Property Tax in Queens, NY: Rates, Exemptions, and Appeals

Property tax in Queens, NY is billed by the New York City Department of Finance on a single consolidated bill, and the amount you owe is your property’s assessed value multiplied by the tax rate for its class, less any exemptions or abatements you qualify for.¹ The class the city assigns your property is the single biggest driver of the bill, because it sets the assessment ratio, the annual caps on assessment growth, and the rate that applies. Everything else — exemptions, payment schedule, appeal deadlines — flows from there.

How Queens Properties Are Classified

Every property in New York City sits in one of four tax classes:

Class 1: one- to three-family homes and some residential vacant land. This covers most single-family houses, attached rowhouses, and small multi-family homes across Queens.
Class 2: residential property with four or more units, plus cooperatives and condominiums of any size.
Class 3: utility property.
Class 4: commercial and industrial property, including office buildings, retail spaces, factories, and hotels.

Your classification appears on the Notice of Property Value the city mails each January and in the Department of Finance’s online property database.² One common trap: co-op and condo owners often assume they’re Class 1 because they live in a single unit, but the city classifies them as Class 2 based on the overall building. That surprise shows up when they compare their bill to a neighbor in a house on the same block.

How Your Bill Is Calculated

The Department of Finance sets a market value for your property using recent comparable sales, rental income potential, or a combination. It then applies an assessment ratio to reach an assessed value, and multiplies the assessed value by the class tax rate.

Assessment Ratios and Caps

For Class 1 homes, the assessment ratio is 6%, so a home with a market value of $800,000 would have a starting assessed value of $48,000.³ In practice most Class 1 properties are assessed at well below that figure, because state law caps how fast assessed value can climb. A Class 1 assessed value cannot rise by more than 6% in a single year or 20% over any five-year period.⁴ When market prices jump, those caps keep your bill from following straight up.

Small Class 2 properties with fewer than 11 residential units get similar protection at slightly higher caps: 8% per year and 30% over five years.⁴

Current Tax Rates

The city council sets rates during each annual budget. For the 2026 tax year:⁵

Class 1: 19.843%
Class 2: 12.439%
Class 3: 11.108%
Class 4: 10.848%

The Class 1 rate looks alarming, but it applies to the assessed value, not the market value. A Queens home with a market value of $800,000 and an assessed value of $48,000 owes roughly $9,525 before exemptions ($48,000 × 19.843%). The effective rate against full market value works out to about 1.2%. Class 2 and Class 4 properties pay lower percentage rates but sit at higher assessment ratios, so their effective burdens run heavier.

Exemptions and Abatements That Lower Your Bill

Several programs cut either the assessed value of a Queens property or the dollar amount of the final bill. Most require the home to be your primary residence, and most have renewal requirements. Missing a renewal deadline means losing the benefit for that tax year.

STAR (School Tax Relief)

STAR lowers school taxes for owner-occupants. Basic STAR is available as a credit paid by the state if combined owner income is $500,000 or less, or as an exemption on the bill if combined income is $250,000 or less.⁶ Enhanced STAR provides a larger benefit for owners aged 65 or older with combined income up to $110,750 for the 2026 benefit year.⁷ New homeowners generally receive the credit rather than the exemption; New York stopped accepting new exemption registrations in 2015.

Senior Citizen Homeowners’ Exemption (SCHE)

SCHE reduces assessed value by 5% to 50% on a sliding income scale. At least one owner must be 65 or older, and the combined annual income of all owners and their spouses cannot exceed $58,399.⁸ Owners earning $50,000 or less get the full 50% reduction. Combined with Enhanced STAR, it can meaningfully cut a senior’s bill.

Disabled Homeowners’ Exemption (DHE)

DHE uses the same sliding scale and income limits as SCHE, but qualifies owners on the basis of a disability rather than age. Applicants need documentation of the disability along with proof of income and residency.

Veterans Exemptions

Veterans who served during designated periods of conflict, or who received an expeditionary medal, can apply for the Alternative Veterans Exemption, which reduces a Class 1 property’s assessed value by 15%, up to $2,880. Cold War veterans (September 2, 1945, through December 26, 1991) qualify for a separate exemption with identical percentage reductions.⁹ A service-connected disability can increase the reduction.¹⁰

Co-op and Condo Tax Abatement

The Cooperative and Condominium Property Tax Abatement applies a dollar credit to the final bill for owners who use the unit as a primary residence.¹¹ It exists to narrow the gap between Class 1 homeowners, who benefit from the 6% ratio and annual caps, and Class 2 co-op and condo owners. The managing agent or board typically files the paperwork, and the credit appears automatically.

Clergy Exemption

Active or retired clergy, and unremarried surviving spouses of clergy, can receive up to a $1,500 annual reduction in assessed value on a one- to three-family home or condominium.¹² Renewal is annual.

Deadlines and Documentation

Most exemption applications must be filed by March 15 for benefits to take effect in the tax year that starts July 1.¹³ Expect to provide proof of ownership (deed or mortgage statement), identification, and financial documentation such as federal tax returns or Social Security benefit statements. Every Queens property is identified by a Borough, Block, and Lot number; the borough code for Queens is 4.¹⁴ Your BBL sits on any prior tax bill or in the Department of Finance’s online property search. A wrong BBL is one of the most common reasons applications stall.

