Missouri Property Tax Credit Income Limits by Filing Status

For the 2026 tax year, Missouri Property Tax Credit income limits range from $38,200 to $48,000, depending on whether you file as single or married and whether you owned and lived in your home for the full year. A single renter or part-year owner qualifies with household income of $38,200 or less; a single full-year homeowner, $42,200 or less; a married couple filing combined as renters or part-year owners, $41,000 or less; and a married couple filing combined who owned and occupied their home all year, $48,000 or less.¹

2026 Income Limits at a Glance

Two things determine which ceiling applies to you: your filing status, and whether you owned and occupied your home for the entire calendar year or rented (or owned for only part of the year). The statutory limits for 2026 and later years are:¹

Single, renter or part-year owner: $38,200 or less
Single, owned and occupied the entire year: $42,200 or less
Married filing combined, renter or part-year owner: $41,000 or less
Married filing combined, owned and occupied the entire year: $48,000 or less

Household income is measured against the ceiling that matches your row. Go one dollar over and the claim is denied, so if you are close to the line, add up every source carefully before filing.

How These Compare to Earlier Years

The 2026 limits are a significant jump from the prior thresholds, which capped at $30,000 for single homeowners and $34,000 for married homeowners.² If you were turned down in a prior year because your income was slightly too high, you may qualify now.

The Department of Revenue’s published forms and qualification charts may still show the older figures until updated 2026 materials are released. The statute controls, not the form. If the numbers on a chart look lower than what is listed above, trust the statute.

Income Alone Doesn’t Qualify You

Meeting the income limit is necessary but not sufficient. You (or your spouse) also have to fall into at least one of these categories:

Age 65 or older by December 31 of the tax year, and a Missouri resident the entire calendar year
Disabled, meaning unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity due to a physical or mental impairment expected to last at least 12 months or result in death; this tracks the Social Security disability standard, so SSDI recipients generally meet it
A 100% disabled veteran whose disability resulted from military service
A surviving spouse age 60 or older who received surviving spouse Social Security benefits during the tax year

The home you claim must be your primary residence, and property tax must actually be paid on it. If you rent from a nonprofit, government housing authority, religious organization, or any other landlord that does not pay property taxes on the building, you do not qualify no matter what your income is.³

What Missouri Counts as Household Income

Household income for this credit is broader than what you report as taxable income. It includes both taxable and nontaxable money you received during the year:²

Wages, interest, and dividends
Social Security benefits and railroad retirement
Public and private pensions and annuities
Unemployment benefits
SSI and TANF payments
Child support received
Rental income

The calculation starts with your Missouri adjusted gross income, then adds back certain items such as non-business losses that reduced it. One notable exclusion: if you or your spouse is a 100% service-connected disabled veteran, VA disability payments are left out of household income. For other veterans, those payments count.

Household income is where most denials happen. The Department of Revenue does not round in your favor, and a household income figure that exceeds the threshold by even a few dollars will disqualify the claim.

How Rent Factors In

Your rent affects the size of your credit, not your income limit. Only 20% of rent paid counts as a “property tax equivalent” for the credit calculation, on the theory that roughly one-fifth of rent goes toward the landlord’s property tax bill.⁴ Utilities, late fees, and deposits are excluded, even if bundled into your monthly payment.

If you share a rental with adults who are not your spouse or minor children, your share of the rent is reduced before the 20% conversion is applied: 50% with one other adult, 33% with two, 25% with three.⁴

Maximum Credit Amounts

The credit slides based on income and property tax paid. At the lowest income tier (household income at or below $14,300), the credit equals your actual property tax or rent equivalent up to the maximum. As income rises toward the ceiling, the credit shrinks gradually.¹

For 2026, the maximum is $1,550 for homeowners and $1,055 for renters, up from $1,100 and $750 under the prior rules.¹

Filing the Claim

Which form you use depends on whether you have to file a Missouri income tax return:

Use Form MO-PTC as a standalone if you are not required to file a Missouri individual income tax return; most claimants with only Social Security or a small pension fall here.³
If you are required to file a Missouri return, or you file one to recover withheld tax, attach Form MO-PTS (Property Tax Schedule) to Form MO-1040 instead. Do not submit both.⁵

Renters need Form MO-CRP for each address lived in during the year, plus a Verification of Rent Paid (Form 5674) signed by the landlord.⁶ Homeowners need paid real estate tax receipts.

The deadline follows the income tax schedule. A 2025 claim is due April 15, 2026, and a 2026 claim is due April 15, 2027.³ You can file online or by mail.

Missed a Year? You Have Three

Missouri lets you file a claim for up to three years after the original due date.³ If you were eligible in an earlier year and did not file, it is worth going back and doing so before the window closes.

Effect on SNAP and SSI

Receiving the credit will not cost you other benefits. Missouri’s Department of Social Services excludes the Property Tax Credit refund from income for SNAP purposes and does not reduce your shelter expense deduction because of it.⁷ Property tax refunds and rent rebates are also on the federal list of exclusions from SSI income and resource limits.⁸

1
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. RSMo Section 135.030 – Property Tax Credit Calculation
2
MO.gov. MO-PTC Qualification Chart
3
Missouri Department of Revenue. FAQs – Property Tax Credit Claim
4
Missouri Department of Revenue. Form MO-PTC 2025 Property Tax Credit Instructions
5
Missouri Department of Revenue. Information About Your Missouri Income Tax Forms
6
Missouri Department of Revenue. Form MO-CRP – 2025 Certification of Rent Paid
7
DSS Manuals Website Missouri Department of Social Services. 1115.015.90 Other Excluded Income
8
Social Security Administration. Exceptions to SSI Income and Resource Limits