Do you live in a home in the District and maintain that home as your primary residence? If so, you may be eligible for one of two real-estate property tax exemptions under the District of Columbia Official Code. As a domicile of Washington, DC, you may qualify for The Homestead Exemption, which eliminates taxes for your first $67,500 in assessed value. According to a Washington Post article, this can save a qualifying homeowner a minimum of $573 from their annual real-property tax.
Tax exemptions can have monumental savings for homeowners, but sometimes people are unaware that they qualify. To obtain domicile status, the District will consider various factors such as proof of filed federal and income tax returns, voting participation, and driving information. To qualify for the tax exemption, you must file a Homestead Deduction application with the Office of Tax and Revenue. If the application is completed correctly and approved between October 1 and March 31, the Homestead exemption will come into effect for the current year and all years in the future.
The other real-estate tax exemption that exists under D.C. Official Code is the senior-citizen exemption, which requires that one homeowner must meet the domicile requirement, be 65 or older, and have an adjusted gross income less than $100,000. Each year, this exemption reduces the homeowner’s real-property taxes by 50 percent. More information on the senior-citizen reduction can be found here.