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Deadline looms for senior tax credit
(The Tribune (Seymour, IN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 30--Homeowners age 65 or older have only until Wednesday to file for a new property tax exemption that limits how much their tax bills can increase from year to year.
Jackson County Auditor Debbie Eggeman said her office at the Jackson County Courthouse in Brownstown was busy Monday, and she expected more seniors to come in today to sign up.
"We have just been mobbed today, and I look for it to be the same Tuesday," she said. "But that's good, because people are getting the credits they are entitled to. It's something everybody needs to check on."
Deborah Adams, Rush County auditor and president-elect of the Indiana County Auditors Association, agreed.
"Our main concern is that qualifying seniors do not fall through the cracks and miss the opportunity to receive this new property tax credit," she said.
Adams also noted that the new tax credit may be filed in conjunction with the "Over 65 Deduction."
The Over 65 Circuit Breaker Tax Credit was part of the property tax relief legislation lawmakers approved last spring to prevent senior citizens' property tax bills from increasing more than 2 percent from the previous year. That legislation, House Enrolled Act 1001, includes property tax caps that will be phased in over the next two years. Homeowners' tax bills will be capped at 1 percent of their homes' values in 2010, with 2 percent limits for rental property and 3 percent caps on business property.
"It puts a cap in place where taxes can't go up more than that," Eggeman said of the senior tax credit.
To be eligible for the exemption, Eggeman said the filer needs to be 65 or older on or before Wednesday and have an income of $30,000 or less or no more than $40,000 for a couple filing jointly.
"We go by their 1040 from last year, so they need to bring that document with them," she said.
Also, the applicant's home value cannot exceed $160,000.
"Most of those coming in have qualified," Eggeman said. "But it breaks your heart when they make just $400 or $500 too much."
For more information or to file for the Over 65 Circuit Breaker Tax Credit, visit Eggeman's office at the Jackson County Courthouse in Brownstown or call 358-6122.
To see more of The Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tribtown.com/.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Tribune, Seymour, Ind.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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