When a property changes hands in California, a documentary transfer tax — commonly called the DTT — is due before the deed can be recorded. The concept is simple enough, but the actual math is surprisingly layered: a state-authorized county base rate, optional city surcharges that can run into the tens of thousands of dollars, and a long list of exemptions that can reduce the bill to exactly zero. This guide walks through every step of that calculation in the same order a proper transfer tax calculator would use it, with two real-world examples at each stage.
“The county recorder cannot record a deed conveying real property unless the proper transfer tax has been declared and paid.” — California Revenue & Taxation Code §11911
The legal foundation comes from the California Revenue and Taxation Code, starting at Section 11911. That section authorizes counties to charge a base rate of $0.55 per $500 of property value — which works out to exactly $1.10 for every $1,000. Nearly every county in the state imposes that full authorized rate by local ordinance.1 On top of that, dozens of cities layer on their own additional taxes, and the gap between the cheapest and most expensive markets can be staggering: a $10 million sale in a county-only jurisdiction triggers $11,000 in total tax; the same sale in Los Angeles City can cost over $60,000.
Step 1: Check for Exemptions First
Before any arithmetic happens, the very first question is whether the transfer is exempt from tax entirely. California law — specifically Sections 11921 through 11930 of the Revenue and Taxation Code — carves out a wide range of transfers that owe nothing.2 If any exemption applies, the calculation stops immediately with a $0 result. Running the numbers first and then checking for exemptions is backwards; exemptions come first.
The most commonly encountered exemptions include:
- R&T §11921 — Deeds of trust and reconveyances. Instruments that secure debt, or that release a lien when a loan is paid off, are not subject to the tax.
- R&T §11922 — Government and bank transfers. Conveyances to federal government agencies, state agencies, or federally chartered banks are exempt.
- R&T §11923 — Receivership and bankruptcy. Transfers made under court order in bankruptcy or receivership proceedings are excluded.
- R&T §11926 — Foreclosure. A trustee’s deed delivered when the outstanding debt equals or exceeds the sale price is exempt.
- R&T §11927 — Divorce and spousal transfers. Transfers between spouses pursuant to a divorce or legal separation carry no tax — but both the grantor and grantee must be spouses for this to apply.
- R&T §11930 — Gifts and inheritances. Bona fide gifts and deeds of distribution from an estate are exempt.
- R&T §11930.5 — Tribal lands. Transfers involving certain tribal trust lands are excluded.
Example A — Exempt Transfer
A lender records a reconveyance deed to release a paid-off mortgage from title. Under R&T §11921, this is a release of a security interest, not a sale. The calculator checks the exemption code first, finds “reconveyance,” and outputs $0 — exempt under §11921. No further calculation runs.
Example B — Exempt with Validation
A $900,000 home is transferred from a husband to his wife as part of a divorce settlement. The §11927 spousal exemption applies — but the calculator first confirms that both the grantor and grantee are recorded as spouses. Once confirmed, it outputs $0 — exempt under §11927. If the grantor were listed as a corporation instead, the exemption would be denied and the calculation would proceed normally.
Step 2: Apply the Minimum Taxable Price
If no exemption applies, the next check is whether the sale price itself clears the floor. Transfers at or below $100 are treated as having no taxable value — they produce $0 in tax and the calculation ends there. This threshold is low enough that it almost never applies to actual real estate sales, but it matters for nominal transfers of small parcels or technical title corrections.
Example A — Below Minimum
A municipality acquires a small right-of-way strip for $1 in consideration. The sale price ($1) is well below the $100 minimum taxable amount. Result: $0 — below minimum taxable price.
Example B — Above Minimum
A condo sells for $425,000. That clearly exceeds $100. The calculator moves on to compute the county tax. No special result here — this is simply confirmation that the math proceeds.
Step 3: Calculate the County Tax
Every California county uses the same formula, authorized by R&T §11911 and collected by the county recorder’s office.1 The formula works in increments of $500: divide the sale price by 500, round up to the next whole number (this is called “taking the ceiling”), and multiply the result by $0.55. That rounding-up is important — it means a $500,001 sale is treated as if it were $501,000 for purposes of the county tax.
The formula: ⌈ Sale Price ÷ 500 ⌉ × $0.55
Example A — County Only (San Diego)
A house sells for $750,000 in San Diego, which has no city-level transfer tax. Divide $750,000 by 500 to get exactly 1,500 — no rounding needed. Multiply 1,500 by $0.55.
County Tax = 1,500 × $0.55 = $825.00
Example B — Mid-Range with Rounding (Sacramento County, unincorporated)
A parcel sells for $21,100 outside any city limits in Sacramento County. Divide $21,100 by 500 to get 42.2 — that rounds up to 43. Multiply 43 by $0.55.
