Change to Elderly Tax Exemption in JCC

By Desiree Parker Thursday, August 25, 2011

Due to a change in state code, James City County has made some changes to its tax exemption for elderly and disabled homeowners that may extend the exemption to a few more citizens.

Thanks to a decision made during the last General Assembly session, the tax exemption program for elderly and disabled citizens has changed slightly. The state changed the definition of “income” in the state code describing the exemption to include only taxable income. It also changed the income description to include income from all members of the household.

What these slight changes mean to county residents is that income from non-taxable sources such as disability income and workman’s compensation will now be excluded from the qualifying household income, so more residents might be eligible.

Also, the income from all household members, both related to and not related to the homeowner, must now be counted in full towards the qualifying household income. This wasn’t the case under the previous exemption rule.

Read a more detailed description of the changes online.

In order to make sure residents who may qualify under the new qualifications get a chance to take advantage of the program, the county is offering a special application period from September 1 through September 30.

The new qualifications are:

• At least one owner/resident must be over 65 years of age, or permanently and totally disabled as of July 1, 2011, and

• Total household income from all sources of considered income under the provisions of the IRS Code must be less than $45,000 and

• Total assets of owners, not including the home and up to 10 acres of land, must be less than $200,000.

Applications are available online; at the County Government Center on Mounts Bay Road; or by calling 253-6695. Completed applications should be mailed to the Commissioner of the Revenue, P O Box 283, Williamsburg, VA 23187, or filed directly at the Commissioner’s office.