The main property tax break for seniors in Ohio is the homestead exemption, which for the 2026 tax year shields $29,000 of your home’s market value from taxation if you are 65 or older, own and live in the home, and had Ohio Modified Adjusted Gross Income under $41,000 in 2025. A separate 2.5% owner-occupancy credit stacks on top. Disabled veterans and certain surviving spouses get a larger exemption with no income limit at all.
Who Qualifies
Three things have to line up: your age or disability status, your ownership and occupancy of the home, and your income.
On age, you’re eligible the year you turn 65, as long as you turned 64 before January 1 of the year you apply. If you’re under 65 but permanently and totally disabled, you qualify on that basis instead. Ohio defines that as a condition preventing you from working any job you could reasonably perform, expected to last at least 12 months with no sign of recovery.
On the home itself, you must own it and live in it as your primary residence as of January 1 of the tax year. Rentals, investment properties, and vacation homes don’t count. Single-family houses, condos, units in multi-family buildings, and manufactured or mobile homes taxed as real property all qualify.
On income, the 2026 limit is $41,000 of Ohio MAGI, measured using your 2025 income. The figure covers both spouses even if only one is on the deed. Ohio MAGI starts with your Ohio adjusted gross income and adds back certain deductions. Social Security benefits already excluded from your federal AGI generally stay excluded here too, which keeps many seniors under the limit even when their total benefits are substantial. The threshold adjusts each year for inflation; the 2025 limit was $40,000. If a good year pushes you over, you can reapply once your income drops back below.
How Much the Exemption Actually Saves You
The $29,000 is not $29,000 off your tax bill. It’s $29,000 off the market value the county uses to calculate the bill. If your home is worth $150,000, the county figures your taxes as if it were worth $121,000.
The dollar savings depend on your local rate, which varies by school district, municipality, and county. In much of Ohio the exemption comes out to roughly $400 to $800 a year, and it can run higher where local levies are steep. The exempt value itself adjusts annually with inflation.
Larger Break for Disabled Veterans
Veterans with a 100% service-connected disability rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs get a much bigger benefit: a base exemption of $50,000 of market value, adjusted annually for inflation. There is no income limit. Your MAGI does not matter.
You need to have been discharged or released from active duty under honorable conditions, and you need either a 100% total disability rating or a total disability rating for compensation based on individual unemployability. Reserve and National Guard service counts. Disabled veterans apply on Form DTE 105I instead of the standard senior form.
Surviving Spouses
Two kinds of surviving spouses can claim a break.
If your spouse was already receiving the homestead exemption when they died, you can continue it, as long as you were at least 59 on the date of death. The regular income limit still applies, and you use the standard DTE 105A.
Surviving spouses of public service officers killed in the line of duty get the enhanced exemption at the same $50,000 base as disabled veterans, with no income limit. They use Form DTE 105K.
How to Apply
File Form DTE 105A, the Homestead Exemption Application for Senior Citizens, Disabled Persons and Surviving Spouses, with your county auditor. Most auditors post the form on their website; you can also pick it up in person.
You’ll need your name, date of birth, and Social Security number, plus the same for your spouse if you have one, even if the spouse isn’t on the deed. You’ll need your property’s parcel number, which appears on any prior tax bill or in the auditor’s online real estate search. The form asks how you own the property: outright, on a land contract, through a life estate, or another qualifying form. Land contract and life estate applicants may need to attach the contract or trust document.
For income, the auditor typically verifies your Ohio MAGI through the state tax commissioner’s portal if you file an Ohio return. If you don’t file an Ohio return, bring your federal return. If you don’t file federal either, bring documentation of your income sources so the auditor can estimate MAGI.
Applying based on disability rather than age? You also need Form DTE 105E, the Certificate of Disability, signed by a licensed physician or an authorized state or federal agency. Attach it to the DTE 105A.
Falsifying information on the application carries a penalty: a conviction costs you the homestead exemption for three years.
Deadlines
For real property, the application must reach the county auditor by December 31 of the tax year you want the exemption for. To get it on your 2026 bill, file by December 31, 2026. You can submit any time from January 1 through year-end.
Manufactured and mobile homes run on a different clock. File by December 31 of the year before the tax year. A 2027 exemption on a mobile home means filing by December 31, 2026.
Mail works, but hand-delivering lets the clerk catch a missing signature or blank field before you leave.
After You’re Approved
You don’t reapply every year. The exemption continues automatically as long as your situation stays the same. You need to notify the auditor if you move, if your income rises above the threshold, or if your ownership or occupancy changes.
The reduction shows up as a credit on your next property tax bill. Ohio bills semi-annually, so you’ll see the lower amount on each half-year statement.
If your taxes are paid through a mortgage escrow account, the savings won’t reach you immediately. Your servicer runs an escrow analysis once a year; when it picks up the lower tax bill, the servicer either refunds the surplus or lowers your monthly payment. If your annual analysis has already happened for the year, you may need to wait for the next one or call the servicer to ask for an early review.
If the auditor denies your application, you’ll get a written notice explaining why. Common reasons are income over the limit, incomplete documentation, or a residency question. You can appeal to the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals. Keep copies of everything you submitted.
The 2.5% Owner-Occupancy Credit
Separate from the homestead exemption, Ohio gives owner-occupied homes a 2.5% reduction on qualifying levies. It applies automatically once your property is coded as owner-occupied in county records, and it isn’t limited to seniors. If you qualify for both, they stack: the homestead exemption cuts your taxable value first, then the 2.5% credit reduces the tax owed on the covered levies. If you’ve bought recently or aren’t sure your property is coded correctly, ask the county auditor to confirm you’re getting it.