Here Ye Here Ye “Rental property tax law changes go into effect this year” Yes more great news for those who own Real Estate – NOT!

If you are the owner of rental property there is a pretty significant tax law change going into effect for 2012. As of this year anyone who owns rental property must now report all vendors doing work that exceeds $600. For the landlord that holds multiple rental properties this really is nothing new as they have been required to report this to the IRS.

Last year however, the Federal Government enacted the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (H.R. 3297) that expanded the reporting requirement to include ANYONE who owns rental property. To put it bluntly the little guy is now required to send a 1099 to contractors working on their homes.

Rental Owner Tax Obligations

If you are the owner of rental property it means you now have a legal obligation to collect information from contractors doing work at your property including their name, address, tax identification number or social security identification. You must also keep a detailed record of what you pay them through out the year. Again at the end of the year you are obligated to send them a 1099 form.

Rental Property Exemptions

There are a few exemptions that would allow a home owner not to report to the IRS including:

• The property is only a temporary rental of your primary residence.
• The income generated from the rental does not meet minimum threshold requirements.
• Putting together the forms necessary to complete the reporting to the IRS would create a hardship for you.

As of this writing the IRS has not determined what would be considered the minimum income and what constitutes a hardship on your part. Expect the IRS to update these requirements soon. In the meantime do not let this deter you from keeping detailed records.

Recording Keeping For All Contractors

The requirement for keeping diligent records applies to all contractors doing work including but not limited to painters, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, landscapers, cleaners and even your accountant. Anything associated with running the business of having a rental property is included in these calculations.

When calculating the work that was generated on the property recoding keeping becomes vital because if you have a landscaper doing work in the beginning of the year that amounts to $350 dollars and later on in the year does another $300 dollars worth of work the burden of providing this information becomes necessary under the new rules.

Rental Tax Penalties For Filing Late

The IRS has not set the important tax dates as of yet for the 2011 tax year.  These dates will become important to have on your calender as the penalty for reporting late will be $250 dollars.

You will be able to file a 30 day extension for getting the tax forms to the IRS, however, this will not apply to making sure you get the appropriate forms to the contractors who have done work on your property. The contractors are going to need to have these forms in order to complete their own taxes and the burden is on the rental owner to provide them in a timely fashion.

If you are the owner of rental property you are probably aware of all the tax deductions available to you. If you are considering purchasing a rental property for the 1st time you may want to brush up on the rental property tax deductions. Of course this becomes an important piece of the puzzle come tax time!

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About the author: The above Real Estate information on rental property tax law changes was provided by Bill Gassett, a Nationally recognized leader in his field. Bill can be reached via email at billgassett@remaxexec.com or by phone at 508-435-5356. Bill has helped people move in and out of many Metrowest towns for the last 24+ Years.

Thinking of selling your home? I have a passion for Real Estate and love to share my marketing expertise!

I service the following towns in Metrowest MA: Hopkinton, Milford, Southboro, Westboro, Ashland, Holliston, Medway, Franklin, Framingham, Grafton, Hopedale, Mendon, Upton, Northbridge, Shrewsbury, Northboro, Bellingham, Uxbridge, Worcester and Douglas.

Given that fact that I am a Massachusetts Realtor, I often get asked if I have any rental property. It is a pretty logical question as I work in the field and would obviously have access to the information necessary to get a pretty good deal on a rental purchase.

Honestly I have never been interested in the headaches associated with a rental property. Everything from dead beat tenants not paying their rent to the thought of getting a call in the middle of the night from someone saying they have no heat or the water tank burst. No thanks…not for me!

This is not to say that owning rental property is a bad thing. There are lots of folks who have made terrific money off of owning a rental property. I have many friends as was as clients who I have helped purchase rental property over the years.

One of the excellent benefits of owning rental property besides collecting a rental check every month are the tax deductions.