County Tax = 43 × $0.55 = $23.65
Step 4: Calculate the City Tax (If Applicable)
This is where California’s transfer tax landscape becomes genuinely complex. Many cities — particularly in the Bay Area and Los Angeles County — impose their own additional taxes on top of the county base. Cities use three distinct structures, and a calculator must identify which type applies before running the numbers.
Type A: Flat Rate per $1,000 (Sacramento, Pomona, Redondo Beach)
The simplest city structure is a flat dollar amount per $1,000 of value. Sacramento City charges $2.75 per $1,000 of sale price.5 The formula rounds up to the next full $1,000, then multiplies: ⌈ Sale Price ÷ 1,000 ⌉ × Rate
Example A — Sacramento City, $420,000
$420,000 ÷ 1,000 = exactly 420. Multiply by $2.75.
City Tax = 420 × $2.75 = $1,155.00 + County $462.00 = Total $1,617.00
Example B — Sacramento City, $875,500
$875,500 ÷ 1,000 = 875.5 → rounds up to 876. Multiply by $2.75.
City Tax = 876 × $2.75 = $2,409.00 + County $963.05 = Total $3,372.05
Type B: Tiered Percentage (San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, San José)
Several major cities use a bracket system where different portions of the sale price are taxed at progressively higher percentage rates — similar in concept to income tax brackets. The calculator applies each rate only to the slice of the price that falls within that bracket, then adds them up.3,4,6
Here are the 2026 rates for key cities in this group:
| City | Price Range | Rate | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | Up to $250,000 | 0.25% | SF Assessor / Bartlett Realty Schedule |
| $250,001 – $1,000,000 | 0.68% | ||
| $1,000,001 – $5,000,000 | 0.75% | ||
| $5,000,001 – $10,000,000 | 2.25% | ||
| $10,000,001 – $25,000,000 | 5.50% | ||
| Over $25,000,000 | 6.00% | ||
| Oakland (Measure X) | Up to $300,000 | 1.00% | Oakland City Code / Measure X (2018) |
| $300,001 – $2,000,000 | 1.50% | ||
| $2,000,001 – $5,000,000 | 1.75% | ||
| Over $5,000,000 | 2.50% | ||
| San José (Measure E) | Up to $2,300,000 | 0% — no tax | City of San José Housing Dept. / Measure E (eff. 7/1/2025) |
| $2,300,001 – $5,000,000 | 0.75% | ||
| $5,000,001 – $10,000,000 | 1.00% | ||
| Over $10,000,000 | 1.50% | ||
| Berkeley (Measure P) | Up to $1,500,000 | 1.50% | Alameda County Elections / Measure P (2018) |
| Over $1,500,000 | 2.50% |
Oakland also offers a 0.5% discount for first-time, low-to-moderate-income homebuyers — so a buyer who qualifies in the 1.50% bracket would pay only 1.00% on that portion.4
Example A — Oakland, $750,000 (no LMI discount)
Tier 1: $300,000 × 1.00% = $3,000.00
Tier 2: $450,000 × 1.50% = $6,750.00
County (Alameda): $825.00
City Tax = $9,750.00 · Total = $10,575.00
Example B — San Francisco, $1,200,000
Tier 1: $250,000 × 0.25% = $625.00
Tier 2: $750,000 × 0.68% = $5,100.00
Tier 3: $200,000 × 0.75% = $1,500.00
County (SF): $1,320.00
City Tax = $7,225.00 · Total = $8,545.00
Type C: The Hybrid Model — Los Angeles City
Los Angeles City uses a unique two-part formula. Every sale pays a flat base rate of $4.50 per $1,000 (the “city transfer tax”), and high-value sales also owe a percentage surtax on the amount above specific thresholds. Effective July 1, 2025, the surtax is 4.0% on the portion of any sale price between $5,300,000 and $10,600,000, and 5.5% on anything above $10,600,000.7
Example A — LA City, $750,000 (below surtax threshold)
Base city tax: ⌈750,000 ÷ 1,000⌉ × $4.50 = 750 × $4.50 = $3,375.00
Surtax: $0 (price is below $5.3M threshold)
County (LA): $825.00
City Tax = $3,375.00 · Total = $4,200.00
Example B — LA City, $6,000,000 (above first surtax threshold)
Base city tax: 6,000 × $4.50 = $27,000.00
Surtax: ($6,000,000 − $5,300,000) × 4.0% = $700,000 × 4.0% = $28,000.00
County (LA): $6,600.00
City Tax = $55,000.00 · Total = $61,600.00
Step 5: Sum and Display the Result
Once the county tax and city tax are each calculated, the final step is addition: Total Tax = County Tax + City Tax. Both components are rounded to the nearest cent independently, and the sum is the total documentary transfer tax due at recording. A well-designed calculator displays both numbers separately — county and city — because they are typically shown as separate line items on the deed and paid via separate checks or recordings.1
