Ohio’s property tax exemption for disabled homeowners, known as the Homestead Exemption, removes $29,000 of your home’s market value from property tax calculations for the 2025 tax year if you own and occupy the home, are permanently and totally disabled, and your household income is under $40,000. Disabled veterans with a 100 percent service-connected rating get a larger reduction of $58,000 with no income test. In most Ohio counties, the standard exemption cuts an annual tax bill by several hundred dollars.
Who Counts as Permanently and Totally Disabled
Ohio defines permanently and totally disabled as having a physical or mental impairment that keeps you from performing any work producing meaningful income, with no reasonable expectation of recovery for at least twelve months. A certification from a federal or state agency, such as the Social Security Administration or the VA, also satisfies the definition. That second path matters in practice, because a Social Security disability award letter can stand in for a physician’s certificate when you apply.
The Other Eligibility Requirements
Disability alone is not enough. You also need to meet three conditions on the date of January 1 of the tax year:
- You own the home and it is your primary residence. You (or a spouse) must appear on the deed.
- The property is a dwelling with up to one acre of surrounding land. Larger rural parcels still qualify, but the reduction applies only to the one-acre portion around the home.
- Your household income for the prior year is under the state ceiling. For the 2025 tax year that ceiling is $40,000.
Property held in a revocable or irrevocable trust can still qualify, as long as the trust agreement gives you complete possession of the home as your residence. Most standard estate-planning trusts include that language, but check with whoever drafted it if you’re uncertain.
What the Exemption Is Actually Worth
The $29,000 figure is a reduction in taxable value, not a check. The county auditor applies Ohio’s assessment percentage (capped at 35 percent) to that $29,000 and then multiplies by your local effective tax rate. A homeowner in a district with a 60-mill effective rate saves roughly $600 a year. Higher millage rates produce larger savings; lower ones, smaller. Both the exemption amount and the income ceiling adjust each year for inflation, so the numbers rise gradually over time.
The Enhanced Exemption for Disabled Veterans
Veterans rated 100 percent service-connected disabled by the VA receive $58,000 of market value reduction for the 2025 tax year, roughly double the standard amount. The enhanced exemption also applies if you are rated below 100 percent on paper but receive full compensation through a Total Disability rating based on Individual Unemployability, which the VA grants when service-connected conditions keep you from holding a job paying above the poverty level.
The income test does not apply to the veteran’s version of the exemption. A qualifying disabled veteran gets the full $58,000 reduction regardless of household income, whether that income is a spouse’s salary, retirement withdrawals, or anything else.
Veterans apply on Form DTE 105I and attach a DD-214 along with a VA award letter showing the 100 percent rating or the individual unemployability determination. No physician’s certificate is required when VA documentation is submitted.
Surviving Spouses
Several categories of surviving spouses can continue receiving the benefit:
- The surviving spouse of a disabled veteran can keep the enhanced $58,000 exemption with no income test, even if the veteran died before the VA issued a disability determination.
- The surviving spouse of a public safety officer killed in the line of duty receives the same enhanced exemption and income-test waiver.
- The surviving spouse of any other homestead recipient can continue the standard exemption if they were at least 59 on the date of death, remain in the home, and meet the income threshold. The surviving spouse does not need to be disabled or 65.
How Ohio Calculates Your Income
Ohio does not use federal adjusted gross income directly. It uses “Ohio modified adjusted gross income,” which starts with federal AGI and then applies state-specific adjustments under Ohio Revised Code 5747.01. Two of those adjustments matter most for disabled homeowners:
- Social Security disability benefits and Title II survivor benefits are subtracted, even if part of that income is taxable federally. Disability and survivor benefits from other federal programs are also deducted.
- Interest on out-of-state municipal bonds is added back in, even if it was federally tax-exempt.
This distinction is why some homeowners with federal AGI above $40,000 still qualify: once Social Security disability is subtracted, their Ohio modified figure drops below the ceiling. The county auditor verifies the number using prior-year tax data through the state tax commissioner’s portal or your filed return. If you didn’t file a return, you can submit a worksheet estimating your prior-year modified adjusted gross income.
How to Apply
File Form DTE 105A with the county auditor’s office where your home is located. You’ll need the parcel number from a prior tax bill or the auditor’s website, plus the Social Security numbers of everyone on the deed.
Disabled applicants also submit Form DTE 105E, a certificate of disability signed by a licensed physician. You can skip that form by attaching an official letter from a qualifying government agency instead. A Social Security Administration benefit verification letter works and can be downloaded from your online “my Social Security” account or requested at 1-800-772-1213.
Bring a copy of your prior-year Ohio or federal tax return for income verification, even though the auditor can usually pull the data electronically.
Deadlines You Cannot Miss
For a traditional house or condo, the application must be filed by December 31 of the tax year you’re claiming. Miss it and the exemption is gone for that year.
For manufactured or mobile homes, the deadline is December 31 of the year before the tax year, because those taxes run on a different billing cycle. This earlier date catches many applicants by surprise.
First-time applicants get one break. When you file your original application, you can submit a late application at the same time covering the prior tax year. If the auditor finds you would have qualified then, you receive the reduction retroactively for that year too.
After You’re Approved
You don’t reapply every year. The auditor mails a continuing application (Form DTE 105B) to your address, and you only need to respond if something has changed: your income has risen above the threshold, you moved, ownership transferred, or your disability status changed.
If you pay taxes through a mortgage escrow, the lower bill will eventually reduce your monthly payment, but not right away. Most lenders review escrow annually and adjust from there. Call your loan servicer after the reduced tax bill is issued and ask when the next escrow analysis is scheduled; some will run one early on request.
If Your Application Is Denied
You can challenge a denial by filing Form DTE 106B with your county Board of Revision, the local panel that hears property tax disputes. For real property, the complaint is typically due in February of the following year. For manufactured or mobile homes, the deadline is January 31. The auditor’s denial notice will spell out your appeal rights and the exact date that applies to you.