The tax deductions for a rental property are quite different than those of a primary residence. It is important to understand the differences in tax deduction for a rental property. The IRS allows property owners to offset income by writing off quite a few rental expenses. There is a publication put out by the IRS called IRS Publication 527 that gives a detailed description of what tax deductions are allowed.

Rental Expenses For Write Offs

When you are renting a home one of the most important things you can do financially is to keep meticulous notes on what you spend that is associated with the property. Make sure you keep all the receipts for items dealing with the rental. Some of the most common deductible expenses for a rental property are cleaning and general maintenance, fees and commissions paid to a Realtor or rental agent, any advertising expenditures, mortgage expenses such interest, taxes and insurance as well as well as utilities that you happen to pay for.

If it is a condo that you are renting another common deduction is the condo fees. When initially purchasing a rental home you can also deduct fees associated with obtaining a mortgage.

Rental repairs v.s rental improvements

The tax deductions on a rental property v.s a primary residence are quite different. In fact what you can deduct in a rental property is treated much differently. In a primary residence you can have tax breaks for home improvements but not for general repairs. In a rental home the IRS says you can deduct a repair (things that keep a home in operable condition) but that an improvement most be depreciated over several years.

According to the IRS an improvement increases the value of your home while a non-eligible repair just returns something back to it’s original condition. The IRS further states that a capital improvement has to last for more than one year, add value to your home or prolong it’s life. An example to distinguish the two would be fixing a window pain vs installing replacement windows.

Whenever you hire a contractor to perform services for your rental, you can deduct their wages as a rental business expense. This can be done whether the worker is an employee or an independent contractor.

Depreciating a rental property

Depreciation in a home is part of the value that is lost over time due to wear and tear. With improvements to a rental home you can deduct a portion of that value every year over a set number of years. Different components of a home have different time frames over which you can deduct as an expense.

Figuring out depreciation on a rental property is probably something best left to a qualified tax professional unless you have a background in accounting or are a math whiz. The basics of the tax code allow you to depreciate your entire property over 27.5 years. As a landlord you are able to depreciate the property until you  recover your costs or you stop renting the home which ever comes 1st.

Figuring rental home profit and loss

Figuring your profit or loss on a rental property is pretty easy. It is as simple as looking at what you took in for rent and then deducting all your expenses. For example if your collecting rents over a year equal $24,000 and your expenses equal $6000 then you would have a gain of $18,000.

Showing a profit on a rental of course is what everyone strives for but what happens when you are faced with greater expenses that what you are taking in for rent?

The IRS allows you to write off a loss in a rental property as long as you hold a ten percent interest, meet certain income requirements and actively participate in renting the place. Participation can be something as simple as placing an advertisement.

If you are married and filing jointly and your adjusted gross income is less than $100,000, you can deduct up to $25,000 in rental loses. Your deduction for loses will gradually phase out between income of $100,000 t0 $150,000. There is the possibility however, that you can pass along loses to future years.

Miscellaneous rental deductions

One other expense worth noting is travel expenses going to your property. You are able to deduct for the millage going to the rental home. Valid reasons for traveling to the rental property include for collection of rent, showing the property or performing repairs/maintenance. If using your own car while traveling to the home you are able to claim the standard millage rate of 55 cents per mile as of the 2009 tax year.

As you can see there are some excellent tax deductions for owning rental property.

When it comes to taxes it always makes sense to consult with an accountant, as everyone’s tax situation can vary!

Other Real Estate articles worth a look:

• Appealing a Massachusetts Property Tax Bill

There is no question that there are far less people today that have the kind of equity in their home that they did five to ten years ago. In most areas across the country Real Estate values have dropped by a substantial margin decreasing the amount of folks who have capital gains concerns.

One of the great benefits of home ownership has been the fact that equity growth to an extent does not always get taxed.

A very important capital gains tax law went into effect in 1997 and is known as the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.

