Qualification details

   Your qualification for a property tax exemption is based on your ownership, occupancy, age, and income for the preceding year.     For example, a property tax exemption for 2021 is based on 2020 information. You must meet four requirements to qualify:

   Ownership and Occupancy

• You own and occupy your house, mobile home, condo, or co-op.

• It is your principal residence and has been your principal residence for more than 6 months in 2020, 9 months in 2019, or more than 6 months in preceding years.

    Age or disability

• You are at least age 61 by December 31 of the preceding year.

• Or you are veteran with a service-connected disability or disabled.

• You might also qualify if your deceased spouse or registered domestic partner had an exemption at the time of death and you were at least age 57 that year.

    Income

• For an exemption on your 2021 property taxes, your household income for 2020 was $58,423 or less.

• For an exemption on your 2018 or 2019 property taxes, your household income for 2017, or 2018 was $40,000 or less.

       Household income includes income received by you, by your spouse or domestic partner, and by a co-owner who lives with             you. Remember to subtract qualified expenses.

   Changes in 2020 and 2021

   If you applied for a property tax exemption in the past but didn’t qualify, consider applying again in 2021 and for 2020.                     For property taxes payable in 2020 and 2021, you can apply now. Allowable income levels increased substantially for 2019 (for       property taxes payable in 2020) and 2020 (for property taxes payable in 2021) to $58,423 for your income.

   Applying for more than one year

   You can apply for a property tax exemption for 2018, 2019, 2020, and/or 2021.

• You'll need to fill out a separate application for each year.

• We recommend that you apply for the 2021 year first so we can place you on the exemption program moving forward.

• If you receive an exemption for a prior year and you’ve already paid taxes for that year, you might receive a refund.

   What to expect when you apply

   We’ll let you know we’ve received your application. After we've reviewed it, we'll notify you of your exemption status or we’ll ask      you for additional information. 

Still have questions? Email us at Exemptions.Assessments@kingcounty.gov or give us a call at 206-296-3920 or visit https://senior-exemption.kingcounty.gov/intro#qualification

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