There is no age at which you stop paying property taxes in Wisconsin. Ownership triggers the tax, and the obligation continues at 65, 75, and 95 for as long as the home is yours. What the state offers instead is a set of programs that reduce, defer, or in a few cases eliminate the bill: the Homestead Credit, the WHEDA Property Tax Deferral Loan, the veterans and surviving spouses credit, and the automatic Lottery and Gaming Credit.
Homestead Credit for Lower-Income Seniors
The Homestead Credit is Wisconsin’s primary property tax relief for lower-income residents, and it treats people 62 and older more generously than younger claimants. It’s refundable, so you can receive money back even if you owe no state income tax. For the 2025 tax year, the maximum credit is $1,168 and the household income ceiling is $24,680.
Age matters for how you qualify. If you’re 62 or older by December 31 of the tax year, you’re eligible on age alone, along with the income and residency rules. Younger claimants need earned income from wages or self-employment; unemployment compensation doesn’t count. Disabled adults of any age over 18 also qualify.
The other rules are straightforward. You must have been a legal Wisconsin resident for the entire calendar year and have owned or rented a home in Wisconsin that was subject to property taxes. You can’t have been claimed as a dependent on someone else’s federal return unless you were 62 or older. Total household income, including nontaxable sources like Social Security, must fall under $24,680. The credit shrinks as income rises and disappears at that ceiling; lower-income claimants get back a larger share of what they paid.
You claim it by filing Schedule H or H-EZ with your Wisconsin income tax return by April 15. If you don’t owe state income tax and aren’t required to file a return, you can submit Schedule H on its own. Forms are on the Wisconsin Department of Revenue website.
Property Tax Deferral Loan Program for Homeowners 65 and Older
The Property Tax Deferral Loan is the closest thing Wisconsin has to letting a senior stop paying property taxes. Instead of reducing the bill, it postpones it. The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) pays your property taxes and places a lien on the home. You repay the loan with interest when you sell, move out, or die.
Eligibility is narrower than the Homestead Credit:
- You must be at least 65, or a qualifying veteran of any age. A co-owner, including a spouse, must be at least 60. A spouse of any age qualifies if either spouse is permanently disabled.
- Total household income the prior year cannot exceed $20,000.
- You must own the home and live in it more than six months of the year. Outstanding liens, mortgages, and delinquent taxes on the property together cannot exceed one-third of the home’s value.
- You must carry fire and casualty insurance with WHEDA named as a lienholder.
The maximum annual loan is $3,525 or the actual property taxes and special assessments owed, whichever is less. The interest rate is set each year by WHEDA’s executive director no later than October 15, and by law it equals the Federal Reserve prime lending rate plus one percent, fixed for the life of that year’s loan.
Applications go to WHEDA by June 30 of the year the taxes are due. If you’ve already paid your taxes to avoid late penalties, you can still apply and receive a reimbursement loan upon approval. Taking a deferral loan does not disqualify you from the Homestead Credit; both can be used in the same year.
Full Exemption for Veterans With a 100 Percent Disability Rating
One Wisconsin program does effectively eliminate property taxes rather than reduce them: the Veterans and Surviving Spouses Property Tax Credit. It equals the entire amount of property taxes paid on the veteran’s principal residence in Wisconsin.
To qualify, the veteran must have a 100 percent service-connected disability rating from the VA, or a 100 percent rating based on individual unemployability. Service must have been on active duty under honorable conditions. The veteran must have been a Wisconsin resident either at the time of entering service or for any consecutive five-year period afterward, and must currently be a Wisconsin resident for purposes of receiving veterans benefits. The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs verifies eligibility.
A surviving spouse of an eligible veteran can also claim the credit, provided they have not remarried. This credit is not age-restricted, but for older veterans it’s often the single largest source of property tax relief available.
The Automatic Lottery and Gaming Credit
Every Wisconsin homeowner who uses the property as a primary residence receives the Lottery and Gaming Credit automatically. There’s no age or income test, and no application. It appears as a line-item reduction on your property tax bill.
You qualify as long as you owned and occupied the home as your primary residence on January 1 of the year the taxes are levied. It doesn’t apply to rental property, business property, vacant land, or a second home. Seniors already claiming the Homestead Credit or a deferral loan still get this reduction on top.
What Happens If a Senior Falls Behind on Property Taxes
Because Wisconsin doesn’t waive property taxes for older homeowners, understanding what unpaid taxes trigger is part of deciding whether to apply for the programs above.
When property taxes go unpaid, the county issues a tax certificate on the delinquent property, and interest and penalties start accruing. Two years after the date of the tax certificate, the county can begin foreclosure proceedings in circuit court. In some circumstances involving certain cities or special assessments, that timeline shortens to one year.
Once the county files, you receive a published notice and a final redemption date, typically at least eight weeks out. If you pay all delinquent taxes, interest, penalties, and the county’s costs by that date, you keep the home. If you don’t, the court enters a judgment of foreclosure and the county takes ownership. The former owner loses both the property and any equity in it.
This is the outcome the Property Tax Deferral Loan is built to prevent. A senior 65 or older with household income under $20,000 who is struggling to pay is far better served by a WHEDA loan than by letting the bill go delinquent. The interest is not free, but it costs a small fraction of losing the house.