The current Real Estate capital gains tax law when selling your personal residence allows for an exclusion of up to $250,000 in profit if you are single and $500,000 if you are married. In order to be eligible for the tax exclusion you must have lived in your home for two of the last five years. The home must also be your personal residence and can not be considered an investment property.

If you move often or do not have substantial equity in your property then tax breaks on home improvements are not going to be much of a concern.

For those that are fortunate enough to have lived in their home for a long period of time and have built up a sizable equity position, there is good reason to keep track of what you have spent on home improvements.

By keeping track of the home improvements that have taken place in your property you are able to increase the cost basis which will decrease the amount of taxes you pay when it comes time to sell.

How do home improvement tax breaks work?

In order to figure out how to calculate your tax break from home improvements  you are going to need to figure out what your initial cost basis was when you 1st purchased your home.

This will be what you actually paid plus any closing costs such as attorney fees, transfer taxes, surveys, commissions or any inspection related charges.

You will then need to figure out all the home improvements you have made to your home since the purchase. As an example lets say you purchased your home for $400,000 including all the closing cost expenses.

Lets further assume you also have $50,000 in home improvements since you purchased including a new bath room, a finished basement, a large deck and brick patio. if you add the purchase price and improvement costs together you get an adjusted basis of $450,000.

Going back to the qualifications of the capital gains tax law for Real Estate outlined above, lets assume you have met the litmus test and have lived in the home for two out of the last five years as your primary residence.

You find out you are going to be moving out of the area you are located in and sell your home for $700,000.  If you are single the tax law says you can exclude up to $250,000 in profit or gain.  Using the $700,000 sale price minus the adjusted cost basis of $450,000. You would not pay any taxes on the sale.

Here is where the tax breaks on home improvements come in. If you had not kept track of what you spent making your home better you would be paying taxes on $50,000 because that would be become what is considered profit to the IRS.

By keeping receipts on the home improvement dollars you have invested you will save $7500 0n your taxes! As of this writing the current capital gains tax rate is 15%. $50,000 x 15% = $7500. This is obviously a nice chunk of change to save just by being a little studious.

What counts as a home improvement for tax purposes?

When calculating tax breaks the one thing you don’t want to do is fool around with the IRS. While you may consider every dollar you spend on your home an improvement the IRS certainly does NOT! As a matter of fact most Realtors or buyers won’t either. See home improvements with the worst return on investment.

According to the IRS an improvement increases the value of your home while a non-eligible repair just returns something back to it’s original condition. The IRS further states that a capital improvement has to last for more than one year, add value to your home or prolong it’s life.

Home improvements must also be there when you sell your home as well. For example if you spent money putting tile flooring down in your kitchen fifteen years ago and then five years ago put in new hardwood floors you can’t claim both as improvements.

It is important to note that repairs do not count as improvements. Again according to the IRS, repairs are things that are done to keep up a homes condition without adding value or prolonging it’s life. There are real slight differences in comparing an improvement to a repair. An example of a repair would be fixing a window pain. An improvement would be replacing a window.  If you are unsure on whether an improvement you have made to your home can be counted or not I would recommend speaking to a qualified tax professional or look at page 9 of publication 523 which details tax issues when selling a home.

Taxes on homes or other property in Massachusetts are typically based on two pieces of information including the towns property tax rate and the assessed value.

Obviously the tax rate is set in stone and is not something that is going to be changed once it is put in place for that particular fiscal year. What does change of course is the assessed value of the home.

If you are a Massachusetts home owner, appealing a Massachusetts property tax bill if something you may want to consider if you feel the assessed value is way off base on your home.

How is assessed value calculated

In order to appeal the property tax bill you are going to need to have a good understanding of how the assessed value of your property was calculated by your local tax assessor.

