Tulare County Seal

Tulare County

Office of the Assessor/Clerk-Recorder

Transfer of Property Tax Base to Replacement Property - Age 55 and Older

The Tulare County Assessor/Clerk-Recorder is committed to providing Tulare County residents with all applicable tax savings.

Visit the County Assessor’s website where the property is located. Contact information for each County Assessor in California is available here.


Did you know property owners in California who are age 55 and older can transfer the taxable values of homes they have sold to homes that are purchased or built to save money on property taxes?

 

In November 2020, California voters approved Proposition 19, which allows persons over 55 years of age to transfer the taxable values of principal residences to replacement principal residences located in any California county up to three times, provided certain requirements are met.

The benefit to taxpayers is that it prevents replacement homes from being reassessed at market value upon change of ownership, which is a requirement under law unless an exclusion applies. “Taxable value” means a property’s base year value plus inflationary adjustments, commonly referred to as the factored base year value.


Revenue and Taxation Code (R&TC) section 69.6 implements the base year value transfer provisions under Proposition 19 for persons over 55 years of age for transfers that occur on or after April 1, 2021.

For such transfers that occurred before April 1, 2021, see Publication 800-3a information sheet titled Transfer of Property Tax Base to Replacement Property – Age 55 and Older Occurring On or Before March 31, 2021. This base year value transfer is available to a person who is age 55 or older who sells a principal residence (referred to as the original property) and buys or builds a replacement residence (referred to as the replacement property).

Purchase of the replacement property must occur within two years of the sale of the original property.


Potential for Tax Savings

Property taxes are based on the assessed value of your property. For purposes of California property taxation, real property is reassessed at market value when sold or transferred, or upon completion of new construction. As a result of purchasing a different home or building a new one, the property’s assessed value can sometimes increase significantly, resulting in higher property taxes due each year.

If the original property’s factored base year value is less than the market value of the replacement property, then receiving a base year value transfer will result in savings.