With the current nationwide trend of rapidly increasing real estate property values many homeowners are realizing a dramatic increase in their property taxes that are due each year. In some cases, especially senior citizen homeowners, this increase in property taxes is threatening their ability to afford to live in their homes. Luckily some states have established tax exemption programs and property tax freeze programs to help manage this problem. In Illinois there are three property tax programs that are designed to help alleviate the tax problems associated with the rapid property value increases, and they are the Generalized Homestead Exemption, the Senior Citizen Homestead Exemption, and the Senior Citizen Tax Freeze Homestead Exemption.
Generalized Homestead Exemption
The Generalized Homestead Exemption is an Illinois tax program that is aimed at reducing the amount of property taxes that a homeowner has to pay. Any homeowner in Illinois is eligible for this tax benefit. The size of the tax exemption that is created by this program will be based on how much the home’s value has increased since 1977. The maximum amount of money that can be excluded from the Illinois homeowner’s property tax base is $3,500, or if the homeowner lives in Cook County they can exclude the slightly higher maximum amount of $4,500. For more information on this program, including what forms will need to be filed, people should contact the State of Illinois’ Department of Revenue, or their local property tax collector.
Senior Citizen Homestead Exemption
Senior Citizens can further decrease their property tax base by using the Senior Citizen Homestead Exemption in addition to the Generalized Homestead Exemption. To qualify for this exemption taxpayers need to be 65 years of age or older and they must own their home. This exemption can further reduce their property tax base by $2,000, or $2,500 for Cook County homes. For more information on this program, including what forms will need to be filed, people should contact the State of Illinois’ Department of Revenue, or their local tax collector.
Senior Citizen Tax Freeze Homestead Exemption
The final property tax program offered in Illinois is the Senior Citizen Tax Freeze Homestead Exemption. This program, like the others mentioned in this article, is aimed at providing Illinois homeowners with property tax relief. To be eligible for this program the tax payers has to be 65 years of age or older, have an annual household income of $35,000 or less, live in the home as their primary residents for the entire tax year, own the property, and be the person liable for paying the property taxes. This program provides homeowners property tax relief by freezing the taxable value of the home. One of the added benefits of this program is that the tax freeze is transferable to the widows of the qualifying taxpayer, even if the widow doesn’t meet all of the requirements for this program. For more information on this program, including what forms will need to be filed, people should contact the State of Illinois’ Department of Revenue, or their local tax collector.