A Real Estate assessed value is typically calculated on a year to year basis in most communities although it is possible it could be every few years for some. What you need to clearly understand is that the assessed value of a property is NOT the same as:

• An appraised value by a lender
• A market evaluation by a Realtor which is often called a BPO or broker price opinion
• The actual market value

It is easy to understand why the general public can get confused on the assessed value vs fair market value issue because even many Real Estate agents don’t know the difference! How do I know this? From some of the crazy statements I hear from hanging around the office water cooler or even some of the silly advertising that you find in the Multiple listing service or other advertisements.

As an example “come take a look at this bargain priced home listed for $100,000 less than assessed value”. I bet you are getting excited already and want to see this place – NOT!

What this tells me is that the agent marketing the property knows very little about property valuation or they think someone else might be stupid enough to believe the property is being given away by the owner. A good buyer’s agent that didn’t just get their license and has a bit of intelligence would be able to point out to a naive buyer that the home has been over assessed by the town and the owner is paying too much in taxes!

Keep in mind that assessed values are nothing more than a yard stick for a municipality to collect an appropriate amount of taxes to sufficiently cover the state and local appropriations chargeable to the city and town.

Towns adjust the tax rate and a properties assessed value to achieve this goal. For a complete explanation see Assessed value v.s fair market value.

So how do you go about checking on whether the assessed value of your home makes sense? The 1st thing you are going to want to do is look over what is called the town assessment field card and check it over for accuracy. The town field card will have pertinent information about your property including the bedroom and bath count, the gross living area, the age,  garage type and size, as well as the amount of land you own. All of these things play a large roll in where your assessment will be figured.

You will want to look over the field card diligently to make sure everything is correct. If there are blatant errors that pop out you may have an easy challenge on your hands.

One would imagine that if you believe you are being over assessed it could be because your neighbor of someone else with similar characteristics to your property is being assessed at a lower amount. This is clearly a possibility and actually happens fairly often.

What you are going to need to do is have someone provide you with what they feel are the most comparable properties to yours that have sold in the town. A skilled local Realtor is usually a good option to help you with this. Armed with this information you can then check the assessed values on those properties. There should be some kind of correlation with these properties. Don’t discount the fact that your home may be in a more attractive neighborhood. If the assessed value of the similar homes are lower you may have a case.

Meet with the local tax assessor

One of the things that I have realized over the years while representing Massachusetts home sellers is the fact that many are completely unaware that there is a tax to sell your home!

While it is true that if you live in Massachusetts you come to grips quickly that just about everything gets taxed, sometimes this tax law is forgotten about.

If you have never sold a Massachusetts home before you may also not even realize it exists. This tax on selling a home is known as the Massachusetts tax stamps. In most areas of Massachusetts the tax stamp equals $4.56 per thousand dollars of the sales price of the home.

So for example if you sell your home for $400,000, you would owe the State of Massachusetts $1824.00  ($4.56 x 400). The money paid for the tax stamps is income given to the appropriate registry and is forwarded on to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

While most of my Real Estate sales are in Middlesex, Worcester and Norfolk Counties, it should be noted that in Barnstable County the tax rate is $5.70 per thousand so the cost involved with selling a property is slightly higher. The Dukes and Nantucket Counties also charge an additional 2% of the sales price that gets paid to the local land bank commission.

One of the things I always do with my clients is go over all the costs involved with selling their home or condominium. Nobody likes surprises especially when it will be coming out of their wallet! Besides a Real Estate commission which can vary but is more than likely going to fall between 4% to 6%, the Massachusetts transfer tax (stamp tax) is the largest expense a seller will have to be prepared for.

So what are all the expenses you can expect to have when selling a Massachusetts home?

Attorneys Fees. I am a firm believer that every seller should have legal representation. The expense of having a good lawyer representing your interests is cheap in comparison to dealing with the cost of problems that could crop up without representation. A Real Estate attorney in a home sale can do everything from the review of legal contracts such as the offer form or the standard Massachusetts purchase and sale agreement (P&S) to attending the closing either with you or as power of attorney.

