NEW LAW PASSED! Property Tax Exemption

[SergeantQ]

FYI: Did you all hear that there was a new law passed for any disabled veteran 70% or higher? Yep! If you are 70% or higher, and your state participates, you don't have to pay property taxes anymore. Yep!

We (my husband is 70%) got our letter in the mail the other day and I'm been turning kart wheels and back flips ever since.  Google your local chief county assessment office and do a search for the new information on their website.

Below, is the information that showed up on our county website. I'm in Illinois. Good luck and go get it! You deserve it!

Disabled Veterans' Standard Homestead Exemption

 

Disabled Veterans' Standard Homestead Exemption Application

 

Disabled Veterans' Standard Homestead Exemption Annual Verification Application

 

*New changes in place for 2015 (highlighted below)*

This exemption may be claimed in addition to the General Homestead Limited Exemption and the Senior Citizen's Homestead Exemptions, if applicable; however, it cannot be claimed in addition to the Disabled Veterans' Exemption of $70,000, or the Disabled Persons' Homestead Exemption. To receive this exemption, you must:

• Be a Lake County, Illinois resident and have served in the United States Armed Forces, The Illinois National Guard, or U.S. Reserve Forces, and have received an honorable discharge.
• Have a total equalized assessed value (EAV) of less than $250,000.
• A disabled veteran with a 70% or higher service-connected disability will be tax exempt.
• A disabled veteran with at least 50%, but less than 70% service-connected disability will receive a $5,000 reduction in the property's EAV.
• A disabled veteran with at least 30%, but less than 50% service-connected disability will receive a $2,500 reduction in property's EAV.
• Have owned and occupied the property as the primary residence on or before January 1st of the tax year.
• Supply documentation as required by the instructions on the back of the form.
• An unmarried surviving spouse of a disabled veteran can continue to receive this exemption on his or her spouse's homestead property or transfer the exemption to a new primary residence.  To qualify, the surviving spouse must meet the following requirements:

1. Sell the disabled veteran's previous homestead property before transferring this exemption to his or her  new primary residence.
2. Own and occupy the property as a primary residence and hold a legal or beneficial title to the property on January 1 of the assessment year.
3. Have a total equalized assessed value (EAV) of less than $250,000.

 

If you are applying for this exemption and the property is held in trust, the law requires that we verify the applicant is a beneficiary of that trust. The exemption cannot be applied without this verification. Please include a copy of that part of the trust agreement which states that the applicant is the beneficiary. This can usually be found on the first few pages of the trust document.

 

First-time applicants can obtain forms from the Chief County Assessment Office or your local township assessor’s office.

Please note that this exemption will require annual verification of eligibility. The Chief County Assessment Office will mail the appropriate forms each year to all disabled veterans or their surviving spouses who received the exemption in the prior year.

[Carl the Engineer]

Looks to be a Illinois thing.  Wisconsin is still 100% I belive...

Lucky bastards,

Hamslice

 

[USMC_VET]

Wisconsin is still 100%, glad to hear Illinois is doing more.  I know Alaska was 50% or higher, although property taxes are already pretty low in all but a few areas.

[georgiapapa]

Georgia is 100%.  The laws vary state by state and in some states county by county.  To my knowledge, there are no federal laws governing real estate property tax exemptions.

GP

[broncovet]

Yea..we need this nationwide.  I am 100% and I get about a 30% exemption.  

[Buck52]

Texas is 100%  with homestead filed & the requirement is you lived there 1 year prior....before I was 100% we got  the first 12000.00 exemption at 50% but I think a veteran had to be 50% or more to get the exemption, I think it depends on the state & county you live in ?

It would be worth checking into with your state & county in which you live  check with your local county tax assessor office.

 

jmo

......................Buck