, officer, director, firm,
partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, association, cooperative, social club,
fraternal organization, municipal or private corporation, whether organized for profit or not,
estate, trusts, business trusts, receiver, trustee, syndicate, the United States, a state, any political
subdivision of a state, or any group or combination acting as a unit, and the plural as well as the
singular. The term includes directors and officers of corporations, governors and managers of a
limited liability company, or members of partnerships who, either individually or jointly with
others, have control, supervision, or responsibility of making or authorizing payment of the
tax imposed by section 287.21. The term includes any agent of any individual or organization
enumerated in this subdivision.
    Subd. 7. Real property, real estate, and land. "Real property," "real estate," and "land"
mean any fee simple estate, and any estate for life, as defined in chapter 500, and the purchaser's
interest under a contract for the conveyance of such an estate.
    Subd. 8. Record, recorded, and recording. "Record," "recorded," and "recording" each
mean that a document has been delivered to and filed in the office of the county recorder or
registrar of titles, whichever office maintains the records for the real property described in the
document.
    Subd. 9. Reorganization. "Reorganization" means the transfer of substantially all of
the assets of a corporation, a limited liability company, or a partnership not in the usual or
regular course of business if at the time of the transfer the transfer qualifies as: (i) a corporate
reorganization under section 368(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended through
December 31, 2004; or (ii) a transfer from a partnership to another partnership when the transferee
is treated as a continuation of the transferor under section 708 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986, as amended through December 31, 2004.
History: 1999 c 31 s 11; 1Sp2001 c 5 art 7 s 28,29; 1Sp2005 c 3 art 6 s 1-3