Madison County Property Tax Exemptions: Savings, Documents, and Filing

To claim the Madison County homestead exemption, file an application with the Madison County Tax Assessor’s office between October 1 and December 31, bringing your recorded deed and a driver’s license showing the property address. The home has to be your primary residence as of October 1 of the tax year. Savings start at roughly $48 a year for the standard exemption and go up to a full waiver of state, county, and school property taxes for homeowners who are 65 or older, permanently disabled, or legally blind and whose household income falls below $12,000.¹

Who Qualifies

A homestead in Alabama is a single-family, owner-occupied dwelling and the surrounding land, up to 160 acres.² Condos, townhouses, and manufactured homes on land you own can qualify. Rental properties, vacation homes, and commercial buildings do not.

To claim the exemption, every one of these has to be true:

The home is your primary residence, not a rental or second home.
Your name is on the recorded deed and you physically live there.
Your driver’s license shows the property address and was issued on or before October 1 of the tax year you’re applying for.¹
You don’t hold a homestead exemption on any other property, in any county or state.

Alabama’s property tax year runs October 1 through September 30, and taxes are paid in arrears. The ownership snapshot is taken October 1, so whoever owns and lives in the home on that date is responsible for the following year’s bill and eligible to claim the exemption.³

How Much You’ll Save

Which exemption you qualify for depends on your age, disability status, and household income. Alabama already taxes owner-occupied homes at a lower assessment rate (10 percent of market value) than most other property (20 percent), so claiming any homestead category also locks in that favorable class.⁴

Standard Exemption (Under 65, Not Disabled)

The basic homestead exemption removes your home from the state property tax levy up to $4,000 in assessed value, and from most county ad valorem taxes (except school taxes) up to $2,000 in assessed value.⁵ The Madison County Tax Assessor estimates this is worth about $48 in annual savings, on top of the lower assessment class.¹

Age 65+, Permanently Disabled, or Legally Blind

If you are 65 or older, permanently and totally disabled, or legally blind, your homestead is fully exempt from all state property taxes, with no cap on assessed value for the state portion.⁵ The disability and blindness categories apply at any age.

If you draw a disability pension or annuity from the U.S. Armed Forces, a private company, or a government agency, you are automatically treated as qualifying for the disability exemption without extra medical documentation.⁵

Full County and School Exemption With Income Under $12,000

Homeowners who are 65+, permanently disabled, or blind can also eliminate county and school district property taxes if their combined adjusted gross income (yours and your spouse’s) is less than $12,000 on the most recent state income tax return.⁶ This county portion is capped at $5,000 in assessed value or 160 acres.⁵ Combined with the state exemption, qualifying homeowners in this income bracket can owe little or nothing in property taxes. Both spouses’ incomes count toward the $12,000 limit even if only one name is on the deed.

Documents to Bring

Every applicant needs:

A driver’s license showing the property address, issued on or before October 1.
A copy of the recorded deed with the correct property address, legal description, and all owners’ names.
Social Security numbers for every person listed on the deed.¹

Claiming the income-based exemption at 65+ also requires copies of your federal and state income tax returns. Handwritten returns are not accepted.⁶ If you weren’t required to file a federal return, bring an IRS verification of non-filing letter or a taxpayer transcript.¹

For a disability exemption, bring one of the following: a Social Security award letter, a VA benefits verification letter, or two completed PT-PA physician affidavit forms. The PT-PA forms are available at the Tax Assessor’s office.¹

When and How to File

The filing window opens October 1 and closes December 31. An exemption claimed in that window applies to the following year’s tax bill. You can file in person at the Tax Assessor’s office in the Madison County Service Center, or submit the application by mail with a postmark within the filing period.¹

The standard exemption is a one-time filing. Once approved, it stays in effect until you sell, change the deed, or move. Income-based exemptions may require periodic updates to confirm your household income still falls below $12,000.

The Madison County Tax Assessor’s office can be reached at (256) 532-3350 or taxassess@madisoncountyal.gov.⁶

When You Need to Refile

Any change to your deed can wipe out an existing homestead exemption. Adding or removing a name, transferring the property into a trust, or refinancing with a new deed can all trigger a refiling requirement, and exemptions do not transfer automatically.⁶ A refinance that generates a new deed can quietly erase an exemption you claimed years ago, and the first sign is often a higher tax bill. If you’ve had any deed activity, check with the Tax Assessor and refile during the next October-to-December window.

Penalties for a False Claim

Knowingly providing false information to claim a homestead exemption, or helping someone else do so, carries a penalty of twice the amount of property tax that would have been owed, applied retroactively for up to 10 years. On top of that, 15 percent annual interest runs on the unpaid tax from the date it would have been due.⁷ Once the county issues a written demand, you have 30 days to pay before the state can file a civil lawsuit to collect. The pattern that most often triggers this is a homeowner who moves out, rents the property to tenants, and keeps claiming the exemption, or who claims a homestead on a new residence while the old claim is still active.

1
Madison County, AL. Homestead Exemption Information
2
Alabama Department of Revenue. Homestead Exemptions
3
Madison County, AL. Frequently Asked Questions
4
Alabama Department of Revenue. Property Tax Assessment
5
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code Title 40 Revenue and Taxation 40-9-19 – Homesteads
6
Madison County, AL. Exemptions
7
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 40-9-21.2 – Falsely Claiming Homestead