New York senior property tax exemptions: STAR, SCHE and RPTL 467

The four programs in one view

Each program is run by a different office, which is the reason people miss one. STAR is a state program that affects school taxes. The senior homeowners exemption (SCHE) is a New York City program run by the Department of Finance. The co-op and condo abatement is also a city program, but it is filed by the building. Outside the city, section 467 of the state Real Property Tax Law lets each locality offer its own senior exemption.

Sources: NYS Tax Department, STAR types; NYC 311, SCHE; NYC Finance, co-op and condo abatement; RPTL section 467.

How STAR works: credit, exemption, Basic and Enhanced

STAR, the School Tax Relief program, lowers school taxes on a primary residence. Condominiums and cooperative apartments are eligible property types, along with houses. In New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers and Syracuse, the state's description says the benefit also partly applies to city taxes. There are two levels.

Sources: STAR types and STAR eligibility, NYS Department of Taxation and Finance.

Credit versus exemption

The exemption reduces the taxable value on your bill. The credit works the other way: you pay the full school tax and the state sends you the benefit by check or direct deposit. According to the state, new homeowners can no longer get the exemption and register with the Department of Taxation and Finance for the credit instead. Homeowners who already hold the exemption keep it on the same property while they remain eligible. For a downsizer, a move can turn an old exemption into a new credit.

The 2026 age and income rule

The department's changes page says that only one resident owner has to be 65 by December 31 of the benefit year for Enhanced STAR. Income is now counted for resident owners and their spouses only. Exemption holders are upgraded to Enhanced automatically at 65. The credit requires that you own and live in the home on July 1. Read the department's changes page for the exact wording, because the rules moved recently.

Co-op owners

The state lists co-op apartments as an eligible property type. Ask the building's managing agent how shareholders receive the benefit, through the building or by personal registration, and check the state's STAR portal.

The NYC senior citizens homeowners exemption (SCHE)

SCHE reduces the assessed value on which your city tax is figured. It is separate from STAR, and an eligible owner can have both. According to NYC 311, you qualify when all of the following are true:

• You are 65 or older. For spouses or siblings who own together, one qualifying owner is enough.
• The combined income of all owners and their spouses is $58,399 or less.
• The home is the primary residence of all owners.
• The property is a one to three family house, a condo or a co-op. Co-op owners use a separate application.

The exemption is not all or nothing. It scales down as income rises, and you renew every two years.

Source: NYC 311, Senior Citizen Homeowners' Exemption, showing the 2026/27 cycle.

The March 15 deadline

State law lets cities over one million people use a March 15 filing date, under RPTL 467(5-c). For 2026/27, NYC 311 gave March 16, 2026 because March 15 fell on a weekend. The benefit starts July 1. An owner who closes on a new home after the deadline may miss that tax year, so put the date in your timeline early.

A related exemption

The city's disabled homeowners exemption uses the same $58,399 income ceiling and the same 5 to 50 percent reductions. Owners must be disabled, the home must be a primary residence and the filing date is also March 15, according to the Department of Finance.

A bill that would raise the ceiling

Senate bill S7209 would raise the NYC income ceilings for SCHE and the disabled homeowners exemption to $70,000. It is a pending bill, not law, so do not plan around it. Its status is on the state Senate page.

The NYC co-op and condo tax abatement

This one works differently from every other program here, because you do not apply for it. It exists for co-ops and condos in tax class 2. Per the Department of Finance:

• The unit must be the owner's primary residence.
• An owner may hold no more than three residential units in the development.
• The owner must have bought by January 5 to receive the abatement for the tax year starting July 1.
• It is not available to business entities, with limited exceptions.
• The co-op board or condo board of managers files for the whole development by February 15 each year and collects primary-residency certifications from owners.

The abatement percentages depend on the tax year and on your building's average assessed value. Look up the current figures on the Department of Finance's abatement page. Our guide to buying a co-op or condo in New York City covers the ownership differences.

