Homestead Exemption
Generally, a homeowner is entitled to a homestead
exemption on their home and land underneath provided the home was
owned by the homeowner and was their legal residence as of January 1 of
the taxable year.
Application for Homestead Exemption (for a FREE Homestead Application click
here)
To be granted a homestead exemption, a person
must actually occupy the home, and the home is considered their legal
residence for all purposes. Persons that are away from their home
because of health reasons will not be denied homestead exemption. A
family member or friend can notify the tax receiver or tax commissioner
and the homestead exemption will be granted. Application for homestead exemption must be filed with the tax
commissioner's office, or in some counties the tax assessor's office has
been delegated to receive applications for homestead exemption.
The deadline for filing an application for
homestead exemption is June 1 with the following exceptions: (1)
counties with installment billings have an application deadline of May 1,
or they can establish a different date by local Act; or, (2) counties
having a population of 81,300 to 89,000 have an application due date of
March 1.
Failure to apply by the deadline will result in
loss of the exemption for that year.
How to Figure a
Homestead Exemption
The basic
formula to figure the tax on a home using the State's standard $2,000
homestead exemption is:
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[(40% * FMV) -
$2,000] * millage rate = tax due.
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Example: If a person that
owned a home with a market value of $100,000 in an unincorporated
area of a county where the millage rate was 25.00 mills, that
person's property tax would be $950.00 (millage rates for motor
vehicles in 2001 were the same rates applied to real property in
2000). Multiply $100,000 by 40% which is equal to the
assessed value of $40,000 and subtract the homestead exemption of
$2,000 from the assessed value. Then multiply $38,000 by
.02500 which is equal to
$950.00. |
