Wyoming Property Tax Refund Program: Eligibility, Amount, Deadline

To qualify for the Wyoming Property Tax Refund Program, you must have lived in Wyoming for at least five years, occupied the home as your primary residence for at least nine months of the tax year, kept your total household income at or below 145% of the county or state median (whichever is higher), and kept household assets under roughly $169,866 per adult for 2025 applications. Meet those tests, and you can receive up to 75% of the property taxes you paid last year, capped at half the median residential tax bill in your county.¹

The Four Eligibility Tests

Four things decide whether you qualify, and all of them have to line up.

Residency. You must have been a Wyoming resident for at least five years before applying.²

Primary residence. The home has to be where you actually live, and you must have occupied it at least nine of the twelve months in the tax year you’re claiming the refund for. Vacation homes, rentals, and properties you own but don’t live in don’t qualify.

Income. Your total household gross income cannot exceed 145% of the median gross household income for your county or for the state, whichever figure is higher.² The Economic Analysis Division recalculates the medians each year, so the dollar threshold moves annually and differs from county to county. Household income means income for every adult living in the home, not just the person on the deed.

Taxes paid. The prior year’s property taxes must be paid in full, including any interest and penalties, by the application deadline. Outstanding taxes disqualify the application.

The Asset Cap, and What Doesn’t Count

Household assets cannot exceed $150,000 per adult, a base figure the state adjusts each year for cost of living. For 2025 refund applications, the adjusted limit is $169,866 per adult.¹ Assets include bank balances, investments, and other holdings. Three categories are excluded from the count:

The home you’re seeking the refund on.
One personal motor vehicle per adult in the household.
Qualified retirement accounts such as IRAs, 401(k)s, and similar employer-sponsored plans.

There is one exception worth knowing. Even if your assets exceed the cap, you can still qualify if your property tax bill is greater than 10% of your household income.² This protects homeowners whose balance sheet looks healthy on paper but whose tax bill is taking a disproportionate bite out of actual cash flow.

How Much You Can Get Back

The refund amount uses a two-tier formula tied to how your income compares to the median:

If your household income is at or below 125% of the median, your refund is 75% of the property taxes you paid, capped at half the median residential tax bill for your county.¹
If your income is between 126% and 145% of the median, the same calculation runs, and then the result is reduced by 35%.¹

Lower-income applicants receive the full calculated refund. Higher-income applicants still under the ceiling receive a reduced but meaningful check. Anyone over 145% of the median gets nothing.

One caveat: the whole program runs on a legislative appropriation. The governor signed a bill providing $10.5 million for 2025.³ If the total amount owed to approved applicants exceeds what the legislature set aside, every refund gets reduced proportionally by the same percentage.

Deadline and How To Apply

The statutory deadline is the first Monday in June of the year you’re applying.² For 2025 property tax refunds, the Department of Revenue is accepting applications through June 1, 2026.¹ Mailed applications must be postmarked by that date.

You can apply two ways. The online portal at wptrs.wyo.gov walks you through qualification questions, lets you upload documents, and confirms submission.¹ Paper applications are available on the Department of Revenue website and at County Treasurer offices, and can also be filed in person at your County Treasurer or at the Department of Revenue in Cheyenne.⁴ There is no filing fee. Every property owner listed on the deed must sign.

Approved refunds must be issued on or before September 30 of the year the application was filed.² Filing early gives the department time to contact you about missing documents instead of denying the application outright.

Documents You’ll Need

Pulling everything together before you start saves time:

A copy of last year’s property tax bill, available from your County Treasurer.
A tax receipt showing the bill was paid in full, also from the County Treasurer.¹
Income verification for every adult in the household: federal Form 1040, pension or IRA distribution statements, Social Security benefit letters, and records of any interest, dividend, or other investment income.¹

The Department of Revenue verifies income against federal tax records. Numbers that don’t match your 1040 will flag the file and usually lead to a denial. If a household member wasn’t required to file a federal return, the department may accept alternative verification.

If You’re a Veteran

Wyoming runs a separate property tax benefit for veterans under W.S. 39-13-105 that is not part of this refund program. Honorably discharged veterans who served in qualifying armed conflicts, certain disabled veterans, and surviving spouses can exempt $6,000 in assessed value from their property taxes through the County Assessor’s office.⁵ If you qualify for both, you can use each: the exemption reduces assessed value and the refund reimburses a percentage of taxes actually paid.

Federal Tax Impact of the Refund

Wyoming has no state income tax, but the refund can affect your federal return. Under the IRS tax benefit rule, if you itemized deductions in the year you paid the property taxes and claimed them, the refunded portion may be taxable income in the year you receive it.⁶ The taxable amount is limited to how much the original deduction actually reduced your tax. If you took the standard deduction the prior year, the refund isn’t taxable, because you didn’t get a tax benefit from the payment in the first place.

The federal SALT deduction cap also matters. For tax year 2026, the cap is $40,400 for most filers, up from the $10,000 cap that applied through 2025. If your state and local taxes already exceeded the cap the year you paid, part of the refund may not be taxable, because the capped deduction means the payment didn’t produce a full tax benefit. Keep the prior-year return nearby when you file.

1
Wyoming Property Tax Refund System. Property Tax Refund System
2
Justia. Wyoming Code 39-13-109 – Taxpayer Remedies
3
Office of the Governor. Governor Gordon Signs Bill to Provide Funding for Expanded Property Tax Refund Program
4
Wyoming Department of Revenue. Property Tax Refund Program
5
Wyoming Department of Revenue. Tax Relief – Property Tax Division
6
Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Ruling 2019-11