Tax Clearance Certificates

Tax Clearance Certificate & Disclosure Document

• Collection of estimated taxes: Lien date is January 1 each year
• Recorder’s Deadline for recording maps: If you are recording a map in the month of December, please visit the Clerk-Recorder’s website for December map recording deadlines. Tax Clearance Certificates received within 10 days or less of the Clerk Recorder’s due date may be subject to paying estimated taxes.  

Payment of estimated taxes and getting a tax clearance certificate are required to record a parcel map, subdivision map, or lot line adjustment on real property. To accurately estimate the upcoming taxes we need disclosure of the property. The divisions of land and building are more complex, often multiple layered, which creates a need for accurate information. Today’s dealings are more sophisticated, occur at a much faster pace, and occur out of sequence to what we have known to be normal. Sometimes there are activities that affect the property’s value, and these activities are not always made a part of the public records. Therefore, we must have disclosure from the owner as our guesses are not sufficient given today’s practices.

Application Processing Fee

There is a non-refundable processing fee of $114 (plus a fee of 2.38% if paying with a card) to cover the preparatory work. The processing fee must be paid at the time the application is submitted. It can take up to 10 days for us to provide the tax calculations. Please provide a copy of the final proposed map with your application.

Method of Payment

Clearing the tax liens prior to recording the maps is governed by Gov. Code sections 66492 - 66494.1. Under the authority of Revenue and Taxation Code section 2505, we have limited the ‘method of payment’ on these transactions to check, cash, or cashier’s check for payment of taxes prior to certificate issuance.