Outside New York City: RPTL 467 on Long Island and in Westchester

Section 467 of the Real Property Tax Law is an option that localities may adopt, and the details differ from one town or village to the next. Under the statute and the state's senior exemption page:

• Localities set the income ceiling for the full 50 percent exemption between $3,000 and $50,000. Sliding-scale options reach $58,400: 20 percent under $55,700, 10 percent under $57,500 and 5 percent under $58,400.
• All owners must be 65 or older, with an exception for spouses or siblings when one qualifies, and the home must be the legal residence of all owners.
• Co-op tenant-stockholders are eligible where the local law adopts it.
• You apply with Form RP-467, or RP-467-Rnw to renew, to your local assessor. The deadline is usually March 1 but varies.

Recent changes, all local option

A 2025 law, chapter 581, lets localities grant up to 65 percent to seniors well below their income ceiling. The tiers are 55, 60 and 65 percent at $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000 or more below the maximum, and they apply to taxable years beginning January 1, 2026, according to the Governor's announcement. The statute text also raises the income ceiling to $75,000 beginning July 1, 2027, again as a local choice. Ask your assessor whether your locality has adopted either change.

What the local pages say

There is no single countywide income limit for Nassau, Suffolk or Westchester. These local pages show how much it varies:

• Town of Babylon (Suffolk): age 65 by December 31, income limit of $58,400 based on 2022 income, and a last day to file of March 1, 2026, per its exemptions page.
• Town of Brookhaven (Suffolk): age 65 or older, file by March 1 with the Department of Assessment, per its exemptions page. It lists no income figures.
• Village of Freeport (Nassau): an October 1 deadline, age 65 before October 1 and a 50 percent to 5 percent scale between $50,000 and $58,399 for 2026/27. The village says its exemption does not cover county taxes, per its senior citizens page.
• Village of Scarsdale (Westchester): income limit of $58,399, age 65 by December 31, an application by May 1 and 12 months of owning and living in the home as of May 1, per its page on the exemption.

Ask the Nassau County Department of Assessment for the county's deadline and income limit. Westchester County also signed a 2024 law excluding Social Security from the adjusted gross income the county counts for its senior exemption, per the county's announcement. Ask your local assessor whether it applies to a town, city or village exemption.

If you are considering a move to one of the Long Island communities on our 55+ communities page, this matters. The same senior can qualify in one village and miss the limit in the next.

What happens to each benefit when you sell and buy

The sources describe each program in terms of a person and a primary residence. Most of them say little about transfers. So the table separates what a source states from what you should confirm.

Sources: NYS Tax Department, STAR; Senate bill S3309; the program pages linked above.

One takeaway is that the sale and the purchase can fall in different tax years. A senior who moves in the spring may have a gap year before a new exemption starts, and someone who moves from the city to Nassau or Suffolk changes rules entirely. Ask the assessor or Department of Finance for the new address before you sign a contract, and ask your attorney how the closing date interacts with the dates above. Our guide to buying first or selling first covers that sequencing question.

If you would own two homes in the city at once, remember that each program above is for a primary residence. A separate 2026 state budget measure added an annual New York City surcharge on some homes that are not the owner's primary residence. The Mayor's office says it applies to owners with a separate primary residence, per its notice to property owners. The Department of Finance sets the rates and thresholds. A CPA can tell you whether it touches a home you plan to keep.

A short list to work through

• Write down your combined income and each owner's age, since the limits count all owners and spouses.
• Ask the Department of Finance or the new town's assessor which exemptions apply to the new home's address and when to file.
• Put March 15 (SCHE), March 1 (many local exemptions), January 5 and February 15 (co-op and condo abatement) and July 1 (STAR credit) on one calendar with your closing date.
• If you are buying a co-op or condo, ask the managing agent how the building handles STAR and the abatement.

For the rest of the money picture, including the costs of selling, see Costs and Money, and use the net proceeds calculator for the transfer tax pieces. The step-by-step downsizing guide shows where tax questions fit in the larger plan, and our resources page lists aging services that can help you sort out benefits. If you would like an introduction to an agent who has handled these questions, get matched. Introductions go to agents on the operating team at eXp Realty, so this is not a search of the whole market.