Old Hollywood just changed hands again. Robb Report says Madonna "has reportedly bought the former Cecil B. DeMille estate" in Los Feliz from Angelina Jolie "for $24.75 million." Per the same report, Jolie bought it for $24.5 million in 2017 and listed it this spring at $29.85 million. So it sold "for just $250,000 more than she paid nearly a decade ago." The house has history: per Robb Report, DeMille bought it in 1916 and around 1920 added a neighboring house "that had previously been leased by Charlie Chaplin." That's a lot of Hollywood on one lot. At the reported price, the sale lands in Measure ULA mansion tax territory.
A $250,000 gain on paper. Now let's talk about the city's cut, because in the City of Los Angeles a sale this size comes with a big transfer tax, and it's calculated on the whole price, not the gain.
Takeaway #1: The rate applies to the whole price
FROM THE RULE
"4% for properties conveyed over $5,400,000, but under $10,900,000 and 5.5% for properties conveyed at $10,900,000 or more"
What it means for you. Measure ULA, the so-called mansion tax, sits on top of the city's regular transfer tax. The Office of Finance describes that base tax as "$2.25 per $500 or part thereof," which works out to 0.45%. Its own chart puts the combined rate at "5.95%" for sales of $10.9 million or more.
So here's the arithmetic, at the city's published rates, if the reported $24.75 million is the price conveyed and the house sits inside city limits. ULA at 5.5% is $1,361,250. The 0.45% base tax adds about $111,375. That's roughly $1.47 million in city transfer tax on a sale that cleared $250,000 over the 2017 price. Ouch.
The FAQ calls the transfer tax "an excise tax on the privilege of selling a real property interest, not a tax on the property itself." Who actually writes the check is usually set in the purchase contract, so read that paragraph before you sign.
Your move. If you're selling in LA, model the transfer tax before you set a price. It isn't a rounding error. At this level, it can be bigger than your profit. Check the map too: for a property only partly inside the city, the FAQ says the tax applies "in proportion to the value of the real property interest that was transferred within the boundaries of the City."
Takeaway #2: The cliff, and the debt you can't net out
FROM THE RULE
"For the ULA Tax, it is calculated based on gross value (including the value of any lien or encumbrance remaining thereon at the time of sale.)"
What it means for you. Two details hide in the FAQ. First, the ULA Tax is figured on gross value. A buyer assuming your loan doesn't shrink the ULA number, even though it does for the base tax, which uses "net value (exclusive of the assumed loan amount.)"
Second, the rates are a cliff, not a slope. Because the rate applies to the whole price, a sale at $10,899,999 pays 4% ULA, about $436,000. A sale at $10,900,000 pays 5.5%, or $599,500. One more dollar, roughly $163,500 more tax. The same thing happens at the bottom: a sale at exactly $5,400,000 owes no ULA, while $5,400,001 owes 4% of the whole price, about $216,000. The devil is in the details, and these details move every year. The FAQ says the thresholds "are adjusted annually based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Chained Consumer Price Index." They rose on July 1, 2026, from $5.3 million and $10.6 million, according to The Real Deal's reporting on the change.
There are exemptions, but they mostly turn on who the buyer is: qualified affordable-housing nonprofits, certain older 501(c)(3)s with "assets of less than $1 billion," and government agencies. A celebrity buying a mansion isn't on the list.
Your move. If your price is near a threshold, run both numbers with your broker and tax adviser before you counter. A small price change can produce a very large tax change.
Sample wording (our illustration): "Seller shall pay the City of Los Angeles base real property transfer tax and any Measure ULA tax due on this conveyance."
And always remember, don't sign it till you read it, my friends.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Reading this doesn't create an attorney-client relationship. Talk to a lawyer and a tax adviser before you buy or sell.
