The New York State Department of Taxation & Finance has announced changes to the Enhanced STAR exemption, which gives a tax credit to income-eligible homeowners over the age of 65. Residents who participate are now expected to enroll in the state’s Mandatory Income Verification Program.
The income verification program will transfer the responsibility of verifying annual income from a town to the state’s finance department to see if senior residents qualify for Enhanced STAR.
“The state will verify their income through their New York State tax returns,” Southampton Town Sole Assessor Lisa Goore said. “If they don’t file a tax return with the state, then they will be required to fill out a worksheet of their income. They provide that worksheet to the town’s assessor’s office and then I will upload it to the state’s income verification database.”
That means residents will no longer be required to provide annual income figures to the assessor’s office. But Ms. Goore said residents will submit renewal forms to the state through the town’s assessor’s office.
“They no longer have to contact their accountant and send us copies of their income tax. The state will just access their own information at the state level a lot faster than the assessor, who has to sit at a desk and calculate it to see if they qualify,” Ms. Goore said.
To qualify for the exemption, the property must be the homeowners’ primary residence, the household’s maximum income can be no more than $86,000 and at least one homeowner must be at least 65 years old by the end of the year the exemption takes effect. Credits are based on the first $66,800 of the full value for the home of the 2018-2019 school year, and applied only to school district taxes.
The changes have no impact on the Basic STAR program. Any primary-home household can become Basic STAR eligible by having an income less than $500,000. Credits are based on the first $30,000 of the full value of the home.
The changes will go into effect at the start of the 2019-2020 tax year. Residents can still apply for the STAR credit and upgrade to Enhanced STAR through the state’s Department of Taxation & Finance website at www.tax.ny.gov/star.
“The reason why this might be happening is because I foresee the state taking the STAR program completely and out of the hands of the assessor’s office,” Ms. Goore said. “Its impact could go both ways because it will lessen our load work, but we are able to give our senior citizens a lot closer assistance than what the state can offer.”
on Aug 6, 2018