SACRAMENTO, CA. December 10, 2018 -- Law change for locally registered domestic partners
With a recent change in California tax laws, qualifying locally registered domestic partners who transferred ownership of property between themselves may be eligible for some property tax relief. The benefit is not automatic and a claim form must be timely filed with the Sacramento County Assessor's Office.
State Assembly Bill 2663 may provide relief for transfers of real property between local registered domestic partners that occurred January 1, 2000, through June 26, 2015. If there was a related change in ownership reassessment that occurred during that period, that reassessment may be eligible to be reversed on a prospective basis. When a claim is filed with the assessor the benefit applies beginning the lien date of the calendar year filed. For example, a claim filed in March 2019 would become effective for the 2019-2020 property tax roll year (lien date January 1, 2019) and assessed on the annual tax bill issued in October 2019.
Sacramento County Assessor Christina Wynn has made the downloadable form available on the department's webpage. The form is called BOE-62-LRDP with the title “Claim for Reassessment Reversal for Local Registered Domestic Partners."
“We're trying to get the word out so that qualified applicants can receive the benefit as soon as possible before the benefit expires June 30, 2022," Wynn said.
The bill, introduced as an urgency statute to amend the tax code, received bipartisan support in the State Assembly and State Senate after it was first introduced in February 2018. It was signed by Governor Jerry Brown on September 29 and immediately went into effect.
The State Board of Equalization, which handles property taxes, notified county assessors in early November about new forms available to allow for such reassessments. Accordingly, the State Board of Equalization is expected to release information on more program specifics soon. At that time, the Assessor's webpage will be updated. In the meantime, parties may contact the Assessor's Office for more information at 916-876-0750 or by e-mail assessor@saccounty.gov .
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