DOCUMENTARY TRANSFER TAX
Section 11911 allows a county or city to adopt a documentary transfer tax to apply to transfers of real property
located in the county. Notice of payment is entered on the face of the deed or on a separate paper recorded with
the deed.
The tax is computed at the rate of 55 cents for each $500 of consideration or fraction thereof. If a portion of the
total price paid for the property is exempt because a lien or encumbrance remains on the property, this fact must
be stated on the deed or on a separate paper filed with the deed. Certain types of property transfers, such inter
vivos gifts, transfers by reason of death, or proportional transfers into a partnership owned by the same
individual or entity, are exempt from documentary transfer tax.
A city within a county which has adopted a transfer tax may also adopt its own transfer tax ordinance with the
tax amount fixed at one-half the rate charged by the county. The county collects the total tax in the amount
recited above but turns half the amount collected over to the city.
Some cities collect transfer taxes in excess of the amounts provided in Section 11911. In part, the authority for
this may lie in the distinction between charter cities and general law cities. A concerned party should contact
the recorder’s office for the status of a particular city’s transfer tax levy.