Ohio Homestead Tax Exemption: Income Limits, Value, and How to Apply

The Ohio homestead tax exemption lowers your property tax bill by shielding part of your home’s market value from taxation. For tax year 2025, paid in 2026, the standard exemption covers $29,000 of value. Disabled veterans get double that, at $58,000. To qualify under the standard rules, you generally need to be at least 65 or permanently and totally disabled, own and live in the home, and have a modified adjusted gross income of $41,000 or less.¹

Who Qualifies

You can apply if you fit one of these categories:

Age 65 or older. You must turn 65 by December 31 of the application year.
Permanently and totally disabled at any age, with certification from a licensed physician, psychologist, or a state or federal agency.
Surviving spouse of a recipient, if your spouse was receiving the exemption when they died and you were at least 59 at the time.
Disabled veteran with a total disability rating for a service-connected condition. No income limit applies.
Surviving spouse of a public service officer killed on duty. File on Form DTE 105K, and no income limit applies.

Every applicant also has to own and occupy the home as their primary residence as of January 1 of the application year.² If you own more than one home, the primary residence is where you’re registered to vote and file your income taxes. Only one property qualifies.

Ownership through a land contract or life estate counts. A home held in trust can also qualify, whether the trust is revocable or irrevocable, as long as the trust agreement gives you complete possession of the property and you’re the person who created the trust and funded it.²

One important carve-out: if you were already receiving the exemption before tax year 2014, you stay eligible even if your income now exceeds the current threshold.³ Ohio added income testing that year and grandfathered the people already enrolled.

The Income Limit

For 2026, your household’s modified adjusted gross income must be $41,000 or less to qualify for the standard exemption.¹ Disabled veterans and surviving spouses of public service officers killed on duty do not face any income cap.

MAGI here means Line 3 of your Ohio individual income tax return (your Ohio adjusted gross income) plus any business income deduction from Line 13 of the Ohio Schedule of Adjustments.² If you don’t claim the business income deduction, your MAGI is simply your Ohio adjusted gross income. The income that counts is from the year before you apply, so a 2025 application uses your 2024 income.⁴ The threshold is adjusted every September for inflation, so a small cost-of-living bump in Social Security or pension income won’t automatically push you over.³

How Much the Exemption Is Worth

The exemption reduces the taxable value of your home rather than giving you a direct credit. For tax year 2025, appearing on 2026 tax bills:

Standard exemption for those 65+, disabled, or a qualifying surviving spouse: $29,000 of market value shielded.
Enhanced exemption for disabled veterans and surviving spouses of public service officers killed on duty: $58,000 of market value shielded.

Both figures are adjusted annually for inflation.²

Your actual dollar savings depend on the local millage rate. The county takes the exempt portion of market value, applies the 35% assessment ratio, and multiplies by your local effective tax rate. For most homeowners, the standard exemption saves somewhere between $300 and $600 a year, and more in districts with above-average property tax rates.

How to Apply

New applicants file Form DTE 105A with the county auditor.⁵ Disabled veterans use DTE 105I, and surviving spouses of public service officers killed on duty use DTE 105K.⁶ All forms are available on the Ohio Department of Taxation website and at the county auditor’s office.

Have these ready:

Your name, date of birth, and Social Security number, plus your spouse’s if applicable
Proof of age, such as a driver’s license or birth certificate
Your property’s parcel number, found on a previous tax bill or the auditor’s website
Your most recent income figures to confirm MAGI is below the threshold
If applying based on disability, a certificate from a licensed physician, psychologist, or a state or federal agency

You can file by mail or in person. The deadline for real property is December 31 of the application year. Manufactured and mobile homes have an earlier deadline: December 31 of the year before the exemption year.²

Missed last year? You can submit a late application for the prior year at the same time you file the current year’s application, using the checkbox on Form DTE 105A. The late application has to be for the same property as the current one, and you can only go back one year.⁵

After You’re Approved

The reduction appears on your tax bill for the following year. You do not need to reapply annually. Each year the county auditor sends a continuing application, Form DTE 105B, and you only return it if something has changed: you no longer own the home, you stopped living there as your primary residence, or your disability status changed.⁶

Selling and buying a new home means filing a fresh application on the new property. The January 1 ownership-and-occupancy rule still applies: you have to own and live in the new home on January 1 to apply for that tax year. A mid-year move ends the exemption on the old property and delays it on the new one until the following year.

If You’re Denied

The auditor sends a written explanation with any denial. Common reasons are income above the threshold, missing documentation, or not meeting the occupancy requirement. You can appeal to the county Board of Revision on Form DTE 106B. For real property, the appeal deadline is the due date for paying your first-half property taxes, which in most counties falls in January or February of the following year.² For manufactured or mobile homes, the deadline is January 31 of the year after the denial.

Documentation is what wins an appeal. If the denial was based on income, bring your full Ohio tax return showing Line 3 and your Schedule of Adjustments. If occupancy was the issue, voter registration, utility bills, and a driver’s license showing the property address help establish it as your primary residence.

1
Ashtabula County Auditor. Homestead Savings and Income Update for 2026
2
Ohio Department of Taxation. Real Property Tax – Homestead Means Testing
3
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 323.152 – Reductions in Taxable Value
4
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 323.151 – Valuation of Homestead Property Definitions
5
Ohio Department of Taxation. DTE 105A – Homestead Exemption Application
6
Cuyahoga County. Homestead Exemption