How much is San Francisco's transfer tax, and who pays it?
San Francisco's real property transfer tax is among the highest in the United States, and by local custom the seller pays it. The structure has a feature every seller near a bracket line needs to understand: the rate applies to the entire sale price, not just the amount above the threshold. Crossing a line by one dollar re-rates every dollar below it.
Calculate your transfer tax
The full schedule
| Sale price | Effective rate | Tax on a sale at the top of the band |
|---|---|---|
| $100 – $250,000 | 0.50% | $1,250 |
| $250,001 – $999,999 | 0.68% | $6,800 |
| $1,000,000 – $4,999,999 | 0.75% | $37,500 |
| $5,000,000 – $9,999,999 | 2.25% | $225,000 |
| $10,000,000 – $24,999,999 | 5.50% | $1,375,000 |
| $25,000,000 and above | 6.00% | — |
The cliffs, concretely
A sale at $4,999,999 owes about $37,500. A sale at $5,000,001 owes about $112,500. A two-dollar increase in price costs $75,000 in tax. The $10 million cliff is worse: $9,999,999 owes about $225,000, while $10,000,001 owes about $550,000 — a $325,000 swing.
The Pacific Heights single-family median sits between those two cliffs, which makes this the most consequential, least understood number in this neighborhood's market. It has a direct negotiation implication: at $5.1 million or $10.2 million, a seller is often better off net at just under the threshold — and a buyer's offer just over one is worth less to you than it looks.
A seller can celebrate crossing $5 million and net less than the offer they turned down. Before you counter near a bracket line, run both numbers. It takes thirty seconds and it is why this calculator exists.
Exemptions and fine print
Transfers between spouses or domestic partners, property passing to heirs by operation of law, and no-change-in-ownership transfers into revocable trusts are exempt (each requires a Transfer Tax Affidavit with the Assessor-Recorder). There is no first-time-buyer exemption. A proposal to halve the top brackets (the BUILD Act) was shelved in June 2026; the rates above stand.
This page describes San Francisco's transfer tax only and is not tax advice. Confirm the total transfer cost for your specific sale with your escrow officer — and if anyone quotes you 2.75% for the $5–10M bracket, they are working from a published error. It is 2.25%.
Selling near a cliff? This is exactly the conversation to have before you list. 415-583-5121.