Property Records
The San Francisco transfer tax, and the cliff nobody warns you about
San Francisco's transfer tax is tiered, and the rate applies to the entire price rather than the portion above each threshold. One dollar of price can cost you several hundred dollars of tax.
By Paulo Serna, San Francisco Real Estate Agent, Compass | Level Up Group · CA DRE# 02150409 · SF resident since 1995 · Updated August 2026
The short version: San Francisco taxes property transfers on a six-bracket schedule, and the bracket rate applies to the entire value, not marginally. That creates a cliff at every threshold. Crossing from $999,999 to $1,000,000 raises the tax by about $700 on a dollar of price. If your likely sale price sits near a line, it is worth knowing where the line is before you set an asking price.
The current rates
| Consideration or value | Per $500 | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| More than $100 up to $250,000 | $2.50 | 0.50% |
| More than $250,000 and less than $1,000,000 | $3.40 | 0.68% |
| $1,000,000 or more and less than $5,000,000 | $3.75 | 0.75% |
| $5,000,000 or more and less than $10,000,000 | $11.25 | 2.25% |
| $10,000,000 or more and less than $25,000,000 | $27.50 | 5.50% |
| $25,000,000 or more | $30.00 | 6.00% |
San Francisco is a consolidated city and county, and this is a single combined schedule rather than a city rate stacked on a county rate.
Why the structure matters more than the rate
The ordinance charges the bracket amount "for each $500 or fractional part thereof for the entire value." Not the portion above the threshold. The entire value. Two worked examples:
- A $900,000 sale: 1,800 increments of $500 at $3.40, which is $6,120.
- A $1,500,000 sale: 3,000 increments at $3.75, which is $11,250.
- The cliff: $999,999 rounds to 2,000 increments at $3.40, which is $6,800. At $1,000,000 it is 2,000 increments at $3.75, which is $7,500. One extra dollar of price adds about $700 of tax.
The cliffs at $5M, $10M and $25M are far steeper, because the rate roughly triples at $5M and more than doubles again at $10M. On a property that might land near one of those lines, this belongs in the pricing conversation from the start.
What the tax is calculated on
For an ordinary purchase, the price paid. Where there is no purchase price, such as a property swap, fair market value. For a transfer of interests in a legal entity that owns property, the property's fair market value rather than what was paid for the entity interest. Leaseholds with terms of 35 years or more are taxable, valued on the present value of the leasehold.
Your mortgage does not reduce it. The ordinance taxes consideration or value "not excluding the value of any lien or encumbrances remaining thereon at the time of sale," so debt the buyer assumes is inside the taxable base rather than subtracted from it.
Common exemptions
San Francisco states that transfer tax is generally not due on transfers between a married couple or between registered domestic partners; on a transfer into your own revocable trust where you are sole beneficiary and your interest is unchanged; on gifts; on property inherited by will or trust where nobody paid anything in exchange; on adding or removing a co-signer on title for financing purposes where no payment is made; and on proportional transfers into or out of a legal entity where ownership percentages are identical before and after.
Two practical notes. The City's own language says "generally," and that word is doing real work, so treat the list as the start of a conversation rather than a ruling on your situation. And exemptions must be claimed at recording with written supporting documentation. They are not applied automatically and they are not applied retroactively. A revocable trust transfer, for example, needs the trust documents or a certification of trust.
Refinancing
A refinance does not by itself convey property, and the tax attaches to instruments transferring real property that are recorded with the Assessor-Recorder. San Francisco does state that adding or removing a co-signer on title for financing purposes is not taxed as long as no payment is made for the change. If your refinance changes who is on title in any other way, have it reviewed before recording rather than after.
Who pays
In San Francisco the seller typically pays the transfer tax. That is local custom, not law, and I want to be precise about the difference: no official City source assigns the cost to either side. What the City documents is only the mechanic, that the tax is paid at the Office of the Assessor-Recorder at the time of recording with a Transfer Tax Affidavit accompanying the deed.
Everything here is negotiable, and on a given deal it does get negotiated. In a competitive house market a buyer may offer to cover it; in a slower condo lane a seller may credit it back another way. Treat the custom as the starting point and the contract as the answer. Your escrow officer applies whatever your contract says.
What changed recently, and what might
Proposition I, passed in November 2020 with 57.55 percent of the vote, raised the $10M to $25M bracket from 2.75 to 5.5 percent and the $25M-plus bracket from 3 to 6 percent, leaving the brackets below $10M unchanged. Proposition C, effective April 12, 2024, created a one-time exemption for the first conversion of a commercial property to residential use, and authorized the Board of Supervisors to amend the transfer tax without a public vote, though not to increase it.
That last point is why this page carries a date. A 2026 proposal known as the BUILD Act would cut the top two brackets roughly in half. As of August 1, 2026 it had not been enacted and sat pending committee action. Because Proposition C allows rate changes by ordinance, the top of this schedule can move without an election. If you are transacting above $10M, confirm the current rate rather than relying on any page, including this one.
Who to ask, and what I am not
I am a real estate agent. I am not a CPA, a tax advisor, or an attorney, and none of this is tax or legal advice. Rates, exemption eligibility, the affidavit and recording mechanics go to the Office of the Assessor-Recorder at City Hall Room 190. Whether a specific transfer qualifies for an exemption, and anything involving trusts, entities, divorce or estates, goes to a California real estate or estate planning attorney. Tax consequences, cost basis and how this interacts with gift or estate tax go to a CPA. The computation on your specific deal, and who pays it under your contract, goes to your escrow officer.
Sources
- SF.gov, Transfer tax, for the rate schedule, the affidavit requirement, and how exemptions are claimed.
- SF.gov, Learn about transfer tax, for the exemption list and how entity and no-price transfers are valued.
- San Francisco Business and Tax Regulations Code Article 12-C, Section 1102, for the bracket table and the "entire value" language.
Rates verified against the sources above on August 1, 2026. Neither official page displays its own effective date, and a pending 2026 proposal could change the top brackets by ordinance. Confirm current rates before relying on this.
- Six brackets, and the rate applies to the entire price, not marginally.
- Crossing $1,000,000 costs about $700 more in tax than stopping one dollar short.
- Assumed debt is inside the taxable base, not subtracted from it.
- Exemptions must be claimed at recording with documentation. Nothing is automatic or retroactive.
- The seller typically pays in San Francisco. That is custom, not law, and it is negotiable.
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