In case you haven’t applied for the Homestead tax credit application, please do so before the May 1st deadline. This is required if you want to start getting the credit beginning the 2019-2020 tax year. You’ll only need to apply once. Guide on how to fill in tax forms here.
The Homestead Tax Credit law limits the amount of assessment increase on which eligible resident homeowners actually pay county, municipal, and State property taxes each year. This credit can significantly lower your real estate taxes regardless of your property’s value or your income level. If the property is used as your principal residence, you are strongly encouraged
to complete this application.
Residents can only apply for their one principal residence. The application needs to be made only once. The Homestead Tax Credit Eligibility Application is needed to ensure that homeowners receive the Homestead credit only on their principal residence. You can find more about the Tax credit program here.
In order to submit a Homestead Tax Credit Eligibility Application through the SDAT site, you must have been issued from this Department an application containing your Real Property Account Number and an Access Number. You will be required to enter the account and access numbers as part of the submission process.
You can find out if you have already filed an application by looking up your property in the SDAT Real Property database
Based on the tax rates we have for different jurisdictions, I’ve tried to calculate how your tax bill (on your $300,000 home) may look like in the next 2019/2020 tax year, with and without homestead tax credit. Please see the explanation on changes in the right column called “note”. I’ve used this worksheet for the calculation.
| 2018/2019 Tax Bill (No Homestead Tax Credit) | ||
| Jurisdiction | Tax Rate | Amounts |
| P.G. County | 0.925 | $2775.00 |
| City of College Park | 0.335 | $1005.00 |
| Park and Planning | 0.294 | $882.00 |
| State of Maryland | 0.112 | $336.00 |
| Stormwater/Flood Control | 0.054 | $162.00 |
| P.G.- Supplemental Education | 0.040 | $120.00 |
| Transit Commission | 0.026 | $78.00 |
| Solid Waste Service Charge | $34.42 | |
| Clean Water Act Fee | $41.48 | |
| Total | $5392.42 | |
| 2019/2020 Tax Bill (Without Homestead Tax Credit) (property value = $360,000, due to increased assessment) | |||
| Jurisdiction | Tax Rate | Amounts | Note |
| P.G. County | 0.925 | $3330.00 | County is proposing not to change its tax rate next year |
| City of College Park | 0.325 | $1170.00 | College Park’s tax rate will go down by 1 cent next year |
| Park and Planning | 0.294 | $1058.40 | |
| State of Maryland | 0.112 | $403.20 | |
| Stormwater/Flood Control | 0.054 | $194.40 | |
| P.G.- Supplemental Education | 0.040 | $144.00 | |
| Transit Commission | 0.026 | $93.60 | |
| Solid Waste Service Charge | $34.42 | ||
| Clean Water Act Fee | $41.48 | ||
| Total | $6,469.50 | ||
| 2019/2020 Tax Bill (With Homestead Tax Credit) (property value = $360,000, due to increased assessment) | |||
| Jurisdiction | Tax Rate | Amounts | Note |
| P.G. County | 0.925 | $2830.50 | County’s cap on property assessment is 2%. This means, with the homestead tax credit, you’ll be paying tax on only 2% of the increased assessment, not on 20% increased value ($360,000 over $300,000) |
| City of College Park | 0.325 | $975.00 | College Park’s cap on property assessment is 0%. This means, with the homestead tax credit, you’ll still be paying tax on last year’s assessed property value ($300,000), plus at the reduced tax rate. Your College Park portion of your tax bill go down from $1005 to $975 |
| Park and Planning | 0.294 | $1058.40 | |
| State of Maryland | 0.112 | $403.20 | |
| Stormwater/Flood Control | 0.054 | $194.40 | |
| P.G.- Supplemental Education | 0.040 | $144.00 | |
| Transit Commission | 0.026 | $93.60 | |
| Solid Waste Service Charge | $34.42 | ||
| Clean Water Act Fee | $41.48 | ||
| Total | $5,775.50 | ||
[Photo credit: Depositphotos]