Prop 19 property tax calculator, California.

Who can transfer a base year value

Revenue and Taxation Code section 69.6, applying on and after April 1, 2021, carries out Section 2.1 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, the provision commonly called Proposition 19. It allows a person over 55 years of age, a severely and permanently disabled person, or a victim of wildfire or natural disaster to transfer the taxable value of a residence that is eligible for the homeowners’ exemption (or the disabled veteran’s exemption) to a replacement dwelling that they purchase or newly construct as a principal residence within two years of selling the original. The original property’s value cannot be transferred until it is sold. A person over 55 means someone who had reached 55 at the time of the sale of the original property.

Conditions and limits

The claimant must own and live in the original property at sale or within two years of the replacement purchase, must occupy the replacement as a principal residence at claim time, and must sell the original within two years of buying or completing the replacement. The relief may be claimed no more than three times as an over-55 or disabled claimant (section 69.6(a) and (b)(6)); the three-claim limit does not apply to victims of wildfire or natural disaster. A claim must be filed within three years of the date the replacement was purchased or its construction was completed. A later claim may be considered, with the benefit applying from the lien date of the assessment year in which it is filed. Section 69.6 does not require the replacement to be in the same county, and county assessors report claims to the Board of Equalization so the three-claim limit can be enforced statewide.

The value formula

Section 69.6(e) is what the calculator implements. If the full cash value of the replacement dwelling is equal to or less than the full cash value of the original property, the taxable value of the replacement is the taxable value of the original (paragraph 2). If the replacement costs more, the taxable value is the original’s taxable value plus the difference between the two full cash values (paragraph 3). If the replacement is purchased or built after the original is sold, the original’s taxable value also includes annual inflation adjustments after the sale (paragraph 4). New construction completed within two years of the sale and reported to the assessor within six months can keep the relief if the value of the construction plus the replacement’s value at acquisition does not exceed the original’s full cash value (paragraph 7).

Turning taxable value into tax

Article XIII A, section 1(a) of the California Constitution limits the ad valorem tax on real property to one percent of the full cash value, collected by the counties and apportioned to districts. Subdivision (b) excludes taxes and assessments to pay voter-approved bonded debt, so those are added on top. The tool shows one percent of the new taxable value as the base tax and, for comparison, one percent of the replacement’s full cash value without a transfer.

Worked example

A homeowner sells a house with a taxable value of $250,000 and a full cash value of $900,000, then buys a replacement for $1,000,000. The replacement costs more, so the new taxable value is $250,000 plus $100,000, or $350,000. Base tax is $3,500 a year instead of the $10,000 one percent of a $1,000,000 base year value would be, an annual difference of $6,500 before bonds and other charges. If the replacement were worth $800,000, the taxable value would stay $250,000 and base tax $2,500. The savings shrink as the replacement gets more expensive, which is why moving to a much pricier area changes the benefit.

Limits of this page

We read section 69.6 and Article XIII A through Internet Archive copies of the California Legislative Information site, because the live site blocked an automated request, and could not open the Board of Equalization’s Prop 19 page (it returned a not-found error). The tool does not decide whether you qualify, handle multiunit or partial-purchase cases, new construction, inflation factoring after the sale or the claim form. Confirm with your county assessor.

Sources

Sources opened and read November 2, 2026.

• California Legislative Information: Revenue and Taxation Code 69.6 (Internet Archive copy read November 2, 2026)
• California Legislative Information: Constitution, Article XIII A, section 1 (Internet Archive copy read November 2, 2026)