DeKalb County Property Tax Exemptions and Appeals Explained

Posted by Daniel Jones on Sep 13, 2018 1:00:00 PM

DeKalb_County_Property_Tax_Appeal

Just like you can have tax exemptions on your personal taxes, there are also exemptions available for your property taxes, assuming you meet specific criteria. Tax exemptions are provided by local, state, or federal governments to offer a benefit to individuals, entities, or businesses in particular situations. If you qualify for tax exemptions, it’s important to be aware of that because you can save money.

With an exemption, you can save money on income tax, reduce the value of your home on property with real estate taxes, or be entirely exempt from taxes with certain organizations in place to help others. Today we’ll look at DeKalb County tax exemptions and how hiring a company doing property tax services can be an advantage for you.

Basic Homestead Property Tax Exemption

If you are the owner of the home that you live in as a primary residence, you can claim the Basic Homestead Exemption. You must have met these criteria on January 1st of the year when you are requesting the exemption. This is a simple exemption to determine if you qualify or not. You don’t have to have a certain income or be a certain age to qualify for this DeKalb County property tax exemption.

Freeze of Property Assessment

If you qualify for the homestead exemption we just went over, you also are able to apply for a property assessment freeze. This is an option that can assist with offsetting any increases in property value that occur in the future. However, this doesn’t apply to state taxes, city taxes, or taxes for the school. If you are someone who has owned your home since before 2007 and have a homestead exemption, you will likely be required to apply for the freeze separately.

One thing to be aware of is that if you do freeze your property assessment, you will not be able to freeze it at another level later, even if that level is lower. Qualification for the freeze must be done before the start of April.

Spouse of Peace Officers and Firefighters Killed in Line of Duty Exemption

If you were married to a firefight or peace officer who was killed in the line of duty and you have not remarried, there is an exemption available for you. This is an ad valorem exemption for property taxes. However, it does not affect other assessments related to your property, such as stormwater, sanitation, or streetlights. In order to apply for this exemption, you must do so in person.

Exemptions for Disability

For those residents who are permanently and totally disabled who meet income requirements, you could qualify for the Disabled Exemption. This is a way to reduce your property tax bill by a certain amount. The income limit rests at $10,000 Georgia net income and exempts the individual from school taxes and provides an exemption of $10,000 for any county levies except for bonds.

Disabled Veterans, Widow, or Widower

This particularly exemption in DeKalb County is available to those who are disabled veterans, non-remarried spouses of a disabled veteran, and non-remarried widows and widowers of a veteran who was killed in action. This is another exemption that requires you to show up in person to apply. When you go in to apply for this exemption, you will need to have a letter of adjudication or some other type of documentation showing your disabled or widow status. Those who are disabled are required to be entirely disabled permanently. If you are over 65, there may be extra savings depending on your income. You will want to work with the company you hired for property tax services to handle the paperwork.

Veteran or Veteran Spouse Exemption

This is another exemption in DeKalb County that requires no specific age of income level to qualify. However, there are certain requirements that must be met. The person applying needs to have been honorably discharged and living at the property. You will also need to meet one of the following criteria:

· Able to present Letter of Adjudication from the United States Department of Veteran Affairs showing your eligibility for 100% service-related disability

· Able to present honorable discharge papers and able to receive an award based on one of the following: complete loss of at least one foot, complete loss of at least one hand, loss of sight in at least one eye, certain permanent impairments of vision

Disabled Veteran Exemption

If you are over 64 and meet the criteria above, you may be eligible for this exemption. However, there is a household income limit of $10,000. This provides an exemption of state taxes, school taxes, and nearly $80,000 in levies. This can be transferred to a widow upon death.

Local Exemptions

In addition to having many exemptions for those throughout DeKalb County, there are also exemptions on a local level. These exemptions vary based on where you live, so you will need to work with your hired expert in property tax services to determine what your options are.

Other Exemptions Available

There may be additional exemptions, as well, since things are constantly changing. You should also be aware that when you take one exemption, you are not ineligible to apply for another. Many of these exemptions can be stacked if you qualify for them. You also must apply for these exemptions and show that you are eligible. They are not given out automatically. This is why it’s important to know your options and do the needed work to provide the most savings for yourself.

At Fair Assessments LLC, we provide help with property tax appeals and other tax services to those in DeKalb County and beyond. We have decades of experience and many resources for you to peruse on our website. If you have further questions about exemptions, appealing your property taxes, or other matters, we’d be happy to help.

Those who have questions or would like to speak to an expert can reach us by calling 404-618-0355, by emailing us at info@Fair-Assessments.com or contacting us by the form on our website. We’re available day or night to provide clarification and support.

Topics: dekalb property

property tax appeals

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