If you ’ve lost your home or business in this month’s wildfires, you can receive large reduction on your property income now and in the future — whether you decide to repair or move.
You will be able to decrease what you owe promptly and submit payment. Finally, you can keep the taxable value of your house prior to the flames, which means lower fees than if you were building a new house or moving someplace else under ordinary circumstances.
Here’s a guideline for how you can find support and information on choices you have going forward:
What if I do best today?
For any home or business owner with$ 10,000 or more in harm to their house, the first step is filing a form with the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office. The variety is called “Property Damaged or Destroyed by Misfortune or Calamity” or “ADS-820” and you can get it at this website. You have one month following the day of the crisis — until January 2026 — to file the form.
When the form is approved, the assessor’s company will review your home. If your home or business was destroyed, the taxable price will be based only on the property. A lower price may remain in effect until the house is thoroughly repaired, restored or reconstructed.
Under an executive order signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, you can wait until April 2026 to report this year’s estate taxes without penalty. You may also use to the Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector to pursue longer delay of up to four years.
What happens if I decide to repair my home?
If you restore your home as it was before — or even up to 20 % larger — you’ll give the same house fees as before.
California has a special estate tax system inaugurated by the passing of Proposition 13 in 1978. It limits estate levies to 1 % of a home’s deductible price, which is based on the year the property was purchased, and restricts how much that deductible price can go up every time, even if a home’s market price increases substantially more.
Let’s assume that a house destroyed by the fires had a$ 1 million market value and a$ 600,000 taxable value this year. Because of voter-approved bonds in addition to the base 1 % rate, the property owner would have paid about$ 6,600 in taxes.
If this buyer rebuilds the home to roughly the same features — equivalent square footage, equal number of bedrooms and bathrooms— then the homeowner simply retains the existing$ 600,000 deductible price for the new house and therefore has the same tax expenses. The benefit applies if a property owner wants to replace what was a 1940s ranch house with a home constructed to today’s fire code and other modern standards.
Homeowners can expand their footprint by up to 20 % without triggering a higher assessment. For those that want to go beyond that, or change the use of their property by building an accessory dwelling unit for example, additions will be assessed at market value with their tax bill increasing accordingly.
What if I want to move instead?
There are multiple options to retain your prior property tax benefits if you move, including to a more expensive house.
Let’s first tackle moving to a new home within L. A. County. You maintain your prior taxable value entirely if the new home is n’t more than 20 % higher than the market value of your prior one.
Refer back to our example home with a market value of$ 1 million and taxable value of$ 600,000. In this scenario, you could buy a$ 1. 2 million home and your taxable value would still be$ 600,000.
Any additional market value in a newly purchased home would be added onto your taxable value. If you bought a$ 1. 3 million home, the taxable value would be$ 700,000, calculated by taking the existing$ 600,000 and adding the extra$ 100,000 above the allowable 20 % increase.
If you’d like to move elsewhere in California, you could transfer your taxable value to a new home that ’s the same market value as the one destroyed. So using our example again, you could buy a$ 1 million home in Santa Barbara County and transfer your$ 600,000 taxable value to that property.
For buying more expensive homes outside of L. A. County, the taxable values would be blended. A$ 1. 3 million home in Santa Barbara would result in a taxable value of$ 900,000. Tax savings here are significant compared to buying a new home otherwise. A homeowner with a taxable value of$ 900,000 pays roughly$ 9,900 a year in taxes while one with a taxable value of$ 1. 3 million pays about$ 14,300.
There could be slightly more generous benefits for disaster-affected L. A. homeowners who move to Orange, San Diego, Ventura or 10 other counties that have opted into a related property tax relief program.
You can only receive a property tax benefit for rebuilding or moving, not both.
Where can I get help directly or find out more?
These rules have different qualification deadlines and other nuances that will affect your specific situation. For that reason, it ’s best to connect with the county assessor’s office for assistance. The office has staff members available at disaster centers on both the Westside (UCLA Research Park West, 10850 W. Pico Blvd. , Los Angeles ) and Eastside ( Pasadena City College Community Education Center, 3035 E. Foothill Blvd. , Pasadena ).
Assessor Jeff Prang is encouraging affected homeowners to file their damaged property form and said that his office is planning to ensure all qualified property owners receive immediate relief.
“ While it ’s helpful if they fill out the forms, it tells us specifically who they are and how to reach them, we’re going to be reassessing that property whether they ask us to or not, ” Prang said.
Prang also warned homeowners not to fall prey to scams from third parties promising additional property tax relief for a fee.
“There’s nothing a company can do that ’s going to get anything different than if you do it yourself, ” Prang said. “There’s no reason for people to pay money. ”
Additional resources are available online on the websites of the assessor and state Board of Equalization.
___
© 2025 Los Angeles Times
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
