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Structured Installment Sale Resource Center
For sellers and the professionals beside them
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Utah

Reviewed July 2026
Follows federal §453
Yes
Top marginal rate
4.45% flat
Capital gains
4.45%*
Withholding
No
PTE election
Yes
Residency-change trap
Low
Reading level

Federal §453 conformity

Yes — Utah starts from the federal return and taxes installment gain as payments arrive at a flat rate of 4.45%, a figure the legislature has trimmed almost annually. No capital gains preference applies (a narrow credit exists for gains reinvested in Utah small business stock, rarely relevant here); the gain component and the note's interest are both flat-rate Utah income in the year received.

Nonresident sourcing

Gain from Utah real estate or a business operating in Utah is Utah income for sellers anywhere, and the payments keep that character; intangible gain generally follows the seller home.

Withholding

Utah imposes no closing-table withholding on nonresident real estate sellers. Pass-throughs handle nonresident owners through withholding each recognition year unless the PTE election covers it.

Selling, then moving (residency change)

Utah-source gain stays taxable here after a move; other gain travels with the seller, and no rule accelerates deferred gain at the border.

Pass-through entity (PTE) tax election

Utah's PTE election is alive and current — re-extended by 2026 legislation — but it runs on the tightest clock of any state feature on this page: the election (Form TC-75) must be made by the last day of the entity's tax year, and it's irrevocable once made. For a December closing, that can mean deciding within days of the wire. Unused credits carry forward ten years, which softens timing mismatches on the owner side.

Estate and IRD

Utah has no estate or inheritance tax. At death the federal rules apply — heirs pay income tax as payments arrive — with no state layer.

Planning notes

Utah's list: put the PTE election decision on the closing checklist itself — the year-end deadline waits for no return; verify the year's flat rate; and coordinate the entity's nonresident withholding for each payment year.

Key trap
The election deadline is the entity's year-end, not the return

Utah's PTE election closes on the last day of the entity's tax year — irrevocably. A late-year closing leaves days, not months, to decide. Put the TC-75 analysis on the deal checklist next to the wire instructions.

Educational information, current as of the July 2026 review. State law changes; confirm treatment with a qualified advisor before structuring a transaction.

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