How to Fill Out the NYC SCHE Application: Eligibility, Documents, and Deadlines

The NYC SCHE application is the form New York City homeowners age 65 and older use to claim the Senior Citizen Homeowners’ Exemption, which reduces a home’s assessed value by 5 to 50 percent and lowers the property tax bill. The NYC Department of Finance runs the program. For the 2026/2027 tax year, your application must be filed online or postmarked by March 16, 2026.¹

Confirm You Qualify Before You Start

At least one owner on the deed must be 65 or older. If a married couple or siblings own the home together, only one of them needs to hit the age threshold.² If you are turning 65 during the application year, call the Department of Finance to confirm how the local taxable status date applies to you.³

The property must be the primary residence of every owner, and you must have owned it for at least 12 consecutive months before filing. An owner temporarily in a nursing home or similar residential health care facility still counts as a resident, provided no one besides a spouse or co-owner moves in during the absence.⁴ Combined annual income of all owners and their spouses cannot exceed $58,399.⁵

SCHE covers owner-occupied houses, condos, and co-op apartments. Homes owned by an LLC are not eligible, and neither are properties currently receiving 421a or 421b benefits. You have to wait for those programs to expire before applying.⁶ You also can’t hold SCHE and the Disabled Homeowners’ Exemption at the same time; if you qualify for both, the Department of Finance applies SCHE.⁵

Know Your Income Number and Your Percentage

The application asks for income figured a specific way. Start with the federal adjusted gross income on your tax return, subtract any taxable IRA distributions and withdrawals, and add back nontaxable interest. That figure covers every owner and spouse, whether or not they live in the home.⁷⁶

Once you have that number, the exemption percentage falls on this sliding scale:⁵

$0 to $50,000: 50% reduction
$50,001 to $50,999: 45%
$51,000 to $51,999: 40%
$52,000 to $52,999: 35%
$53,000 to $53,899: 30%
$53,900 to $54,799: 25%
$54,800 to $55,699: 20%
$55,700 to $56,599: 15%
$56,600 to $57,499: 10%
$57,500 to $58,399: 5%

Certain items can be deducted from income if you received the benefit before July 1, 2024, including Supplemental Security Income, cash assistance, reverse mortgage proceeds, and out-of-pocket unreimbursed medical and prescription drug costs. The full list is on the Department of Finance income calculation worksheet.⁷

Gather Your Documents

Have everything ready before you open the form. Missing paperwork is the most common reason applications stall.

Proof of age for the qualifying owner: driver’s license, passport, or birth certificate.
Federal tax returns for every owner, with all schedules and attachments. If an owner didn’t file, provide Social Security statements, 1099s, and W-2s.
Receipts for unreimbursed medical or prescription drug expenses you plan to deduct, backed by cancelled checks, money orders, cash receipts, or your Schedule A.
The trust agreement if the home is held in trust, or the life estate agreement if a life estate exists.
Social Security numbers or ITINs for every owner. The Department of Finance cannot process the application without them.

Every owner has to sign and date the application, whether or not they live at the property. The signature block certifies that everything on the form is true. A willful false statement can disqualify the property from any exemption for five years.⁸

Fill Out the Form

NYC uses its own SCHE application, separate from the statewide RP-467 form. The online version is on the Department of Finance’s e-filing portal, and the paper version is downloadable from the same site or available through 311. The online filing window runs from October 15 through March 15 each year.⁶

The form asks for your property’s Borough, Block, and Lot (BBL) numbers. These identify your tax lot and are printed on your property tax bill; you can also look them up in the city’s online property records. Enter them carefully, because the Department of Finance uses the BBL to attach the exemption to the right account.

For income, enter your federal adjusted gross income for the applicable tax year, adjusted for IRA distributions and nontaxable interest as described above. Cross-check your entries against your tax return and the income calculation worksheet.⁷

Co-op owners file through a separate page on the portal. The steps are the same, but you’re identified by your co-op unit information rather than a BBL.⁹

Submit by the Deadline

For the 2026/2027 tax year, the deadline is March 16, 2026, because March 15 falls on a Sunday. Applications filed after the deadline aren’t processed until July of the following tax year, so a missed deadline costs you a full year of the exemption.¹

You have two ways to submit:

Online through the Department of Finance e-filing portal at nyc.gov. This is faster and gives you an immediate confirmation number. You can upload scanned supporting documents in the same session.⁵
By mail to the address printed on the form, with all supporting documents. Send it certified so you have proof of the postmark.

Check Your Status and Watch for the Bill

The Department of Finance has separate online tracking pages for houses and condos and for co-op units.⁹ If approved, the reduction shows up on the property tax bill for the tax year starting the following July 1. If it doesn’t appear, contact the Department of Finance through the secure portal at nyc.gov/contactdof or call 311.¹⁰

Renew Every Two Years

SCHE isn’t permanent. You have to renew every two years to keep it, and the renewal deadline is the same March 15 rule as the initial filing. If you started receiving SCHE for the 2024/2025 tax year, your renewal is due by March 16, 2026.¹ You can renew online or by mail. If the renewal form didn’t arrive, download it from the Department of Finance website or request one through the secure portal.¹⁰

There’s no late fee, but a late renewal pushes the benefit to the next tax year, leaving one full year without the exemption on your bill.

If Your Application Is Denied

If the Department of Finance denies your application or revokes an existing exemption, you can appeal to the NYC Tax Commission using form TC106A. If the property has more than one owner, each additional owner also completes a supplemental form (TC106S SUP) and files it with the appeal.¹¹

For the 2026/2027 tax year, the appeal deadline is June 1, 2026. If your denial notice is dated after May 1, 2026, you have 30 calendar days from the notice date to file. The Tax Commission does not grant extensions. Appeals must be notarized and delivered in person or by mail; email and fax are not accepted.¹¹ Calling the Department of Finance to ask why you were denied does not pause the appeal clock, so file first and ask questions after.

1
NYC311. Senior Citizen Homeowners’ Exemption (SCHE) Renewal
2
New York State Senate. New York Real Property Tax Code 467 – Persons Sixty-Five Years of Age or Over
3
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Senior Citizens Exemption
4
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Exemption Administration Manual – RPTL Section 467
5
NYC Department of Finance. Senior Citizen Homeowners’ Exemption (SCHE)
6
NYC311. Senior Citizen Homeowners’ Exemption (SCHE)
7
NYC Department of Finance. DHE and SCHE Income Calculation Worksheet
8
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Application for Senior Citizens Exemption
9
NYC Department of Finance. Property Tax Exemption Application Status
10
NYC Department of Finance. SCHE and DHE Frequently Asked Questions
11
NYC311. Personal Property Tax Exemption Appeals