PropertyTaxRates.org writes about what conditions homeowners and their land plots must meet in order to qualify for relief from land tax (commonly referred to as property tax in most US states), citing state revenue departments, county assessor offices, and recent state legislation.
In particular, to qualify for senior land tax relief, the homeowner and the property must fall within the following limits:
- age of at least 65 years at the time of application — although California’s Property Tax Postponement program is open to pensioners 62 and older, and some local supplements (such as the St. Mary’s County senior freeze in Maryland) require the applicant to be 70 or older;
- principal residence — the property must be occupied by the applicant for at least six months of the tax year that includes July 1 of the application year;
- combined gross household income below the state-set ceiling — $60,000 for Maryland’s Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit, $75,000 for Cook County (Illinois) Senior Freeze, $98,700 for New York’s Enhanced STAR, and approximately $150,000 for New Jersey’s Senior Freeze;
- net worth (excluding the home itself and qualified retirement accounts) below the state limit — $200,000 in Maryland as of December 31 of the prior year;
- continuous ownership and occupancy for the minimum period in many local programs — 30 years for Howard County’s Aging in Place credit, or at least 7 years for Cecil County’s Senior Tax Credit, which also caps the dwelling at an assessed value of $800,000 or less;
- a written application filed with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation, the county assessor, or the local department of finance before the annual deadline — typically between February and October depending on the state.
For Maryland residents, applications for the 2026 Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit must be filed with SDAT through Maryland OneStop by October 1, 2026. Counties including Montgomery, Howard, Anne Arundel, Cecil and Prince George’s offer additional local supplements for residents who already qualify for the state credit. In Baltimore County, House Bill 579 — taking effect June 1, 2026, for taxable years beginning after June 30, 2026 — exempts the first $50,000 of a home’s assessed value from state land tax for homeowners aged 65 and older who also qualify for the homestead property tax credit.
According to AARP, only about 8 percent of the more than 9 million eligible pensioners actually apply for the land tax relief they are legally entitled to. The state, county or city agency that collects the tax usually does not notify homeowners that they qualify — applicants must file on their own initiative, and if they miss the filing window they forfeit the exemption for the full tax year, with no retroactive recovery in most states.
We previously wrote about the new Living Wage for All Act, which proposes raising the US minimum wage to $25 per hour by 2031.