Montana State Property Tax: Rates, Relief, and Payment

Montana property tax is calculated by multiplying your home’s market value by the tax rate for its property class, then multiplying that taxable value by your local mill levy. For 2026, qualifying primary residences pay a tiered rate that starts at 0.76% on the first $378,000 of market value, a sharp drop from the flat rate that applied before. All of the money stays in the county where it’s collected and funds schools, roads, and emergency services.

How Your Bill Is Calculated

Two steps produce the number on your tax notice. First, the Montana Department of Revenue multiplies your property’s market value by the tax rate for its class. That gives you the taxable value. Second, your county multiplies the taxable value by the total mill levy for your area. A mill is one-thousandth of a dollar, so each mill produces $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value. Local governments, school boards, and county commissioners set the levies each year based on their approved budgets.

A practical example: a home with a market value of $350,000 at the 2026 homestead rate of 0.76% has a taxable value of $2,660. At a total local mill levy of 350 mills, the annual bill comes to $931. The same home without homestead enrollment would face a higher class rate and a substantially larger bill.

2026 Homestead and Long-Term Rental Rates

Montana replaced the flat residential rate with a tiered structure for 2026. Each slice of your home’s market value is taxed at a different rate, the way income tax brackets work:¹

0.76% on the first $378,000 of market value
0.90% on the portion from $378,001 to $756,000
1.10% on the portion from $756,001 to $1,511,999
1.90% on any portion at $1,512,000 or above

To qualify, the property must be your primary residence, meaning you live in it at least seven months of the year.² Eligible property types include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and manufactured or mobile homes with up to one acre of land. Long-term rentals also qualify if leased in periods of 28 days or more for at least seven months of the year.¹

Homeowners who received the 2025 property tax rebate and still live in the same home qualify automatically for the 2026 tiered rates. Everyone else has to enroll through the Department of Revenue. The 2026 enrollment deadline has passed, but the portal reopens on May 4 for 2027 tax year applications.³ You will need your property’s geocode, a 17-digit identifier you can look up through the Montana Cadastral database maintained by the State Library.⁴

Residences and Commercial Property That Don’t Qualify

Residential property that doesn’t qualify for the homestead or long-term rental rates is taxed at 1.35% of market value, with the portion above $1.5 million taxed at 1.35% multiplied by 1.4.⁵ Commercial property is also taxed at the 1.35% rate multiplied by 1.4. Second homes, short-term rentals, and vacant properties fall outside the homestead program and pay these higher rates for the full tax year.

Programs That Can Lower Your Tax

Montana runs several relief programs that stack on top of the homestead rates. Each targets a different group.

Property Tax Assistance Program

The Property Tax Assistance Program (PTAP) reduces the rate on your home based on income. You must own and occupy the home as your primary residence for at least seven months of the year.⁶ For tax year 2026, single filers get an 80% reduction with income from $0 to $14,286, a 50% reduction from $14,287 to $19,532, and a 30% reduction from $19,533 to $29,037. Married filers and heads of household qualify at higher thresholds: 80% up to $19,249, 50% up to $29,085, and 30% up to $38,917.⁷

Applications must be filed by April 15 of the year assistance is first claimed.⁶ You don’t have to reapply after the initial approval; the Department verifies income annually and adjusts your benefit automatically.⁷

Elderly Homeowner and Renter Credit

Montana residents age 62 or older can claim a refundable income tax credit of up to $1,150 to offset property taxes paid directly or through rent.⁸ Because it’s refundable, you receive the full amount even if you owe no income tax.⁹ Renters qualify too, since a portion of rent counts as property tax for purposes of the credit. You claim it on your Montana income tax return rather than through a separate Department of Revenue application.

Disabled Veteran Assistance

Veterans with a 100% service-connected disability rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs can receive a large reduction in property taxes on their primary residence.¹⁰ For 2026, a single veteran or head of household with income up to $45,803 pays no property tax at all. The reduction scales down from there: 80% at $45,804 to $50,384, 70% at $50,385 to $54,963, and 50% at $54,964 to $59,554. Married couples qualify at higher thresholds, with full exemption available for household income up to $54,963. Unmarried surviving spouses may also be eligible as long as they continue to own and occupy the home.¹¹ Applications go through the Department of Revenue with the same April 15 deadline as PTAP.

