Did you know that parents can transfer their home or family farm to their children without having the property reassessed to its market value and avoid paying higher property taxes? The Assessor's Office is committed to providing qualifying property owners with all applicable tax savings.
In November 2020, California voters approved Proposition 19, which introduced an intergenerational transfer exclusion allowing the taxable value of a property to remain the same when transferred between parents and children, provided certain conditions are met. "Taxable value" refers to the property’s base year value plus inflationary adjustments, commonly called the factored base year value.
Normally, when properties change ownership, they are reassessed to current market value, potentially increasing the assessed value and property taxes. However, Proposition 19’s intergenerational transfer exclusion prevents reassessment of a family home or family farm, avoiding a property tax increase. This exclusion, implemented under Revenue and Taxation Code § 63.2, applies to transfers occurring on or after February 16, 2021.
Potential for Tax Savings
Property taxes in California are based on the assessed value of property, which is typically reassessed at market value upon a sale or transfer. If an intergenerational transfer exclusion is granted, the parent's tax base as of the transfer date will apply to the child as long as the property’s current market value does not exceed the parent's taxable value plus $1 million. If it does, the difference is added to the property assessment.
The exclusion is available under the following conditions:
The family home must have been the principal residence of the transferor (the parent).
The transferee (the child) must live in the home as their primary residence within one year of the transfer and must continue to occupy the family home.
The transferee must file and qualify for the Homeowners’ Exemption or Disabled Veterans’ Exemption on the residence within one year of the transfer. If the property was transferred to two or more children, and one moves out and another moves in, a new claim must be filed within one year of the previous child’s move-out date.
A family farm must be under cultivation, be used for pasture or grazing, or produce an agricultural commodity (plant and animal products produced for commercial purposes). There is no requirement that a family home be on the property.
Note: A qualifying transfer may also be from child to parent.
The parent-child exclusion is available on transfers from a parent(s) to their:
Biological or adopted child
Stepchild
In-law child (son-in-law or daughter-in-law)
Foster child, in limited cases
Additional information:
If the property was inherited as a result of a death, the date of death is considered the date of transfer for property tax purposes, not the date the property was distributed. Keep this in mind to ensure you file the claim form timely.
There is a value cap (or limit) to the excluded amount, equal to the property’s factored base year value at the time of transfer plus $1 million. The amount above the cap is added to the transferred factored base year value. Since 2023, the $1 million allowance has been adjusted annually by an inflation factor, which may benefit taxpayers because a higher amount will be excluded from reassessment.
A family farm comprised of multiple legal parcels may be eligible for an exclusion for each parcel. The legal parcel containing a family home may qualify separately for the exclusion.
Property can be transferred by purchase or gift or through a trust. For example, if a parent’s property is put into a trust, and upon the parent's death, the children are the beneficiaries of the trust, a transfer occurs as of the date of death.
The exclusion applies to a family home that continues as a family home by an eligible transferee or a subsequent eligible transferee. Once it is no longer the family home, such as becoming a rental property, the exclusion is removed. A new value is established as of the January 1 lien date following the transferee’s move-out date based on the property’s market value as of the date the transferee obtained ownership, adjusted annually for inflation.
There is no limit to the number of times a family home or family farm may be transferred under the parent-child exclusion.
If multiple siblings inherit the family home, only one of the siblings needs to live in it. If that sibling moves out and another sibling moves in within one year of the move-out date, the exclusion will continue. Please note that the other sibling must also file for the Homeowners’ Exemption or Disabled Veterans’ Exemption.
The exclusion is not available for transfers of property between siblings. For instance, if the parent gave or sold the property to all the siblings first, the parent-child exclusion can apply at that time; however, if a sibling then buys out the other sibling(s), the portion of the property transferred between siblings will be reassessed.
If you are 55 or older, and selling your principal residence to your child, your child can benefit by transferring your taxable value to them under the parent-child exclusion. However, you cannot also transfer that same taxable value under R&TC section 69.6 (commonly referred to as a base year value transfer) if you buy a replacement property.
If the market value of the transferred property is less than its factored base year value at the time of the transfer, then claiming the exclusion would not be beneficial.
The parent-child exclusion under R&TC section 63.2 applies to real property transfers between parents and children; it does not apply to transfers of legal entities. For example, if the parents own ABC Company which owns a family farm, and all of their partnership interests are transferred to a child, the transfer will not qualify for exclusion from reassessment.
Note: A different exclusion is available under R&TC section 62(r) for the transfer of corporation stock from a parent to child upon the parent’s death, where a corporation created between 1975 and 1986 owns property that was the parent’s principal residence prior to their death and the child lived in that home from the time the corporation was created. To claim such exclusion, a claimant must file BOE-62-R, Reassessment Exclusion for Transfer of Corporation Stock from Parent to Child.
How to apply for the parent-child exclusion:
Complete form BOE-19-P, Claim for Reassessment Exclusion for Transfer Between Parent and Child Occurring On or After February 16, 2021. Obtain the claim form from the assessor’s office in the county where the property is located. Submit the completed form to the same office.
To qualify for relief from the date of transfer, the claim must be filed with the County Assessor within three years of the transfer date but before transferring the property to a third party. However, a claim is also considered to be timely filed if filed within six months after the date of mailing of the County Assessor’s supplemental or escape assessment notice issued for the transfer.
If you don’t file the claim on time, you can still obtain relief as long as you still own the property. However, the reduction in property taxes will only be applied for future years, beginning with the year that the claim is filed.
If the property is a family home, a BOE-19-P claim cannot be filed before filing a claim for the Homeowners’ Exemption or Disabled Veterans’ Exemption. Remember, you must file for one of these exemptions within one year of the date of transfer.
