How to Fill Out and File the Illinois PTAX-340 Assessment Freeze Application

The Illinois PTAX-340 senior freeze application is the form Illinois homeowners age 65 and older use to apply for the Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption, which locks in a property’s equalized assessed value so it does not rise with the market. For the 2026 tax year, your total household income for the prior calendar year cannot exceed $75,000, an increase from the previous $65,000 cap signed into law as Public Act 104-0452 in December 2025.¹ You file the completed form with the Chief County Assessment Officer where the property sits, and the deadline is October 1 of the tax year.²

Who Qualifies

You must meet every one of these conditions for the tax year you are applying for:³

You are 65 or older during the tax year.
You are an owner of record or hold a legal or equitable interest, evidenced by a deed, trust agreement, or life estate.
The property is your principal residence and is improved with a permanent structure you occupy on January 1 of the tax year.
You are responsible for paying the property taxes on the home.
The combined household income for the prior calendar year does not exceed the maximum.

Miss one and you cannot receive the exemption that year.

Who Counts as a Household Member

Illinois defines your household as you, your spouse, and every other person who uses your home as their principal residence.³ An adult child or grandchild living with you counts, and their income gets added to yours on the application. Veteran’s benefits have been excluded from the income calculation since 2001.

What Counts as Income

Income for this exemption is broader than what you report on your federal return. It includes your federal adjusted gross income plus items that federal rules subtract or exclude: tax-exempt interest, Social Security benefits (including Medicare deductions), Supplemental Security Income, railroad retirement benefits, public assistance payments, annuities, and capital gains that do not appear on your 1040.⁴ The total is calculated before any deductions. You cannot reduce it with itemized or standard deduction amounts.

If Your Home Is in a Trust

If you have transferred the home into a trust, you can still qualify as long as you retain a life estate in the property. The life estate must be documented in the deed or another legal instrument showing your right to occupy the home. Transferring the property outright without reserving a life estate can disqualify you, so check the deed language before applying.

What the Freeze Actually Does

The exemption does not freeze your tax bill. Local tax rates can still go up or down. What it freezes is the equalized assessed value (EAV) of your home. When you first qualify, the county records your property’s EAV from the prior year as your base year value. As long as you continue to qualify, your property is taxed using that base year EAV instead of the current market-based EAV.⁵

Each year the county calculates the exemption by subtracting the frozen base year value from the current EAV. That difference is the portion of value shielded from taxation. If you add an improvement, like a new garage, its value gets tacked on and is not protected by the freeze. The original base year value stays the same for as long as you remain eligible.

Documents to Pull Before You Start

Before sitting down with the form, gather:

Your Property Index Number (PIN), found on your most recent tax bill or deed.
Social Security numbers for you and every household member whose income you will report.
Form SSA-1099, the Social Security Benefit Statement. Use the figure in Box 3, or Box 5 only if benefits were reduced.⁴
Form RRB-1099 if anyone in the household received railroad retirement benefits.
Form 1099-R for pensions, annuities, civil service retirement benefits, and other retirement plan distributions.
Your federal Form 1040. You will pull figures for taxable pensions and IRAs from Lines 4b and 5b.
W-2 statements for wages earned by any household member.
Records of any governmental cash assistance, with monthly amounts and number of months received.

The county may request additional documentation, including birth certificates or full tax returns, to verify what you reported. Keep organized copies.

Filling Out the Form

You can pick up a blank PTAX-340 at your local County Assessment Office or download it from the county’s website. The form has four main parts.

Part 1: Applicant Information

Print or type your full legal name, mailing address, phone number, and Social Security number. If your mailing address differs from the property address, note both.

Part 2: Property Information

Enter the PIN and legal description of the property, both available on your tax bill. This section also asks whether you have received the exemption on this property before. If you have and you know the base year, write it in. First-time applicants mark the box indicating they have not previously received the exemption, which triggers an additional requirement: you must also have met the eligibility conditions on January 1 of the year before your application year.⁴

Part 3: Household Income

This is where most mistakes happen. You are reporting the combined income of every person who lived in your home during the prior calendar year, not just your own. The form walks through categories on separate lines:

Line 1: Social Security and SSI benefits for the entire household, including Medicare deductions. Do not include Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements for medical expenses.
Line 2: Railroad retirement benefits for the entire household, including Medicare deductions.
Line 3: Civil Service retirement benefits.
Line 4: Annuities and other retirement income. Include only the federally taxable portion of pensions and IRAs. Rolled-over IRAs are not taxable unless converted to a Roth IRA.
Line 5: Governmental cash public assistance. Multiply the monthly amount each person received by 12, adjusting if anyone did not receive benefits for the full year.
Lines 6 through 10: Wages, interest and dividends, net rental or business income, net capital gains, and any other income.

Add all lines together and subtract the amount on Line 12, which reflects adjustments the form specifies. The result is your total household income. If it exceeds $75,000 for the 2026 tax year, you do not qualify and should stop.⁶

Part 4: Eligibility and Signature

Mark the statement confirming you are 65 or older during the tax year, that the property is your principal residence, and that you are liable for the property taxes. The form then requires your signature under penalty of perjury, affirming that everything you reported is true and complete.⁴ Check every dollar figure against your source documents before signing. Discrepancies between what you report and what the county can verify through tax records are the most common reason applications get flagged.

Where and When to Submit

File the completed PTAX-340 with the Chief County Assessment Officer in the county where the property is located. Most offices accept the form by mail. Some counties offer in-person drop-off or secure online submission. The statutory deadline is October 1 of the tax year.² Do not wait until the last week. If the county requests additional documentation to verify your income or age, you will need time to respond before the deadline passes.

After the county processes your application, you will receive a notice of approval or denial. An approved exemption shows up as a reduction on your next property tax bill, appearing as the difference between your current EAV and your frozen base year EAV.

Renewing Every Year

The Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze is not a one-time benefit. You must file a new PTAX-340 every year to confirm you still meet the age, residency, ownership, and income requirements.⁵ Many counties mail renewal applications to previous recipients in the spring, but receiving that mailing is not guaranteed. If you do not get one, contact your county assessment office or download the form yourself. Missing a single year means losing the frozen base year value, and if you requalify later, the base year resets to the new year’s EAV, which could be significantly higher than the original.

If Your Application Is Denied

A denial notice should explain why you were turned down. The most common reasons are household income exceeding the limit, missing documentation, or a residency issue. If you believe the denial is wrong, you can file a formal written appeal with your county’s Board of Review. Contact the Board directly for its specific deadlines and submission requirements, which vary by county.⁷ Bring copies of every document you submitted with the original application, along with any additional evidence that addresses the stated reason for denial.

1
Rock Island County. New State Law Makes Changes to Senior Freeze Eligibility
2
DuPage County. Low-Income Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead
3
Illinois General Assembly. 35 ILCS 200/15-172 – Low-Income Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption
4
St. Clair County. PTAX-340 2025 Low-Income Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption Application and Affidavit
5
Illinois Department of Revenue. Property Tax Relief – Homestead Exemptions, PTELL, and Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral Program
6
Winnebago County. 2026 Low-Income Senior Assessment Freeze Application PTAX-340
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Illinois Department of Revenue. Assessment Appeals – Property Tax