D.C. Homestead Deduction: 2026 Amount, Deadline and How to Apply

The District of Columbia's Homestead Deduction reduces the assessed value of an owner-occupied principal residence by $91,950 for tax year 2026 before the real property tax is computed, under D.C. Code § 47-850. The Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) administers it, and you apply once on Form ASD-100 through MyTax.DC.gov. There is no single yearly deadline: under D.C. Code § 47-850(c), an approved application filed from October 1 through March 31 earns the deduction for the whole tax year, and one filed from April 1 through September 30 earns half of it. For other jurisdictions, see our guide to homestead exemptions by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-08. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers the District of Columbia's real property tax Homestead Deduction (D.C. Code §§ 47-850 and 47-850.02), the owner-occupant assessment cap credit (§ 47-864), senior and disabled tax relief (§ 47-863), the Disabled Veterans' Homestead Deduction, the low-income senior tax deferral, the creditor homestead in D.C. Code § 15-501(a)(14) and the probate homestead allowance in § 19-101.02. It does not cover D.C. income tax credits, commercial property, revocable-trust transfer rules, or the law of Maryland, Virginia or any other state. Dollar figures are for tax year 2026 (October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026) unless stated otherwise.

How much is the D.C. homestead deduction?

For tax year 2026, OTR says the Homestead Deduction reduces a qualifying property's assessed value by $91,950 before the yearly tax is computed. OTR puts the resulting saving at $781.58 on the annual real property tax bill for tax year 2026.

The statute sets a base figure and indexes it. D.C. Code § 47-850(a) directs the Mayor to deduct "$67,500, increased annually, beginning October 1, 2012, by the cost-of-living adjustment" from the assessed value of a qualifying homestead, with the result rounded down to a multiple of $50. Because the figure moves every year, use OTR's published amount for the tax year you are looking at. OTR's page did not show a tax year 2027 figure when we checked.

A D.C. real property tax year runs from October 1 through September 30 (D.C. Code § 47-802(7)). Tax year 2026 therefore ended on September 30, 2026, and tax year 2027 began on October 1, 2026, so check OTR's page for the tax year 2027 amounts once they are posted.

A few limits come from the same section. An individual may claim only one lot as a homestead, and if a homestead spans more than one lot, the deduction applies against one lot only. Only one person in a household may claim a homestead in the District.

Who is eligible for the homestead deduction in D.C.?

OTR lists three requirements:

• An application must be on file with OTR. If you live in a cooperative housing association, the cooperative's management or representative supplies and collects the application.
• You must occupy the property as the owner or applicant, and it can contain no more than five dwelling units, including your own.
• The property must be your principal residence (your domicile).

The deduction applies to residential real property. A person who occupies a home under a community land trust land lease is treated as an owner for this purpose under § 47-850.

How and when to apply

You apply online at MyTax.DC.gov, and OTR notes that no login is required. Under the "Real Property" section, choose "View More Options," then the ASD-100 link for submitting an application for the Homestead Deduction, which also covers senior citizen and disabled tax relief. If OTR denies the application, you can ask for administrative review within 45 days of the notice.

D.C. has no single annual filing deadline. Instead, D.C. Code § 47-850(c) ties the first-year benefit to when an approved application is filed:

• October 1 through March 31: the property receives the deduction for the entire tax year.
• April 1 through September 30: the property receives one-half of the deduction, for the second installment only.

You do not refile each year. Section 47-850.02 provides that the application "shall apply to the initial tax year, or applicable installment, and to any succeeding tax year thereafter for which the deduction is allowed." OTR does run eligibility audits, and you remain responsible for reporting a change (see below).

The 10 percent assessment cap credit

A home that receives the Homestead Deduction also receives the owner-occupant residential tax credit under D.C. Code § 47-864, often called the assessment cap credit. OTR describes it this way: "The Assessment Cap currently provides that a property may not be taxed on more than a 10 percent increase in the property's assessed value each year."

There is no separate form. OTR says the property must be receiving the Homestead Deduction for the credit to be applied automatically, and it then appears as a credit on your real property tax bill. It does not change the assessed value shown on your assessment notice.

For property that also receives the senior or disabled relief under § 47-863, § 47-864 uses a 102 percent multiplier instead of 110 percent for that whole or part of the property. OTR calls this the Senior Assessment Cap Credit.

The cap does not travel with the owner. OTR says a new owner may receive the seller's cap credit only in the tax half in which the property was bought, and only if the credit was in effect in that half. Section 47-864(c) also withholds the credit in the year after a transfer for consideration.

