Homeowner's Exemption

How and When to Apply for a Homeowner’s Exemption on New Construction:

A homeowner may make an application for the New Construction/Occupancy Exemption which must be made within 30 days of notification of the Occupancy Assessment. The same proof of ownership and form used for the regular homeowner exemption mentioned above is used to make an application for the new construction/occupancy exemption but the section highlighted asks the question “Are you the first (1st) occupant of this dwelling must be filled out and initialed.

Idaho has a homeowner’s exemption for owner-occupied homes and manufactured homes, which are primary dwellings, which includes the value of your home and up to one acre of land.

How and When to Qualify and Apply for a Regular Homeowner’s Exemption:

To qualify for a HOMEOWNER’S EXEMPTION, Idaho Code 63-602G, you must be the owner and occupy this property as your primary place of residence. To receive the Homeowner’s Exemption for the current year, you must have owned and occupied a residential improvement, and have documentation for one of the following:

*    A legal binding deed or contract transferring or changing ownership that has been recorded in the County Recorder’s office.

*    This deed or contract is provided to the Assessor’s Platting/Mapping Department to change the ownership to the county records.
*    A legal binding deed or contract that has not been recorded in the County Recorder’s office must be provided to the Assessor’s office by the owner to prove legal ownership. It is recommended that all legal binding deeds or contracts are recorded to protect the owners.

Application must be made and received in the Assessor's Office. After this deadline your application will be considered for the next year. Use the Homeowners Exemption form, provided by this link or by the Assessor’s office. You can also refer to the link below for the PDF Homeowners Exemption form.

How and When to Apply for a Homeowner’s Exemption on New Construction:

A home owner may make application for the New Construction/Occupancy Exemption which must be made within 30 days of notification of the Occupancy Assessment. The same proof of ownership and form used for the regular homeowner exemption mentioned above is used to make application for the new construction/occupancy exemption but the section highlighted that asks the question “Are you the first (1st) occupant of this dwelling must be filled out and initialed. See below for the PDF Homeowner’s Exemption form.

Maintaining the Homeowner’s Exemption:

Once you qualify for the Homeowner’s Exemption, you do not have to re-apply unless you move, record or draw up a new legal binding deed or contract. Even if you only change your name or even the spelling of your name and record a new deed to reflect these changes, you may need to re-apply for the exemption. This is because the Assessor’s office has no way of knowing that these two different names belong to the same person.

Sometimes a new deed is recorded during refinance and inadvertent changes to your name may happen. Always check on the status of your exemption after refinancing.

If you place your home in a Trust or LLC, you may need to reapply for a homeowner’s exemption. It is also necessary to provide the Assessor’s office with documentation stating who is in control of the Trust or LLC per Idaho Code 63-703(4). The easiest way to do this is bring all of your Trust or LLC documents to the Assessor’s office. The staff will only make copies of the pages necessary to comply with Idaho Code. The assessment notice will indicate if there is a homeowner’s exemption on a property. For most types of property the assessment notice is mailed out by the first Monday of June. If the homeowner’s exemption (or anything else) is incorrect on the assessment notice, contact  the Assessor’s office Before the deadline shown on the assessment notice.

How the Homeowner’s Exemption Works:

For example the 2010 property taxes, due and (at least the 1st half) payable in the Treasures Office no later than December 20, 2010 and June 20, 2011 (second half), this law exempts 50% of the value up to a maximum of $101,153 for the home and up to one acre of land.

For example the 2011 property taxes, due and (at least the 1st half) payable in the Treasurers Office no later than December 20, 2011 and June 20, 2012, the percentage reduction is unchanged (50%), but the exemption can reduce taxable value up to a maximum of $92,040 for the home and up to one acre of land.

The maximum reduction from 2006 through June 30, 2016 was adjusted annually by the State Tax Commission using the House Pricing Index for Idaho published by the Federal Housing Agency. Effective July 1, 2016 the law was changed for the years forward that the maximum allowed will be $100,000 which includes land and improvements.

Maximum

$10,000     Improvement only

$50,000     Improvement only

$75,000     Land and Improvement

$89,325     Land and Improvement

$100,938   Land and Improvement

$104,471   Land and Improvement

$101,153   Land and Improvement

$92,040     Land and Improvement

$83,974     Land and Improvement

$81.000     Land and Improvement

$83,920     Land and Improvement

$89,580     Land and Improvement

$94,745     Land and Improvement

$100,000   Land and Improvement  As Of July 1, 2016

$100,000   Land and Improvement

Penalties for an Improperly Claimed Homeowner's Exemption:

Pursuant to Idaho Code 63-602G(5) upon discovery of evidence indicating the existence of an improperly claimed Homeowner's Exemption, the Assessor must assess a recovery of property taxes, plus late charges, interest and costs. This can be done going back for a maximum of seven (7) years. The property owner will be notified of the evidence and will be given the chance to prove otherwise, but if not the property owner will receive tax bills to pay the amount of tax exemption given in error from the Treasurer's office.