Well its a new year and that means if you purchased a new primary residence last year you have a little paperwork to fill out. Im talking about your homestead exemption paperwork. No it doesn’t take long I did mine this afternoon in all of 5 minutes. What is a homestead exemption? Well its an easy way to save you some money on your taxes but it’s more than just that. Let me break it down for you.

First you must own your home. To qualify for a general exemption, you must own your home on Jan. 1. If you are 65 years of age or older or disabled, you don’t have to own your home on Jan. 1.

A homestead can be a separate structure, condominium or a mobile home located on leased land, as long as you own it.

But what if you don’t own all of the home? If you are not the sole owner of the home, you will receive only a portion of any qualified exemption, based on your percent of ownership.

Can I file an exemption on my vacation or second home? Simple answer is NO: You must use the home as your principal residence on Jan. 1. If you have more than one house, you can get an exemption only for your main residence. You must live in this home on Jan. 1. If you decide to move away from that home temporarily and don’t file another exemption you can still have the exemption.

Contact me for any help or questions you have or for help filling out the form and filing it. Trust me there is a whole lot of savings you need to be taking advantage of.

Thanks,

Sam