Most buyers are going to have an attorney and they will make changes to the standard P&S. Realtors are prohibited from giving legal advice and should not be relied on to council you on this agreement. You will be putting yourself at risk without a complete understanding of the document. Legal representation can vary quite a bit depending on the scope of the work. As a ball park you can expect to pay anywhere from $300-$1500. Obviously you will be closer to the $300 on a standard purchase and sale review and closer to $1500 if you have a more complex transaction and the lawyer will be attending the closing for you.

Massachusetts Title V. The Massachusetts Title V is an expense every seller in Massachusetts has to pay if their property is not serviced by public sewer. It is a state law that a Title V must be completed upon the transfer of Real Estate. You can expect to pay around $800 dollars for a Title V inspection. The cost could become higher if the septic tank or distribution box are in an area that is hard to dig up.

This septic expense would also include the pumping fee. Most of the time the septic system will get pumped at the time of the Title V inspection. Remember that a Title V septic inspection is good for two years. The septic certification can also be extended a third year if you pump the system in all three years.

Smoke Detector and carbon monoxide detector certification. In Massachusetts you must have your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors inspected prior to closing. The inspections are done by the local fire department in the town you are located in. The charge for inspecting the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors is generally around $25-$100. You should be aware that there have been new regulations put in place surrounding Massachusetts smoke detector laws. These news laws could have an impact on the cost of selling your home if you need to install more or new detectors. I would suggest clicking the link to read further on the changes in the law.

Preparing a new deed. In Massachusetts it is the sellers responsibility to have a new deed prepared that gets recorded at the registry. The preparation of a new deed is usually $100-$150 and is done by the attorney representing you or possibly the banks lawyer if you do not have legal representation.

There will also be some small miscellaneous costs for mailing, filing fees etc that will be added to your HUD settlement statement at the closing. These fees include overnight mailing, courier services, wiring expenses, charges for processing mortgage discharges and recording fees for recording various documents at the Registry of Deeds.  The total of these miscellaneous expenses will usually amount to a few hundred dollars.

Real Estate surprises are never fun especially when they involve your money!

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About the author: The above Real Estate information on Massachusetts Tax Stamps and other costs to sell a home was provided by Bill Gassett, a Nationally recognized leader in his field. Bill can be reached via email at billgassett@remaxexec.com or by phone at 508-435-5356. Bill has helped people move in and out of many Metrowest towns for the last 24+ Years.

Thinking of selling your home? I have a passion for Real Estate and love to share my marketing expertise!

I service the following towns in Metrowest MA: Hopkinton, Milford, Upton, Southboro, Westboro, Ashland, Holliston, Mendon, Hopedale, Medway, Franklin, Framingham, Grafton, Northbridge, Shrewsbury, Northboro, Bellingham, Uxbridge, and Douglas.

When you are getting a mortgage to purchase a home, there are certain deductions that the IRS allows that are well worth remembering come tax time in April. The following is a list of  some of the deductions that many people forget about when buying a home:

POINTS

Points on a home loan are tax deductible if they are used to bring down the mortgage interest rate. For those that don’t know a point is 1% of the loan amount. On a $300,000 mortgage a point would equal $3000.00. You would only want to pay points on a loan if you knew your were going to be in the home for a while and the cost of such points would be less than taking a higher interest rate.

In order to understand if paying points makes sense you need to calculate the mortgage payment amount with and without points. By looking at the spread between those amounts you can determine how long you would need to be in the house before it would pay off for you. For a complete explanation see when to pay points on a mortgage.

Points or origination fees paid when you purchase a home are generally tax deductible in full in the year that you pay them. It should be noted that origination charges from the lender that constitute a “service fee” are not tax deductible.

Another alternative you could choose is to amortize the points over the term of your mortgage. This choice is usually made only when your itemized deductions are less than the standard deduction for the year you bought the home.

As a side note  when you refinance a mortgage the points must be deducted over the term of the loan. If you deduct points over the term of the loan and sell the home or refinance it again before the loan expires, you can deduct in the year of the sale or refinancing any points that you didn’t previously deduct. Keep in mind that you will be able to get the best mortgage interest rates when you have a great FICO Credit Score.

