The Homestead Exemption is one of the City of Philadelphia’s Real Estate Tax relief programs.
As a participant, you can save approximately up to$1,119 each year on your Real Estate Tax bill. There are only two requirements:
- You must own the property, and
- You must live in the property as your primary residence.
Yet there are a few reasons why the Department of Revenue will deny a Homestead application. Below are the most common ones:
You already have a Homestead Exemption! Once you are approved for a Homestead, you never need to reapply. You can check online at property.phila.gov if you are unsure.
You are in the Longtime Owner Occupants Program (LOOP). You cannot have both a Homestead and be in LOOP at the same time. Participants can only enroll in LOOP one time. (You may re-apply if you qualify again in the future for a different year’s assessment.)
Your property has a Real Estate Tax abatement. You cannot have both a Homestead and a 10-year Real Estate Tax abatement at the same time. However, you can apply for a Homestead during the last year of the abatement, and your Homestead application will be considered for the following year.
Your property is held in a trust. Unlike most City programs, Homestead was created by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s legislature. Commonwealth law requires you to be a “natural person” to qualify for this exemption. A trust is a legal entity, not a natural person. Applications where property is titled in a trust will be reviewed by the Law Department to determine eligibility.
You have a Homestead on a different property. You can receive a Homestead on your primary residence only. You might own, or co-own more than one property. In that case, you can only get one Homestead exemption for one property.
Commercial-use properties. If your property is 100% for business use, then you cannot get a Homestead Exemption.
Zoning. If your property is zoned for anything other than residential use, such as industrial, commercial, parking garage, or vacant land, it is not eligible for a Homestead.
Photo credit: Non euclidian photography / Flickr