Moving to another D.C. home

The sections reviewed for this page (§§ 47-850, 47-850.02 and 47-864) contain no provision that carries a homestead benefit from one property to another. They do address overlap: under § 47-850.02, if you buy another D.C. home and apply for the deduction on it during the same half tax year in which you transferred the first, both properties may receive the deduction for that half year, and after that only the new home does.

Senior citizen and disabled property owner tax relief

D.C. Code § 47-863 provides that for a house or condominium, "an eligible household shall be eligible for a 50% deduction in computing real property tax liability." Cooperatives are calculated separately.

OTR's requirements for tax year 2026 include:

• You are 65 or older, or permanently and totally disabled.
• You own at least 50 percent of the property, it has no more than five units, and it is your principal residence receiving the Homestead Deduction.
• Total household federal adjusted gross income for 2024 was less than $163,500. OTR counts everyone living in the household except tenants paying fair market rent under a written lease.

You apply on the same ASD-100 application used for the Homestead Deduction. OTR adds that in some cases you must also file a Statement of Income with OTR. Like the deduction itself, the income limit is set for a specific tax year, so check OTR's page for later years.

OTR's relief page also lists a Lower Income, Long-Term Homeowners Credit. OTR's requirements are that you have owned and occupied the home as your principal residence for at least the last seven consecutive years, the property receives the Homestead Deduction, total household income does not exceed the limits in Section D of Schedule L, and the application is filed by December 31 of each year.

Disabled veterans' homestead deduction

OTR lists a $445,000 reduction in assessed value for the Disabled Veterans' Homestead Deduction. It replaces the regular deduction rather than adding to it. OTR states that "Properties receiving the Disabled Veterans' Homestead Deduction are not eligible for the Homestead Deduction, Senior Citizen/Disabled Tax Relief or the Assessment Cap Credit."

Eligibility, as OTR describes it, requires a total and permanent service-connected disability rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (or a 100 percent rating for unemployability), an owner-occupied principal residence in which the veteran owns at least 50 percent, D.C. domicile, no more than five units, and a property that is not a cooperative. The household's federal adjusted gross income for 2024 must be under $163,500 for tax year 2026.

OTR also states: "Effective October 1, 2025, residential real property owned by a disabled veteran's eligible surviving spouse may qualify for a $445,000 reduction in assessed value."

This application does not go to OTR. OTR directs veterans to apply online through the Office of Veterans Affairs at communityaffairs.dc.gov.

Low-income senior property tax deferral

OTR's deferral program "allows a senior to defer the entire annual tax bill." It is not a reduction; the deferred tax remains owed. OTR describes two options:

• A 6 percent interest option for owners 65 or older with total household adjusted gross income under $50,000 who own at least 50 percent of the home, live in it as a principal residence, and have owned and occupied it for at least one year.
• A 0 percent option for owners who meet every condition of the 6 percent option and are also 75 or older, who have been domiciled in and owned property in D.C. for 25 years and have interest and dividend income under $12,500.

OTR caps the total deferred tax plus interest at 25 percent of the assessment. You request the deferral on Form ASD-110 at MyTax.DC.gov, by March 31 for the first half of the year or September 15 for the second half.

The program rests on D.C. Code § 47-845.03, which makes the deferred tax, interest and any penalties a lien on the home. They are payable within 30 days after the home is transferred. If the owner dies, the due date depends on how the home passes: for a home in an active probate estate, within one year after the personal representative transfers it; otherwise, within one year of death if the home passes to heirs by trust, transfer on death deed or a similar instrument, and if it does not, within 90 days of death or 30 days after a transfer, whichever is sooner.

Losing the deduction and penalties

You must tell OTR when your home stops qualifying. D.C. Code § 47-850.02 provides: "If a real property no longer qualifies as a homestead, the applicant (or current owner if there is no applicant) shall notify the Mayor of the date of the change in eligibility within 30 days after the change in eligibility." OTR's cancellation form for this is ASD-105.

Missing that notice is expensive. Under the same section, if the notice is not timely, "the deduction shall be rescinded without limitation for each tax year," and penalty and interest run from the date the correct tax was due. A former owner can be personally liable for tax resulting from an erroneous deduction after the property is transferred, and you can seek administrative review within 45 days of a rescission or denial notice.

Timing also matters. Under § 47-850.02(b)(4) and (5), a change in eligibility from October 1 through March 31 ends the deduction for that whole tax year, while a change from April 1 through September 30 leaves half the deduction, applied to the first installment only. A sale of the home follows its own half-year rule in § 47-850.02(b)(6). If you notify OTR on time and pay the tax within 30 days of the corresponding bill, the timely notice precludes penalty and interest under § 47-850.02(b)(3).

Claiming more than one homestead in a year without timely notice causes every homestead claimed to be disallowed under D.C. Code § 47-850.04.

