Transfer taxes on a commercial sale in Los Angeles and Orange County

On a retail sale in the City of Los Angeles, transfer tax can run to hundreds of thousands of dollars. In Orange County it is a small line item, 0.11 percent of the price. The gap comes from city taxes layered on top of the county's, and in Los Angeles from Measure ULA. Here are the taxes a shopping center or retail building owner can face in the two counties, based on statutes, city codes and recorder pages as of October 2026.

This is general information, not tax or legal advice, current as of October 2026.

The county documentary transfer tax

Revenue and Taxation Code 11911(a) lets a county tax each deed that conveys realty sold within the county, at $0.55 for each $500 of value or fractional part, once the value exceeds $100. That works out to $1.10 per $1,000, or 0.11 percent. The tax is measured on the value conveyed exclusive of any lien or encumbrance remaining on the property at the time of sale. A loan the buyer assumes comes out of the taxable amount. A new loan does not. The Orange County Clerk-Recorder's instructions show a $200,000 sale with a $60,000 assumed loan taxed on $140,000.

Both counties charge the full rate. The LA County Registrar-Recorder states $0.55 per $500, and the Orange County Clerk-Recorder fee schedule lists the document transfer tax at $0.55 per $500.

Section 11911(b) and (c) let a city levy half the county rate, and the county credits the city's tax against its own. That changes who receives the money, not how much the seller pays. Anaheim (AMC 2.10.020), Santa Ana (Sec. 35-100) and Huntington Beach (HBMC 3.20) each levy 27.5 cents per $500 this way.

City of Los Angeles: the base tax and Measure ULA

The base tax

LAMC 21.9.2(a) taxes each deed for realty sold in the City at $2.25 per $500 or fractional part, on value net of liens. That is $4.50 per $1,000, or 0.45 percent (Office of Finance FAQ). The Registrar-Recorder notes that in the five LA County cities with their own rates, the county figures its tax at the full $1.10 per $1,000, so the two stack to $5.60 per $1,000.

Measure ULA

Measure ULA was approved by City voters on November 8, 2022 (LAMC 21.9.2 history note) and added a second tax in LAMC 21.9.2(b), the Homelessness and Housing Solutions Tax, starting April 1, 2023. Its revenue goes to the House LA Fund, according to the City Administrative Officer's statement in the November 2026 voter pamphlet. The original thresholds were $5,000,000 and $10,000,000, and 21.9.2(c) requires the Director of Finance to adjust them annually by the Chained Consumer Price Index.

For transactions closing after June 30, 2026, the Office of Finance lists these rates:

Add the county's 0.11 percent to those rates. The way ULA is calculated matters too.

It is charged on the whole price. The Registrar-Recorder describes ULA as 4 percent or 5.5 percent "of the total transaction value." A sale one dollar over the threshold pays the rate on every dollar.

It is figured on gross value. The base tax excludes a loan the buyer assumes. ULA includes it (Office of Finance FAQ).

Commercial property is covered. The tax reaches any "lands, tenements, or other realty sold within the City of Los Angeles," and the Office of Finance says it applies to all documents that convey real property in the City. The exemptions in LAMC 21.9.14 and 21.9.15 turn on the buyer: qualifying affordable housing nonprofits and community land trusts, 501(c)(3) organizations with a determination letter at least 10 years old and assets under $1 billion, and public agencies. A sale of a strip center to a private investor does not qualify.

Property partly inside the City is prorated. The FAQ says the tax applies in proportion to the value inside the City line, or by square footage if no valuation is available.

ULA on the November 2026 ballot

The City's November 3, 2026 ballot includes Proposition TE, a one-time ULA exemption for residential property damaged or destroyed in the Palisades Fire and sold between January 7, 2025 and January 6, 2030 by the owner on the date of the fire (voter pamphlet). It does not apply to retail property. None of the statewide measures on the Secretary of State's list repeals ULA. Proposition 43 would require a two-thirds vote, beginning January 1, 2027, for "any new, increased, or extended local special taxes proposed by voters," according to the Legislative Analyst. Check the results before relying on either one.

Other cities in Los Angeles County

The Registrar-Recorder lists five cities with their own rates: Culver City, Los Angeles, Pomona, Redondo Beach and Santa Monica. Long Beach is not on the list. Elsewhere in the county, the $1.10 per $1,000 county tax is the full amount.

Culver City. Measure RE, approved November 3, 2020, set marginal rates effective April 1, 2021: 0.45 percent on value up to $1,499,999, 1.5 percent from $1,500,000 to $2,999,999, 3 percent from $3,000,000 to $9,999,999 and 4 percent at $10,000,000 and above (city page). Each rate applies only to the slice of value in its bracket. Unlike the county tax, it is figured on value including liens. The city's FAQ says it applies to commercial sales. CCMC 3.08.400(B) lets the City Manager adjust the brackets by the Los Angeles area CPI no more than once every five years. In October 2026 the city and the county still list the original brackets.

