California Property Tax Exemptions: Homestead, Senior and Veteran Relief

The California Constitution provides a $7,000 reduction in the taxable value of a qualifying owner-occupied home (the homeowners' exemption). The home must have been the owner's principal place of residence on the lien date, January 1. Rentals and vacation homes do not qualify. The state reimburses local agencies for the lost revenue.

File one claim, Form BOE-266 (Claim for Homeowners' Property Tax Exemption), with the county assessor where the property is located; forms come from the county assessor. It is a one-time filing: once granted, the exemption continues, but the owner must notify the assessor when no longer eligible. December 10 is the last day to terminate the exemption without penalty.

First-time claimants should file by February 15 to receive the full exemption for that year. A claim filed after February 15 and by December 10 receives 80% of the homeowners' exemption.

Homeowners at least 55 years old (or severely and permanently disabled) may transfer the taxable (base year) value of their principal residence to a replacement residence anywhere in California, up to three times, under Proposition 19 (effective April 1, 2021). The replacement must be bought or built within two years of selling the original home; if the replacement is worth more than the original, the difference is added to the transferred value. Claims must be filed with the county assessor within three years of buying or completing the replacement home.

The disabled veterans' exemption applies to the principal residence of a veteran rated 100% disabled or compensated at the 100% rate due to unemployability, blind in both eyes, or who has lost the use of two or more limbs, and in qualifying cases to an unmarried surviving spouse (for example, when the veteran died from a service-connected injury or disease). For the January 1, 2026 lien date, the basic exemption is $180,671 and the low-income exemption is $271,009, with a household income limit of $81,131 for the low-income exemption; amounts are adjusted annually for inflation. File Form BOE-261-G with the county assessor. The basic exemption is a one-time filing; the low-income exemption requires an annual filing (full amount if filed January 1 to February 15, 90% if filed by December 10, 85% after). An initial claim filed within 90 days of the qualifying event, or by the next January 1 if later, receives 100%.

Severely and permanently disabled homeowners may transfer the base year value of their principal residence to a replacement home (Proposition 19). New construction that makes an existing structure more accessible to a physically disabled person may be excluded from reassessment (claim filed with the county assessor).

Under Proposition 13 (Cal. Const. art. XIII A), property is reassessed to market value only on a change in ownership or completion of new construction (the base year value), and annual increases in the base year value are generally limited to no more than 2% for inflation. The general tax rate is 1% of taxable value, plus rates for voter-approved debt.

Property substantially damaged or destroyed by a disaster may be reassessed under the county's disaster relief ordinance; claims go to the county assessor within the period set by the ordinance or within one year of the damage, whichever is later. A principal residence substantially damaged or destroyed by wildfire or natural disaster may have its taxable value transferred to a replacement residence anywhere in California bought or built within two years of selling the damaged home. Parent-child (and some grandparent-grandchild) transfers of a family home that remains the transferee's principal residence can be excluded from reassessment, subject to a value cap.

A first step is often to discuss the assessment informally with the assessor's staff. The formal appeal is an Assessment Appeal Application filed with the clerk of the county board of supervisors (sitting as a local board of equalization) or the assessment appeals board during the regular filing period, July 2 through September 15, or through November 30 in counties where the assessor does not mail assessment notices to all secured-roll taxpayers by August 1 (for 2026: July 2 to September 15, 2026, or November 30, 2026). Supplemental and escape assessments must be appealed within 60 days after the notice is mailed. For an owner-occupied single-family principal residence, the assessor has the burden of proving the value is correct.

Secured property tax bills are mailed by November 1 and paid in two equal installments: the first is due November 1 and delinquent after December 10; the second is due February 1 and delinquent after April 10. Late payment adds a 10% penalty. Unsecured taxes are due January 1 and delinquent August 31.