Property Tax Deferral — the State Pays the Bill and Waits, at 65 or on Disability
A homeowner who is 65, or who cannot be employed by reason of disability on 1 April, may defer the property tax on their homestead. The income ceiling is $80,000 for a sole owner and the liquid asset ceiling $100,000; for multiple owners the figures are $80,000 and $150,000. The claim is filed with the municipal assessor between 1 January and 1 April.
Verified August 23, 2026
What this benefit is
A homeowner who is 65, or who cannot be employed by reason of disability on 1 April, may defer the property tax on their homestead. The income ceiling is $80,000 for a sole owner and the liquid asset ceiling $100,000; for multiple owners the figures are $80,000 and $150,000. The claim is filed with the municipal assessor between 1 January and 1 April.
What it's worth: The whole year’s property tax postponed, and repaid later with interest as a lien on the home
- This is a LOAN against the house, not a saving. The state pays the municipality and records a lien; the deferred tax is repaid on sale, on death, or when the owner stops living there.
- The cash-flow value in any year is the whole property tax bill, which is why the weight is set at a typical annual bill rather than at a discount.
- The interest rate is set outside §6251 and was not read this session, so no cost of deferral is claimed.
Who is entitled to it
- You own and occupy the home as your principal dwelling.
- A permanent and total determination is the kind of finding the deferral’s disability limb turns on.
- You are in this state.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
How to claim it
Deadline: After 1 January and no later than 1 April of the first year claimed- 1Two independent doors: being at least 65, or being unable to be employed by reason of disability on 1 April of the year the claim is filed. A veteran under 65 with a permanent and total determination uses the second.
- 2Watch the money tests, because they were raised and the old numbers are still circulating. For applications filed after 1 January 2024 the income ceiling is $80,000 and the liquid asset ceiling $100,000 for a sole owner; for multiple owners, combined income under $80,000 and combined liquid assets under $150,000.
- 3"Liquid assets" is broad: bank accounts, certificates of deposit, money market and mutual funds, life insurance policies, stocks, bonds and lump-sum payments — anything convertible to cash within three months.
- 4The homestead is the owner-occupied principal dwelling and up to ten contiguous acres. A 2025 amendment brought dwellings held in a revocable living trust for the taxpayer’s benefit inside the definition.
- 5File in the window. The claim must be filed after 1 January and no later than 1 April of the first year deferral is claimed — miss it and you wait a year.
- 6Understand what you are signing before you sign it. Deferred taxes, assessments, fees and charges all accrue against the property and come back with interest. This is the right instrument for staying in a home you cannot currently pay the tax on, and the wrong one for reducing a bill you can.
- 7Deferral is not the same as the veteran exemption and does not replace it. Claim the exemption you are entitled to first; deferral applies to whatever tax is still owing after it.
- Form
- Claim for deferral, filed with the municipal assessor
- File with
- Municipal assessor; administered by Maine Revenue Services
- Documents you will need
- va benefit summary letter
- Re-file every year
- Entitlement is retested annually. Missing a year costs that year.
Sources
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.