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: North Dakota does not have a traditional homestead exemption. It has three separate credit programs, and a 2025 law substantially raised one of them. Don't confuse the April 1 credit-application deadline with your local board of equalization's assessment-appeal deadline, they are different processes run by different offices, and missing one doesn't affect the other.
This guide covers North Dakota's Homestead Property Tax Credit, Disabled Veteran's Property Tax Credit, and Primary Residence Credit, what changed under a 2025 law, and exactly how the credit deadlines differ from an assessment appeal.
Reduces the taxable value of your home if you're 65 or older, or permanently and totally disabled, and own and occupy the property. Household income of $40,000 or less gets a full reduction, up to $9,000 of taxable value. Income between $40,001 and $70,000 gets a 50% reduction, up to $4,500.
This credit does not carry over to an heir or new owner. By statute, it terminates at the end of the taxable year of the applicant's death. A new owner who inherits the home must independently qualify and file their own application.
Reduces taxable value by up to $9,000, scaled to your VA service-connected disability rating: 100% gets the full $9,000, 90% gets $8,100, 80% gets $7,200, 70% gets $6,300, 60% gets $5,400, and 50% gets $4,500. Married veterans' combined credit is capped at $9,000. A surviving spouse receiving VA dependency and indemnity compensation can claim the full 100% credit. This credit also terminates at the applicant's death, an heir must file their own application if they themselves qualify.
A flat $1,600 credit against your property tax, no age, income, or disability test, limited to one credit per household. Filed with the state Office of State Tax Commissioner, not your local assessor.
This credit was raised from $500 to $1,600 by House Bill 1176, signed May 3, 2025, effective for tax year 2025 and continuing into 2026 and beyond, not a change that first took effect in 2026. If a certification was already approved before a property transferred, the credit for that specific tax year rides through the transfer, but the new owner needs to file their own certification by the following April 1 to keep it going.
A credit lowers your bill only after the assessed value is set. If that value is too high, every credit above is calculated 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 April 1 credit deadlines above are only for applying for a dollar credit. They have nothing to do with disputing your property's assessed value. That's a different process, with its own boards and its own timeline:
Both processes happen to run through April, which is likely why they get confused, but a credit application and an assessment appeal go to different offices and accomplish different things.
The Primary Residence Credit has no age or income test, so nearly every owner-occupant qualifies for the $1,600 credit at minimum. If you've claimed it and still think your bill is too high, your remaining path is an assessment appeal, starting at your township or city Board of Equalization in April, using recent comparable sales as evidence.
"The April 1 credit deadline is the same as my assessment appeal deadline."
No. Credit applications go to your assessor or the state tax commissioner by April 1. An assessment appeal starts at your local board of equalization, which meets within the first 15 days of April on a locally set date, then moves to the county board by June and the state board by August.
"The Primary Residence Credit increase is a 2026 change."
It's effective for tax year 2025 under House Bill 1176, not solely a 2026 figure.
"If I inherit a home with an active Homestead Credit, I keep it."
No, the Homestead Credit and the Disabled Veteran's Credit both terminate at the prior owner's death. An heir must independently qualify and file a new application.
This page was rewritten in September 2026 after our prior version generically described unnamed relief programs and conflated the credit-application deadline with the assessment-appeal deadline. If anything here is unclear or you find it out of date, email us at hello@appealdesk.com and we'll fix it.
Most North Dakota homeowners claim their credits and never separately question the assessed value the mills are applied to. It came from a mass-appraisal model, not an individual review of your home. It is worth checking once.
Enter your address to pull your county record free. If it looks too high, your $49 packet gives you everything to challenge it.