Santa Monica. Under SMMC 6.96.020, as amended by Measure GS effective March 1, 2023, the city tax is $3.00 per $1,000 under $5,000,000, $6.00 per $1,000 from $5,000,000 to under $8,000,000, and $56.00 per $1,000 at $8,000,000 or more. Like ULA, the tier rate applies to the whole value. The city's own example for an $8 million transfer shows $448,000 city tax and $8,800 county tax. The code measures value net of liens.

Pomona. Sec. 50-251 sets $1.10 per $500, which is $2.20 per $1,000, net of liens.

Redondo Beach. RBMC 8-7.02 sets $1.10 per $500 on realty sold. It also taxes leasehold interests of 35 years or more, counting renewal options, which matters if you ground lease a pad instead of selling it.

Orange County cities

We found no Orange County city that adds its own transfer tax on top of the county's. The Clerk-Recorder's fee schedule and transfer tax instructions describe one rate, $0.55 per $500. The three city codes we read, Anaheim, Santa Ana and Huntington Beach, levy the half-rate share that section 11911(c) credits against the county tax. At the rates we verified, a $10 million all-cash sale in Orange County carries $11,000 in transfer tax. The county's instructions also treat a lease of more than 35 years, counting renewals, like a deed.

Who pays

The law lets the tax be collected from either side. R&T 11912 makes the county tax payable by any person who makes, signs or issues the document, or for whose use or benefit it is made. LAMC 21.9.3 uses the same words for the City of Los Angeles taxes, including ULA. Santa Monica (SMMC 6.96.030) and Redondo Beach (RBMC 8-7.03) make buyer and seller jointly and severally liable, and Culver City's FAQ says the same if the tax goes unpaid.

By custom the seller pays. A September 2022 analysis of ULA by academics from UCLA, USC and Occidental, published by the UCLA Lewis Center, says that "in most instances the seller pays transfer taxes when commercial buildings are sold," and WFG National Title's chart lists the seller as the customary payer of the county tax in both counties. Custom is not law, and the purchase agreement controls. Name each tax (county, city base and ULA) and who pays it in the agreement and escrow instructions. Near a ULA threshold the tax can be large enough to become part of the price negotiation itself.

Worked examples

These examples assume an all-cash sale with no assumed loan, the whole property inside one city, and a closing after June 30, 2026, before any further ULA adjustment. The prices are illustrative, not quotes, and rates are from the sources above.

In the City of Los Angeles, the $100,000 difference between the $5,400,000 and $5,500,000 sales adds $220,560 of tax. A seller who pays the tax nets less at the higher price.

The same illustrative $8,000,000 sale elsewhere in LA County:

Culver City is figured with the city's published bracket method ($29,249.99 plus 3 percent of value over $3,000,000) and rounded to the dollar.

How the tax is declared on the deed

R&T 11932 requires the face of the recorded document to show the tax due and whether the property is in a city or an unincorporated area. Under R&T 11933, the recorder will not record a taxable deed unless the tax is paid at recording. The declaration must be signed by the party determining the tax or an agent, and must say whether the tax was computed on full value or on full value less liens remaining at the time of sale.

In LA County the Registrar-Recorder asks for the county amount on a line marked "L.A. County 80" and the city amount on a separate line with the city's code (44 for Los Angeles). County and city tax must be listed separately, and the calculation is the document preparer's responsibility, not the recorder's. The Orange County form asks for the city name or "Unincorporated Area" and says each amount must be evenly divisible by $.55. If no tax is due, both counties require a written statement of the reason, and in LA County it goes on the face of the document. The tax is paid when the deed records, and the Registrar-Recorder collects the city taxes along with the county's.

Selling the entity instead of the deed

When a retail property is held in an LLC or partnership, a sale of the entity is sometimes proposed instead of a deed. In LA County, the Registrar-Recorder collects documentary transfer tax on legal entity transfers that move more than 50 percent control, even when no deed is recorded, and payment is due as of the date of the change in ownership. R&T 11925 treats a terminated partnership as having conveyed its realty at fair market value, and exempts transfers that only change how title is held when proportional ownership stays the same. Ask tax counsel how the city taxes apply before structuring an entity sale.

Timing

ULA thresholds are tied to the closing date and have moved every July 1 since 2024. The Registrar-Recorder's rate bulletin shows $5,000,000 and $10,000,000 from April 1, 2023, then $5,150,000 and $10,300,000 from July 1, 2024, $5,300,000 and $10,600,000 from July 1, 2025, and $5,400,000 and $10,900,000 from July 1, 2026. The ordinance requires an annual adjustment but does not fix the next figures in advance. If the pattern holds, the next change would come on July 1, 2027, so a sale priced near a threshold that might close after June 30, 2027 should be checked against the City's posted numbers once they are published. The Office of Finance says its timing rules are modeled on the property tax change-of-ownership rules (BOE Rule 462.260), and when ULA took effect it asked for evidence of the actual transaction date on deeds recorded after the start date, so ask escrow and counsel which date will govern a deal that straddles July 1. Culver City's brackets can change no more than once every five years. Ballot measures can change any of this, so confirm the rates on the county and city pages in the week before closing.