Submit your Maryland Homestead Credit Verification Application Now

Submit your Maryland Homestead Credit Verification Application Now

What is the Homestead Credit?

To help homeowners deal with large assessment increases on their principal residence, state law has established the Homestead Property Tax Credit. The Homestead Credit limits the increase in taxable assessments each year to a fixed percentage. Every county and municipality in Maryland is required to limit taxable assessment increases to 10% or less each year. View a listing of homestead caps for each local government.

Submit your Homestead Credit Verification Form to save $100's or maybe $1000's on property tax in 2020. Many homeowners have not submitted their Homestead Credit Verification Form. The requirement to submit this form was established by legislation passed in 2007, There is no deadline for submitting the form but property owners who do not submit the form will not receive the homestead credit until the form is submitted. If the home that you own is your primary (or only) residence, you should submit the form. It needs to be submitted only one time during your ownership period. If the form is not submitted, you will likely pay significantly more in property taxes than necessary. Rental properties and second homes are not eligible for the Homestead Credit. Properties are assessed triennially in Maryland and much of our area's turn for reassessment is January 2020. Get your form in now if you haven't done so already so that it's on file when the tax bills are produced later in 2020. You can check to see if the form is on file by looking up your property on the SDAT web site and scrolling to the bottom of the assessment record. If the record says "Homestead Application Status: No Application" near the bottom, you should submit the form.

More information is at: https://dat.maryland.gov/realproperty/Pages/Maryland-Homestead-Tax-Credit.aspx (Don't confuse the Homestead Credit with the Homeowners' Tax Credit. Every principal residence is eligible for the Homestead Credit regardless of the owner's income. In contrast, only homeowners with income under $60,000 per year area are eligible for the Homeowners' Tax Credit. The application for the Homeowners' Tax Credit is submitted between March and September of each year.)