Appealing Your Assessment

The Notice of Property Value that arrives each January shows the market value and assessed value the city has assigned for the next tax year.² If either looks wrong, you have two paths. An informal Request for Review goes back to the Department of Finance. The stronger route is a formal Application for Correction with the NYC Tax Commission, which can address both an inflated assessed value and a wrong tax class.¹⁵

For the 2026/27 tax year, Tax Commission deadlines are 5 PM on March 2, 2026, for Class 2, 3, and 4 properties, and 5 PM on March 16, 2026, for Class 1.¹⁶ These do not move. Miss them and you wait a full year, paying the disputed amount in the meantime. Start gathering evidence the moment the January notice arrives: comparable sales, photos of conditions the city may not have accounted for, and income and expense records for rental properties.

Paying Your Bill

Schedules

How often you pay depends on assessed value. Properties assessed at $250,000 or less receive quarterly bills on July 1, October 1, January 1, and April 1. Properties assessed above $250,000 receive semi-annual bills on July 1 and January 1.¹⁷ The fiscal year runs July 1 through June 30.

Methods

The NYC CityPay portal takes electronic payments by bank account or credit card.¹⁸ You can also mail a check or money order to the Department of Finance processing center, or pay in person at the Queens Business Center on Sutphin Boulevard. Online payments take two to four business days to show as a credit.¹⁹ Keep the confirmation. If a payment goes missing in processing, that receipt is the fastest way to resolve it.

Mortgage Escrow

If you have a mortgage, your lender likely collects a share of the annual tax with each monthly payment and holds it in escrow, then pays the city before each due date. Federal rules require servicers to analyze the escrow balance annually and hold enough to cover disbursements.²⁰ Even with escrow, check that payments actually reach the Department of Finance on time. A servicer’s late payment becomes your problem the moment a lien attaches.

Third-Party Notification for Seniors and Disabled Owners

Owners aged 65 or older, or those with a disability, can designate a trusted person to receive copies of all bills and notices.²¹ It’s a simple safeguard against missed deadlines during a hospitalization, a trip, or trouble managing mail. Apply online or by calling 311.

What Happens When You Fall Behind

The city charges interest on late payments starting the day after the due date, and the rates bite. For the fiscal year running July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026:²²

6% annually for properties with an assessed value of $250,000 or less
9% annually for properties assessed between $250,001 and $450,000
16% annually for properties assessed above $450,000

Payment Plans

If you can’t pay in full, the Department of Finance offers monthly or quarterly installment plans of up to 10 years. No down payment is required on a standard plan, though a down payment lowers the installments.²² Owners of Class 1 primary residences assessed at $250,000 or less with household income under $200,000 may qualify for a reduced 2.5% interest rate. Enrollment in the reduced-rate plan is automatic for homeowners already receiving Enhanced STAR, SCHE, or DHE.

Once you’re in a plan, you have to keep up with both the installments and any new tax charges as they come due. Six months of falling behind on either can default the agreement. A default locks you out of another plan on the same property for five years, with narrow exceptions, and reopens the property to collection.

Tax Lien Sales

The most serious consequence of prolonged delinquency is a tax lien sale. The city periodically sells the right to collect overdue taxes, water charges, and other municipal debts to a trust, which then pursues the owner with added interest and fees. The delinquency period that triggers eligibility depends on property type: commercial properties face the shortest window at one year, and residential co-ops and Class 1 vacant land have a three-year threshold. A pending assessment appeal does not stop a lien from being sold. The reliable way to stay off the sale list is to pay the arrears or enter a payment plan before the city publishes its annual delinquency list.

Deducting Queens Property Taxes on Your Federal Return

Homeowners who itemize can deduct property taxes as part of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. For the 2026 tax year, the SALT cap was raised to $40,000 for most filers, up from the $10,000 in place since 2018. The cap is $20,000 for married filing separately. Higher earners face a phase-out that reduces the cap as income climbs, though the deduction cannot fall below a $10,000 floor. Because SALT covers state and local income taxes as well as property taxes, Queens homeowners with significant New York State income tax liability may find their combined state income and property taxes still push against the cap. Whether itemizing beats the standard deduction depends on your total deductible expenses, but the higher cap makes itemizing worthwhile for more Queens homeowners than it was under the prior limit.

1
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Property Tax Bills
2
Department of Finance. Notice of Property Value
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NYC Department of Finance. Determining Your Assessed Value
4
FindLaw. New York Real Property Tax Law 1805 – Limitation on Increases of Assessed Value of Individual Parcels
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NYC Department of Finance. Property Tax Rates
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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. STAR Eligibility
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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Historical Enhanced STAR Income Limits
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New York City Department of Finance. Senior Citizen Homeowners Exemption (SCHE)
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New York City Department of Finance. Veterans Exemptions
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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Veterans Exemptions
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New York City Department of Finance. Cooperative and Condominium Property Tax Abatement
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NYC311. Clergy Property Tax Exemption
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Department of Finance. NYC Residential Property Tax Exemptions
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NYC Open Data. Tax Code Info
15
NYC311. Property Value Appeal
16
NYC Tax Commission. Forms
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NYC Department of Finance. Property Tax Due Dates
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New York City Department of Finance. Bills and Payments
19
NYC311. CityPay
20
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Escrow Accounts
21
NYC311. Property Tax Bill
22
Department of Finance. Property Payment Plans