What is the transfer tax on your sale?
Every home sale in Santa Clara County pays the county transfer tax. San Jose, Palo Alto and Mountain View add their own, and the largest sales in San Jose and Mountain View pay more again. Enter the price and the city to see the whole amount.
Work out the transfer tax
Your sale
Rates checked October 1, 2026.
Transfer tax on this sale
An estimate for planning. Your escrow officer confirms the exact figure. Who pays each tax is set in the purchase contract; by custom the seller usually pays the county tax.
How it is figured
County tax. $0.55 for every $500 of the price, anywhere in the county.
City tax. San Jose, Palo Alto and Mountain View each add $1.65 for every $500. The other cities in the county add nothing.
San Jose Measure E. On sales of $2,300,000.01 or more: 0.75% up to $5,000,000, 1% up to $10,000,000, and 1.5% above that. The rate applies to the whole price, on top of the regular city tax.
Mountain View Measure G. On sales over $6,000,000 the city tax is $15 per $1,000 of the whole price, in place of the regular city rate.
Crossing one of those lines by a dollar changes the tax on the whole sale. If your price is close to $2,300,000 or $5,000,000 in San Jose, or $6,000,000 in Mountain View, ask me to run the numbers on both sides of the line before you set a price or answer an offer.
Common questions
How much is the transfer tax in Santa Clara County?
The county charges $0.55 for every $500 of the sale price, which is $1.10 per $1,000. On a $1,500,000 sale that is $1,650. San Jose, Palo Alto and Mountain View add their own city tax on top.
Which cities in Santa Clara County charge their own transfer tax?
San Jose, Palo Alto and Mountain View each charge $1.65 for every $500, which is $3.30 per $1,000. San Jose also has Measure E on sales of $2,300,000.01 or more, and Mountain View charges $15 per $1,000 on sales over $6,000,000.
How does San Jose Measure E work?
Measure E applies to San Jose sales of $2,300,000.01 or more. The rate is 0.75% up to $5,000,000, 1% from $5,000,000.01 to $10,000,000, and 1.5% above that. The rate applies to the whole sale price, and it is in addition to the regular San Jose city tax.
Who pays the transfer tax, the buyer or the seller?
By local custom the seller usually pays the county tax. The city taxes and Measure E are split different ways in different deals. Who pays is a term of your purchase contract, so it can be negotiated.
Want to see what you walk away with? Use the seller net sheet.
Want the rest of the costs explained? Read What it actually costs to sell a home in Santa Clara County.
Sources: Santa Clara County Clerk Recorder, recording real estate · County Clerk Recorder, Measure E · City of Mountain View, transfer tax
See your whole net
- Transfer tax is one line. I’ll put together the full picture for your home: price, commission, title, escrow, taxes and what you walk away with.
Ask me directly
- Close to a Measure E or Measure G line, or not sure who pays what in your deal? Call or text and I’ll walk you through it.