PRO RATED MORTGAGE INTEREST

When you are buying a home, depending on when in the month the home sale closes, the buyers pay either a small or large amount of pro-rated mortgage interest for the particular month they close. Whether the amount is large or small, a home buyer can write that amount off. The Final Closing/Settlement Statement will show just how much the buyer is due.

PRO RATED REAL ESTATE TAXES

Often times a seller will send the local tax collector’s office a check for Real Estate taxes prior to the closing. In many circumstances, however, the buyer will pay a pro-rated portion of the taxes for the year at closing. This tax deduction is one that is forgotten quite often.

NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION LOAN INTEREST

As long as the construction period doesn’t last more than two years before you make the new home your “principal residence,” you can write off the interest for that new construction loan.                                                                                                                                                                                                             

PRE-PAYMENT PENALTIES

Although it is rare that a home loan today will have a pre-payment penalties on a few rare occasions you will still find one. If your mortgage does include a pre-payment penalty and you pay off the loan early, these penalties are tax deductible.

MORTGAGE INSURANCE

If you got a mortgage in either 2007, 2008, 0r 2009 and got the loan through the Federal Housing Agency (FHA), Veterans Administration (VA) or the Rural Housing Agency (USDA loan) you may be able to deduct private mortgage insurance (as defined in section 2 of the Home Protection Act of 1998 as in effect Dec. 20, 2006). Prepaid mortgage insurance premiums usually must be deducted over the period to which they apply.

MORTGAGE INTEREST TAX DEDUCTION

One of the beauties of owning a home is the fact you can deduct the mortgage loan interest every year on your tax return. This is one of the best tax breaks afforded to homeowners.

Mortgage interest is tax deductible on mortgages  of up to 1 million dollars ($500,000 if married and you are filing separately) as long as you use the money to buy, build or improve on your property and the mortgage is secured by your home.

In addition, the interest you pay on loans secured by your home and used for a purpose other than to buy, build or improve your home is tax deductible for loans up to $100,000 ($50,000 Married Filing Separately). In other words if you used a home equity line of credit to purchase a car the interest on this 2nd mortgage would be tax deductible.

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About the author: The above Real Estate information on Tax deductions when buying a home was provided by Bill Gassett, a Nationally recognized leader in his field. Bill can be reached via email at billgassett@remaxexec.com or by phone at 508-435-5356. Bill has helped people move in and out of many Metrowest towns for the last 24+ Years.

Thinking of selling your home? I have a passion for Real Estate and love to share my marketing expertise!

I service the following towns in Metrowest MA: Hopkinton, Milford, Southboro, Westboro, Ashland, Holliston, Mendon, Hopedale, Medway, Franklin, Framingham, Upton, Grafton, Northbridge, Shrewsbury, Northboro, Bellingham, Uxbridge, and Douglas.

One of the things that Massachusetts seniors face in many of the destination towns where schools are top notch is the growing burden of higher taxes. There is almost always a correlation between a towns popularity and the market value of the homes.

When you look at why property values are higher in one town over another   it usually boils down primarily to two factors; the location and the school systems rating. With great schools come a larger tax burden.

Even though Real Estate values have come down drastically in many Metrowest Massachusetts towns over the last five years it does not mean that the Real Estate taxes have as well.

One of the common lines of thinking that occurs when Real Estate values are heading downward is that a home owners tax bill must also be coming down too. Part of this misconception occurs because people assume that the fair market value and assessed value are the same.

In theory this should be the case but assessed values are nothing more than a yard stick for a municipality to collect an appropriate amount of taxes to sufficiently cover the state and local appropriations chargeable to the city and town. Towns adjust the tax rate and a properties assessed value to achieve this goal. For a complete explanation see Assessed value v.s fair market value.