Does the D.C. homestead protect your home from creditors?

The property tax deduction does nothing to protect a home from creditors. That protection comes from a different law, D.C. Code § 15-501(a)(14), which exempts "the debtor's aggregate interest in real property used as the residence of the debtor," along with an interest in a cooperative used as a residence and a burial plot.

The text sets no dollar cap and no acreage limit. It does carve out secured debts: the exemption does not "impair the following debt instruments on real property: deed of trust, mortgage, mechanic's lien, or tax lien." So a mortgage lender or a tax lien holder can still reach the home.

Two more limits sit in the same section. Section 15-501(a) protects the property of the head of a family or a householder who lives in the District, or who earns most of their living there. And under § 15-501(b), the listed property is not exempt against a debt for the wages of servants, common laborers or clerks, except clothing, beds, bedding and household furniture.

You do not record a declaration to claim it. The exemption provisions in Title 15, chapter 5, subchapter I run only from § 15-501 through § 15-503, and none of them provides for a homestead declaration.

Bankruptcy adds federal rules. Federal law can limit a homestead exemption for an interest acquired within 1,215 days before filing (11 U.S.C. § 522(p)), and the D.C. exemption subchapter does not bar D.C. debtors from choosing the federal exemption list under 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(2). In bankruptcy, D.C.'s exemptions generally apply if D.C. was your domicile for the 730 days before you file; if your domicile was not in one place for that whole period, the law of the place where you lived for most of the 180 days before it applies (11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(3)(A)). For how those choices work in a case, see our guide to bankruptcy in the District of Columbia.

Probate homestead allowance

When a D.C. resident dies, D.C. Code § 19-101.02 provides: "A decedent's surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner is entitled to a homestead allowance of $30,000." This is a probate allowance, not a property tax benefit. For how it fits into an estate, see our guide to probate in the District of Columbia.

Finding your property record

To look up a D.C. property's deed and assessment records, see our guide to District of Columbia property records. For questions about any of these programs, OTR's Customer Service Center is at (202) 727-4TAX (727-4829).

Related

• Homestead exemptions by state
• District of Columbia bankruptcy laws
• District of Columbia probate
• District of Columbia property records

This article provides general legal information about District of Columbia law, including D.C. Code §§ 47-850, 47-850.02, 47-863, 47-864, 15-501 and 19-101.02, as verified on 2026-10-08. It is not tax or legal advice. For your specific situation, contact the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue or a lawyer licensed in the District of Columbia.

Last updated: 2026-10-08.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is the homestead deduction in D.C.?

For tax year 2026, OTR says the Homestead Deduction reduces a qualifying home's assessed value by $91,950, which OTR puts at a $781.58 saving on the annual bill. D.C. Code § 47-850(a) indexes the amount each year, so it changes by tax year.

When is the deadline to file for the homestead deduction in D.C.?

There is no single deadline. Under D.C. Code § 47-850(c), an approved application filed October 1 through March 31 gets the deduction for the whole tax year, and one filed April 1 through September 30 gets half the deduction, for the second installment only.

Do I have to reapply for the homestead deduction every year in D.C.?

No. Under D.C. Code § 47-850.02, the ASD-100 application applies to the first tax year and every later tax year for which the deduction is allowed. You must notify OTR within 30 days if the home stops qualifying.

Is the D.C. homestead deduction automatic?

No. You must file Form ASD-100 with OTR, online at MyTax.DC.gov. The assessment cap credit under D.C. Code § 47-864 is the part that applies automatically, once the home receives the deduction.

What is the income limit for D.C. senior citizen property tax relief?

For tax year 2026, OTR requires total household federal adjusted gross income for 2024 of less than $163,500. Eligible owners who are 65 or older or permanently and totally disabled receive a 50 percent deduction in computing real property tax under D.C. Code § 47-863.

Can a disabled veteran in D.C. get a bigger homestead deduction?

OTR lists a $445,000 reduction in assessed value for qualifying disabled veterans, and since October 1, 2025 for an eligible surviving spouse. It replaces the regular Homestead Deduction, senior or disabled relief and the assessment cap credit, and the application goes to the Office of Veterans Affairs.

What happens if I keep the homestead deduction after I move out?

D.C. Code § 47-850.02 requires notice to OTR within 30 days of the change. Without timely notice, the deduction is rescinded for each tax year without limitation, with penalty and interest from the original due date.

Does the D.C. homestead deduction protect my house from creditors?

No. Creditor protection comes from D.C. Code § 15-501(a)(14), a separate law that exempts the residence of a head of a family or householder with no dollar cap in its text, but does not impair a deed of trust, mortgage, mechanic's lien or tax lien.