Credit or Exemption for Persons Aged 70 or Older (Clause 41s)

Massachusetts

2014

Other Variation in Receipt of Benefits

Credit

Exemption

The benefit is either a $500 property tax credit or a $4,000 exemption, whichever is greater. Cities and towns may chose local options to increase the benefit by up to 100%, or to replace the benefit with a flat benefit starting from 5% up to 20% of the average assessed value of all Class 1 principal residences of persons 70 years or older.

Other

Residential

Only residential property is eligible for this program.

Age

Homeowner

Income Ceiling

Principal Residence

Wealth Limit

Other Criteria

To be eligible for this benefit, the person must: (a) be at least 70 years old; (b) have lived in the state for at least 10 years, owned and occupied property in the state for at least 5 years, or be a surviving spouse who has inherited such property and occupied it for at least 5 years; (c) have had gross receipts of less than $6,000 for an individual or $7,000 for a married couple; and (d) have a whole estate (including real and personal property but not the value of a domicile) of less than $17,000 for an individual and $18,000 for a married couple excluding property occupied as a domicile.

Local government is unable to exercise an option

Local option regarding program features

State and local government share the local tax loss

The state annually appropriates money for the purposes of reimbursing cities and towns for taxes abated under this program. The commissioner of revenue divides the appropriated funds by the number of exemptions granted and distributes to each city and town a pro rata share of appropriations based on the number of exemptions granted. Cities and towns opting for more generous eligibility criteria do not receive higher consequential reimbursement.

MA104_RR14