How to Fill Out and Submit the Alabama Homestead Exemption Form

To claim the Alabama homestead exemption, you fill out an application at the tax assessor’s or revenue commissioner’s office in the county where your home sits. Alabama has no single statewide homestead exemption form: each county issues its own, and some accept online submissions. You file once, between October 1 and December 31, and the exemption stays in place as long as you own and occupy the property as your primary residence.¹

Where to Get the Form

Start with your county’s tax assessor or revenue commissioner. The Alabama Department of Revenue does not process individual applications; every homestead filing runs through the county.¹ Most counties post their application on the assessor’s website; others hand it to you at the counter. A few, including Madison County, let you complete and submit the form online with uploaded supporting documents.²

In-person filing is the most reliable route. Staff can review your paperwork on the spot and flag anything missing before you leave. If you mail the application, use certified mail so you can prove it arrived before the December 31 deadline.

Figure Out Which Exemption You’re Claiming

Which box you check on the form depends on your age, disability status, and income. That choice also determines what you need to attach.

The standard exemption for owners under 65 takes up to $4,000 off your assessed value for state taxes and up to $2,000 off for county taxes (excluding school-district levies), with no income limit but a 160-acre cap on the property.³
Owners 65 or older, permanently and totally disabled, or blind qualify for a full exemption from the state portion of property taxes at any income level. County-side reductions vary by jurisdiction.³
Owners 65 or older or permanently and totally disabled whose combined net federal taxable income is $12,000 or less qualify for a complete exemption from all ad valorem property taxes (state and county) on the principal residence and up to 160 adjacent acres.⁴

The income figure that matters for the full Section 40-9-21 exemption is combined net federal taxable income for you and your spouse, not adjusted gross income. Alabama defines a blind person as someone who has no vision or whose corrected vision is so limited that it prevents ordinary activities requiring sight; blind homeowners qualify for the enhanced exemption regardless of age.³

You must own the property and occupy it as your primary home on October 1 of the tax year you are applying for.¹ Only one property per person or head of family qualifies. Vacation homes and rentals do not.

Documents to Bring

Requirements vary slightly by county, but the following list covers what most Alabama assessor offices ask for.

A copy of your deed showing the correct property address, legal description, and all owners’ names.
Your Alabama driver’s license. The address on the license must match the property address, and the license must have been issued on or before October 1 of the tax year. If you moved recently and your license still shows an older address, most counties will accept a homeowner’s insurance declaration page paired with a utility connection letter as a temporary substitute.²
Trust documentation, if the property is held in a trust. Bring the trust agreement for review.
Proof of age if you are claiming the 65-and-older exemption: a driver’s license or birth certificate showing your date of birth.
Income documentation if you are claiming the full exemption under Section 40-9-21: a copy of your most recent federal tax return. Handwritten returns are generally not accepted. If you were not required to file, bring an IRS verification-of-non-filing letter or a tax transcript.

Moving in from another state and still holding a homestead exemption there? You will need a statement from the prior county’s taxing official, on their letterhead, confirming that your old exemption has been removed.² Active-duty military members with out-of-state licenses can typically substitute a homeowner’s insurance policy and a utility setup letter.

Proving Disability or Blindness

If you are qualifying based on permanent and total disability rather than age, the county will need one of the following.

Proof of a disability pension or annuity from the armed services, a private employer, or a government agency awarded because of a permanent and total disability. This automatically qualifies you for a disability certificate from the Alabama Commissioner of Revenue. Bring a benefits statement or similar documentation.³
A Social Security disability award letter or a VA benefits verification letter. Most counties accept either.²
Two completed copies of Alabama Department of Revenue Form PT-PA-1, one from each of two physicians licensed to practice in Alabama. At least one of those physicians must be actively treating you for the disability.¹

Form PT-PA-1 is available as a PDF on the Alabama Department of Revenue website. Each physician completes a separate copy that includes their Alabama medical license number, license expiration date, and a statement certifying they personally examined you and found you permanently and totally disabled.⁵

When to File

The application window runs from October 1 through December 31 of the tax year. October 1 is Alabama’s lien date, when the state determines who owns and occupies each property.¹ If you close on a home in March, you wait until the following October 1 to apply.

Alabama taxes property in arrears, so an application filed during the October-through-December window affects the tax bill issued the following year. Miss the December 31 deadline and you pay the full tax amount for that cycle. The exemption is not applied retroactively.

Filing is a one-time step. Once your exemption is on the books, you do not reapply each year as long as you continue to own and occupy the property. If you move, you file a new application at the new property’s county office.

After You File

The exemption shows up as a line-item reduction on your next property tax notice. Most counties do not send a separate approval letter, so check the notice itself or look up your property in the county’s online records to confirm the exemption applied. Keep whatever receipt or confirmation number the office gave you at filing; it protects you if a clerical error drops the exemption later.

If your property taxes are paid through a mortgage escrow account, the reduction should flow through to your monthly payment. Your servicer is required to run an annual escrow analysis and send you an updated statement within 30 days of the end of the escrow computation year.⁶ If your payment does not drop after the first full tax cycle with the exemption in place, ask the servicer to rerun the analysis.

Notify the county assessor if you sell the property, move out, or convert it to a rental. The exemption only applies while the home is your primary residence, and leaving one in place after you no longer qualify creates serious exposure.

Penalties for False Information

Alabama treats fraudulent homestead claims aggressively. Under Section 40-9-21.2, anyone who knowingly provides false information to claim a homestead exemption, or helps someone else do so, can be ordered to pay twice the amount of property tax that would have been owed, retroactive up to 10 years, plus interest at 15 percent per year from the date each payment would have come due.⁵ The penalty applies to false statements about residency, income, disability status, or any other eligibility requirement.

1
Alabama Administrative Code. Alabama Administrative Code Rule 810-4-1-.23 – Homestead and Principal Residence Exemptions From Property Tax
2
Madison County, AL. Homestead Exemption Information
3
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 40-9-19 – Homesteads
4
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 40-9-21 – Principal Residences and 160 Acres Adjacent Thereto of Permanently and Totally Disabled Persons or Persons 65 Years of Age or Older Having Net Annual Federally Taxable Income of 12,000 or Less
5
Alabama Department of Revenue. Physician’s Affidavit of Permanent and Total Disability Form PT-PA-1
6
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Regulation 1024.17 – Escrow Accounts