closing

Documentary Transfer Tax (California)

A county tax on sales of real property under Revenue and Taxation Code §11911 at $0.55 for each $500 of consideration or fraction, effectively $1.10 per $1,000. It is computed excluding liens that remain on the property, such as a loan the buyer assumes, but a new loan does not reduce it. A city may impose half the county rate, credited against the county tax, and charter cities may impose their own, sometimes higher, rates. Payment is negotiable; by custom the seller usually pays the county tax.