Travis Bunn
Founder, AppealDesk · Published March 3, 2026 · Updated September 10, 2026
An exemption lowers your bill only after the assessed value is set. If that value is wrong in the first place, you are paying too much. Nobody checks it unless you do.
Free to check. No account needed.
Updated September 2026
Important upfront: Maryland's Homestead Property Tax Credit and its Homeowners' Property Tax Credit are two different programs administered by the same agency, one is a one-time application that then applies automatically every year, and the other must be refiled every single year. Confusing the two is the single most common mistake homeowners make with Maryland property tax relief.
This guide covers both programs plus Maryland's disabled veteran exemption, what each one does, who qualifies, and the actual deadlines for 2026.
This does not exempt a flat dollar amount from your bill. It caps how much your taxable assessment can increase in a single year, at 10% statewide, though your county or municipality may set a lower local cap. If your home's market value jumps sharply, this credit keeps the taxable portion from jumping with it in the same year.
You qualify if:
File the Homestead Tax Credit Eligibility Application with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) once. After it is approved, it applies automatically every year, you do not need to reapply unless SDAT requests re-verification or your eligibility changes, such as selling the home or no longer occupying it as your primary residence.
This is the program that actually needs to be reapplied for every year. It credits the portion of your actual property tax bill that exceeds a sliding percentage of your income, 0% of the first $8,000, 4% of the next $4,000, 6.5% of the next $4,000, and 9% of income above $16,000.
You qualify if:
File with SDAT by October 1 each year. Missing the deadline means reapplying the following year, this credit does not carry over.
A full exemption of your home and yard from real property tax, with no income test and no dollar cap. Available to veterans (or active-duty service members) with a 100% service-connected, permanent and total VA disability rating, including a 100%-rate individual unemployability determination, and to qualifying surviving spouses. File Form AT2 with SDAT.
Two deadlines that are commonly confused: if you buy a qualifying home, applying within 30 days of settlement makes the exemption retroactive to your closing date. Miss the 30 days and you can still get the exemption going forward, you just may not get it backdated. Separately, if you were eligible for the exemption in a past year but hadn't yet applied, such as if your VA disability rating was only recently finalized, the state must refund the taxes you paid during that eligible period, but that refund request has to be filed within 3 years of the year you first became eligible. The 30-day rule governs backdating for new buyers; the 3-year rule is a separate refund lookback window, not the same clock.
A credit or a growth cap lowers your bill only relative to the assessed value SDAT already set. If that value is too high, both credits are working off an inflated number, and you are overpaying on everything above it. Nobody checks the underlying value unless you do.
The value your credits are calculated from, pulled free in seconds. No account needed.
The Homestead Property Tax Credit's assessment-growth cap applies to nearly every owner-occupant, so most homeowners already have some protection here. If your income is above $60,000 and you're not a disabled veteran, your strongest additional path to a lower bill is appealing an over-assessed value:
An assessment appeal is open to every property owner regardless of age, income, or service history.
"The Homestead Credit and the Homeowners' Credit are the same program."
No. The Homestead Credit caps assessment growth and is a one-time application. The Homeowners' Credit is an income-based credit against your actual bill and must be filed every year by October 1.
"I have to reapply for the Homestead Credit every year."
No, once SDAT approves your Homestead application, it continues automatically. The annual-refiling requirement applies to the separate Homeowners' Property Tax Credit.
"If I miss the 30-day veteran exemption window, I lose the exemption entirely."
No, you lose only the backdating to your closing date. The exemption still applies going forward once approved, and a separate 3-year window exists to claim a refund for past eligible years you didn't apply in.
This page was rewritten in September 2026 after our prior version conflated Maryland's two separate Homestead-named credit programs into one contradictory description. If anything here is unclear or you find it out of date, email us at hello@appealdesk.com and we'll fix it.
Most Maryland homeowners claim whatever credits they qualify for and never question the assessed value underneath them, even though it's reset on a three-year cycle. It is worth checking once.
Enter your address to pull your SDAT record free. If it looks too high, your $49 packet gives you everything to challenge it.