| CLAUSE 41C - ELDERLY EXEMPTIONS |
The elderly exemption 41C provides assistance to elderly taxpayers who meet the age, income, whole estate and residency requirements below. Please note that if you are elderly but do not meet one or all of the personal exemption 41C requirements, you may be eligible for a lesser amount of assistance under personal exemption 17D.
Taxpayers who are eligible for personal exemption 41C will receive a reduction in their tax liability of $500.
Applications must be filed by November 1st in order to have the exemption taken off of the first actual tax bill in January or within three months after the actual tax bills are mailed. Filing an application does not entitle an applicant to a delay in making a tax payment.
Documentation:
An applicant for an exemption must provide to the assessors whatever information is reasonably required to establish eligibility. This information may include, but not be limited to:
Birth Certificates
Evidence of domicile and occupancy
Income tax returns
Eligibility:
An individual must be (a) 70 years or older or (b) joint owner with a spouse 70 years or older as of July 1 of the tax year.
Ownership and Domicile:
Under Clause 41C, an individual must own and occupy the subject property on July 1 of the tax year. In addition to so owning and occupying the subject property, an individual must have been continuously domiciled in Massachusetts for the 10 years preceding the application and have owned and occupied the property or other property in Massachusetts for 5 years.
To satisfy this ownership requirement, the person's interest must be worth at least $4,000. The person may own this interest solely, as a joint owner or as a tenant in common. However, if ownership is joint or a tenancy in common with someone other than a spouse, the exemption amount is reduced to that proportion of $500 as the person's ownership interest in the property.
The holder of a life estate satisfies the ownership requirement
If the domicile is held in a trust, a person can only satisfy the ownership interest if he:
Is a trustee or co-trustee of that trust, and
Possesses a sufficient beneficial interest in the domicile through that trust
Annual Income and Whole Estate:
Eligibility amounts for Clause 41C are as follows:
Gross receipts minus social security allowance must be less than:
$13,000 if single
$15,000 if married
Whole estate less the value of the home except for the value of any portion which exceeds three dwelling units and produces income cannot exceed:
$28,000 if single
$30,000 if married
The value of a person's (a) cemetery plots, (b) registered motor vehicles, (c) wearing apparel and (d) household furniture and effects kept at the domicile should be excluded from the calculation of the person's whole estate for purposes of these clauses.