After you purchase a house, the very first thing that in all probability involves thoughts is how a lot it’s going to price you each month. There’s the month-to-month mortgage cost, insurance coverage, repairs, upkeep, utilities, and so on.
And don’t neglect the taxes.
No matter the place you reside, you’ll owe property taxes. Luckily, most states supply a straightforward solution to cut back your property tax invoice. It’s the homestead exemption.
Homestead tax exemption legal guidelines (and different property tax exemption legal guidelines) fluctuate by state and may help you lower your expenses in your property taxes. How a lot it can save you and eligibility necessities will fluctuate.
Let’s take a more in-depth have a look at what a homestead exemption is, the way it works and how one can apply to get a reduction in your actual property taxes.
The Homestead Exemption: What Is it and How Does it Work?
A homestead exemption units a authorized restrict on how a lot of your property’s assessed worth is topic to property taxes. As a result of homestead exemption legal guidelines fluctuate by state, the sum of money protected below the homestead exemption will depend upon the place you reside. And each state has the ability to find out who’s eligible for a homestead exemption.
However earlier than we dive into the exemption, right here’s a fast refresher on how property taxes work.
How a lot do property taxes price?
Property taxes are based mostly on the assessed worth of your house, which may fluctuate relying on the state, county or municipality (metropolis or city) you reside in.
Alabama, which has among the lowest property taxes within the U.S., costs round 42 cents per $100 of appraised worth in property taxes. The state additionally requires owners to pay taxes on 20% of the true worth of their houses.[2]
In New Jersey, the place the property taxes are among the highest within the U.S., a house is assessed at 100% of its honest market worth, and the common tax charge is $2.77 per $100 of the appraised worth.[3]
If you happen to owned a $200,000 residence in Alabama, your annual property tax invoice could be $1,680. If you happen to owned that very same residence in New Jersey, you’d pay $5,520.
A homestead tax exemption instance
Let’s say you got a house with an assessed worth of $300,000, and your state’s common property tax charge is 1% of the house’s worth. Your annual tax invoice could be $3,000.
If you happen to have been eligible for the state’s $50,000 homestead tax exemption, your assessed property worth could be lowered by $50,000, dropping the overall taxable worth of your house to $250,000.
Your 1% property tax charge could be based mostly on the $250,000 quantity, not $300,000, dropping your property tax invoice to $2,500 – and saving you $500 a 12 months.
Relying on your house’s worth and your state’s exemption, you possibly can save a whole lot or 1000’s of {dollars} every year.
Safety in opposition to unsecured collectors
Although many householders concentrate on the tax financial savings a homestead exemption supplies, one other profit is the homestead safety in opposition to unsecured collectors.
The homestead safety received’t apply when you default in your mortgage as a result of a lender is a secured creditor. Your mortgage settlement offers them the appropriate to foreclose on your house when you default.
If you happen to owe a non-mortgage lender cash and so they put a lien on your house, a homestead exemption might defend some or all your residence’s worth in opposition to the creditor’s claims.
Not all states supply safety in opposition to unsecured collectors. It might depend upon a number of components, together with the quantity of fairness you’ve gotten in your house and the scale of your property.
Who Is Eligible for a Homestead Exemption?
Solely your major residence is eligible for the homestead exemption. Trip houses, funding properties and second houses don’t qualify.
In some states, anybody can qualify for a homestead exemption. Different states might solely supply homestead exemptions to sure teams of house owners, together with:
- Owners with disabilities
- Decrease-income owners
- Owners age 65 and older
- Veterans
Go to your state or native authorities’s web site to study extra in regards to the eligibility necessities for the homestead exemption.
Which States Have the Homestead Tax Exemption?
Presently, 48 out of fifty states supply homestead exemptions. Pennsylvania and New Jersey are the 2 states that don’t supply homestead exemptions.
Homestead exemptions will fluctuate by state.
- Alabama has a $4,000 exemption for owners below age 65.[4]
- Texas gives an ordinary $40,000 exemption, plus an extra $10,000 exemption for owners age 65 and older.[5]
- Georgia gives an ordinary $2,000 exemption, a $4,000 exemption for people 65 and older and a $60,000 exemption for disabled veterans or surviving spouses.[1]
Even when a state doesn’t supply a homestead exemption, the state’s native governments (together with these in Pennsylvania and New Jersey) might supply a homestead exemption on county taxes.
How Do You File for a Homestead Exemption?
The homestead exemption utility course of varies by state. You could be enrolled mechanically, or it’s possible you’ll want to finish an utility. You’ll be able to normally apply by calling your county’s homestead exemption hotline. Needless to say the annual deadlines to file for a brand new homestead exemption are based mostly on when your tax 12 months begins.
After you’re permitted for a homestead exemption, you’ll by no means must reapply until you promote the house or it not serves as your major residence.
Low cost on Your Tax Invoice
Property taxes may be costly. If you happen to personal your major residence, you might be able to get a reduction in your tax invoice by submitting for a homestead exemption. Test your county’s web site. You could be eligible to catch a break in your actual property taxes. In lots of circumstances, filling out a easy type can prevent a whole lot and even 1000’s of {dollars} a 12 months.