When and How to Pay

Your County Treasurer collects property tax. Montana splits the annual bill into two installments:¹²

First half: due by 5:00 p.m. on November 30, or within 30 days of the postmark on your tax notice, whichever is later
Second half: due by 5:00 p.m. on May 31

You can also enroll in a monthly schedule that splits the total into seven roughly equal payments due on the last day of each month from November through May.¹² The full balance still has to be paid by May 31. Payments can be submitted online, by mail, or in person at the County Treasurer’s office. If you have a mortgage with an escrow account, your lender collects a monthly share of the estimated tax and pays the Treasurer directly when the installments come due.

Penalties for Late Payment

Missing a deadline triggers an immediate 2% penalty on the delinquent amount, plus interest at 5/6 of 1% per month (10% per year) that runs from the date of delinquency until the balance is paid.¹² On a $2,000 delinquent payment, that’s $40 on day one plus about $16.67 per month in interest. The penalty and interest cannot be waived.

If taxes stay unpaid, the county attaches a tax lien to the property on the day before the first working day of August following the delinquent tax year. The lien can be sold to a third-party buyer, and if the owner doesn’t redeem the property within 36 months (24 months for a subdivided lot without a habitable dwelling), the lienholder can apply for a tax deed and take ownership. Montana tax lien sales do result in people losing their homes.

Appealing Your Assessment

If you think the Department overvalued your property, you have 30 days from the date on your Classification and Appraisal Notice to act. There are two paths.

The faster one is an informal review. You submit Form AB-26 to the Department of Revenue field office serving your county, either online through the state’s single sign-on portal or by mail or in person.¹³ If the Department agrees to change your value and you filed within the 30-day window, the adjustment applies to both 2025 and 2026. Miss that window and you can still request an informal review until June 1, 2026, but the adjustment will apply only to 2026.¹⁴

The formal route is an appeal to the County Tax Appeal Board, filed through the clerk and recorder’s office within 30 days of the date on your notice.¹⁵ The board will look at recent sale prices, independent appraisals, and any negative features that set your property apart from the comparables the Department used. If the county board’s decision doesn’t resolve things, you have 30 days to appeal to the Montana Tax Appeal Board, and 60 days after that board’s decision to seek judicial review in district court.¹⁴ Most disputes settle at the informal stage. The formal appeal is worth pursuing when you have strong evidence, like a recent appraisal or a clear comparable sale, and the informal process didn’t produce the result you expected.

Deducting Montana Property Tax on Your Federal Return

Montana property taxes are deductible on your federal return if you itemize. The deduction falls under the state and local tax (SALT) cap, which for the 2026 tax year is $40,400 for most filing statuses and $20,200 for married filing separately.¹⁶ The cap covers property taxes, state income taxes, and local taxes combined, so if your Montana income tax alone is already near the ceiling, deducting property taxes may add little federal benefit.

For high earners, the cap phases down. Once modified adjusted gross income exceeds $505,000 ($252,500 for married filing separately), the $40,400 cap is reduced by 30% of the amount above that threshold, though it cannot drop below $10,000.¹⁶ The elevated caps expire after 2029, when the limit reverts to $10,000 for all taxpayers.

1
Montana Department of Revenue. 2026 Tax Information for Montana Property Owners
2
Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 15-6-301 – Definitions
3
Montana Department of Revenue. Tax Relief for Homesteads and Long-term Rentals
4
Montana Department of Revenue. Using Cadastral to Find Your Geocode
5
Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 15-6-134 – Class Four Property — Description — Taxable Percentage — Definitions
6
Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 15-6-302 – Property Tax Assistance — Rulemaking
7
Montana Department of Revenue. Property Tax Assistance Program
8
Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 15-30-2338 – Residential Property Tax Credit for Elderly — Eligibility
9
Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 15-30-2340 – Residential Property Tax Credit for Elderly — Computation of Relief
10
Montana Department of Revenue. Montana Disabled Veteran Assistance Program
11
Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 15-6-311 – Disabled Veteran Program
12
Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 15-16-102 – Time for Payment — Penalty for Delinquency
13
Montana Department of Revenue. Request for Informal Classification and Appraisal Review Form AB-26
14
Montana Department of Revenue. Informal Review and Formal Appeal Process
15
Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 15-7-102 – Notice of Classification, Market Value, and Taxable Value
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 164 – Taxes