Example A — County Only Sale, No City Tax (San Diego, $500,000)
County Tax: ⌈500,000 ÷ 500⌉ × $0.55 = 1,000 × $0.55 = $550.00
City Tax: $0.00 (San Diego City has no additional transfer tax as of 2026)
Total Documentary Transfer Tax = $550.00
Example B — Full Breakdown with City Tax (Oakland, $1,500,000)
County Tax (Alameda): ⌈1,500,000 ÷ 500⌉ × $0.55 = 3,000 × $0.55 = $1,650.00
City Tax (Oakland Measure X): $300,000 × 1.00% = $3,000 + $1,200,000 × 1.50% = $18,000 → City Total = $21,000.00
Total Documentary Transfer Tax = $22,650.00
A Note on Rounding
Rounding is applied at each step — not just at the end. The county formula rounds the number of $500 blocks up (ceiling), which means a sale of $500,001 is treated as 1,001 blocks rather than 1,000. Each city tax component is also rounded to two decimal places independently. Applying rounding only at the final step can produce answers that are off by several cents from what a county recorder’s office would actually charge.
Why This Matters: The Range of Outcomes
To put the variation in perspective: a $5 million property sale in Anaheim (Orange County, no city tax) triggers $5,500 in total transfer tax. The same $5 million sale in San Francisco triggers over $45,000. And in Los Angeles City, that same figure reaches approximately $42,500 once the base city rate and surtax are factored in. These are not minor line items — in high-value markets, understanding the transfer tax before closing is genuinely material to the economics of a transaction.
The calculator described here automates every layer of this logic: it checks exemptions before running any math, applies the state-authorized county formula uniformly, then layers in whichever city formula applies based on the property’s location and recording date. Rate schedules are tied to effective dates because several cities — including Los Angeles and San José — updated their rates in mid-2025, and Berkeley’s Measure W is scheduled to take effect in 2027.
Sources & References
- California Revenue and Taxation Code §§11911–11913 (State Documentary Transfer Tax Act) — base rate of $0.55 per $500; county recorder enforcement; Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office implementation guidance.
- California Revenue and Taxation Code §§11921–11930 — full enumeration of exemptions including deeds of trust (§11921), government transfers (§11922), receivership (§11923), SEC orders (§11924), partnership continuations (§11925), foreclosure (§11926), divorce/spousal (§11927), corrective deeds (§11928), gifts and inheritances (§11930), tribal lands (§11930.5).
- City and County of San Francisco Assessor-Recorder — Real Property Transfer Tax tiered rate schedule (2026): 0.25% to 6.00% across six brackets, as published via Bartlett Realty official rate summary.
- City of Oakland — Transfer Tax rate schedule, Measure X (approved November 2018, effective January 2019): 1.00%–2.50% tiered rates; first-time low-to-moderate-income homebuyer 0.5% discount provision.
- City of Sacramento — Municipal Code transfer tax ordinance: $2.75 per $1,000 flat rate on all non-exempt transfers.
- City of San José — Housing Department, Measure E (approved November 2020): tiered transfer tax on sales above $2,300,000 (threshold effective July 1, 2025), rates of 0.75%, 1.00%, and 1.50%.
- Los Angeles City Code §21.9.2 (Transfer Tax): $4.50 per $1,000 base city rate plus graduated surtax (4.0% above $5,300,000; 5.5% above $10,600,000), effective July 1, 2025; scheduled threshold adjustment to $5,400,000/$10,900,000 effective July 1, 2026.
- City of Berkeley — Measure P (2018) and Measure W (November 2024): 1.50% on transfers ≤$1,500,000; 2.50% on transfers above $1,500,000. Measure W (raises rates on transfers ≥$1,600,000) effective January 1, 2027.
- San Diego Association of Realtors — transfer tax reference guide confirming $1.10/$1,000 county-only rate for San Diego County with no city surcharge as of 2026.
- Los Angeles County Recorder — Documentary Transfer Tax declaration form instructions, including worked example: $21,100 sale → 43 blocks → $23.65 county tax.
© 2026 California Transfer Tax Guide · For informational purposes only · Not legal or tax advice · Always verify current rates with the applicable county recorder