For many seniors on a fixed income this can become a tough financial burden to deal with.

Given the fact we are located in a state known as “Taxachusetts” it is hard to believe there are actually tax programs in place to save you money.

There are a few programs worth discussion including: clause 41c for elderly residents, clause 17d which is an exemption for seniors, surviving spouses, and minors, clause 22 covering veterans, clause 37a which covers the blind and two others know as the Circuit Breaker and the standard tax deferral.

Below is an explanation of each one of these exemptions:

Clause 41C – Clause 41c is for elderly residents. Residents who are 65 years old by July 1 may qualify for a $1000 dollar tax credit. The income requirements for this program if single are $23,718 per year and assets not in excess of $40,000. If you are married the income requirement is less than $35,578 and assets not is excess of $55,000. The other requirement with 41c is that you have to be living in Massachusetts for the last ten years and owning/occupying property for the last five.

Clause 17D – Clause 17d is an exemption in the amount of $208.39. In order to qualify for 17d a senior must be 70 years old by July 1 and surviving spouses must be a widow or widower by July 1. For a minor to qualify for this program they must have a deceased parent and own the property. In all of these circumstances the total worth may not exceed $40,000 excluding assessed home value.

Clause 22 – There are various exemptions for veterans and their spouses ranging from $400-$1000. In order to qualify you must have certification of a war related disability and also not have been dishonorably discharged.

Clause 37A – Clause 37a applies to those who are legally blind as of July 1. The tax credit is $500. In order to qualify you must also be registered with The Massachusetts Commission for the blind.

Tax Deferral- Residents 65 years or older can defer all or a portion of their taxes at a rate of 5% interest. In order to qualify residents must have lived in MASS for the past ten years and owned/occupied their home for the last five years. Gross annual income must not exceed $40,000. This a a program that not many people are aware of. In my home town of Hopkinton MA the town places when the deferral is approved and payment is made upon the sale of the home.

The Circuit Breaker – This exemption is available to residents age 65 and over whose property taxes exceed 10% of their income. This figure includes water and sewer bills.

What are the requirements?

• Own or rent residential property in Massachusetts and occupy the property as primary residence.
• Have an annual income of $51,000 or less for a single filer; $64,000 or less for a head of household; or $77,000 or less for joint filers.

Who is not eligible for the Circuit Breaker Credit?

• Married persons who do not file jointly for this credit.
• Those who are a dependent of another tax filer.
• Those who receive federal or state rent subsidy directly; or those who live in a property-tax exempt facility.
• Those whose property is assessed at a value of $788,000 or more.

These are great programs that many seniors in the Metrowest Massachusetts area could be taking advantage of.  I suspect that if more people knew about these tax programs they would be filing for them. These tax programs are not well publicized so I am hoping to spread the word in order to help a few senior citizens save some money.

It would be great if there were other programs such as these that more people in Metrowest Massachusetts could take advantage of. The cost of living here is high and there are others besides seniors who could use the help.

One other thing to remember as well is that if you feel your tax assessment is high relative to other like homes in your town, you can appeal your Massachusetts property tax bill.

The information contained here is believed to be accurate, however every person’s individual tax situation may be different, therefore before acting on the information contained herein, I would urge you to consult a qualified tax accountant or attorney.

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About the author: The above Real Estate information on Massachusetts property tax relief was provided by Bill Gassett, a Nationally recognized leader in his field. Bill can be reached via email at billgassett@remaxexec.com or by phone at 508-435-5356. Bill has helped people move in and out of many Metrowest towns for the last 24+ Years.

Thinking of selling your home? I have a passion for Real Estate and love to share my marketing expertise!

I service the following towns in Metrowest MA: Hopkinton, Milford, Upton, Southboro, Westboro, Ashland, Holliston, Mendon, Hopedale, Medway, Franklin, Framingham, Grafton, Northbridge, Shrewsbury, Northboro, Bellingham, Uxbridge, and Douglas.