The Department of Taxes received about 175,000 Homestead Declarations and Property Tax Adjustment Claims, over 50,000 of which have errored in our system, requiring manual review. While we have worked through a substantial portion of those, not all claims were transmitted to towns in time for their July property tax billing. Approximately 75 of Vermont’s 256 towns bill in July. If you reside in one of those towns and were expecting a Property Tax Adjustment or were billed at the non-residential rate on a Homestead property, you will likely be receiving a revised bill in August. There are approximately 4,500 bills that may need to be revised by about 75 towns when a new file is sent. The Department acknowledges and apologizes for the delay in processing these forms.
Anyone concerned about the status of their Homestead Declaration or Property Tax Adjustment is encouraged to check the status of their filing on the myVTax website. Checking the status requires both a social security number and zip code. The website will tell you whether the Department of Taxes has received your Homestead Declaration or Homestead Declaration with Property Tax Adjustment.
If the Department received your filing by April 17, but your property tax bill looks incorrect, check that you were billed at the correct rate (Homestead/residential rate for primary residence, Non-Residential rate for non-homestead property). If you were expecting a Property Tax Adjustment, check if there is a reduction in the “state payments” line of the bill. Your town should receive the information it needs from the Department on the night of July 27 to issue a corrected bill shortly thereafter.
If you have additional questions about your Homestead Declaration or Property Tax Adjustment, feel free to contact the Department of Taxes at tax.individualincome@vermont.gov or 802-828-2865.