West Virginia Homestead Exemption: Amount, Deadline and How to Apply

West Virginia's homestead exemption removes the first $20,000 of assessed value from the property tax on a home owned and occupied by someone who is 65 or older or certified as permanently and totally disabled (W. Va. Code § 11-6B-3). It is not available to every homeowner. You claim it with the assessor of the county where the home sits, on or before December 1 following the July 1 assessment day (§ 11-6B-4), and it then applies to the next tax year. For how other states handle this, see our guide to homestead exemptions by state.

Information last verified on October 8, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers West Virginia's property tax homestead exemption under W. Va. Code chapter 11, article 6B and W. Va. Const. art. X, § 1b; the related income tax credits in W. Va. Code §§ 11-21-21, 11-21-23 and 11-13MM-4; and, separately, the creditor and bankruptcy homestead in W. Va. Code chapter 38, articles 9 and 10. It does not cover county levy rates, business or commercial property, probate rights, or other states' laws.

How much is the West Virginia homestead exemption?

The exemption is the first $20,000 of the home's assessed value. Section 11-6B-3(a) says:

"An exemption from ad valorem property taxes shall be allowed for the first $20,000 of assessed value of a homestead that is used and occupied by the owner thereof exclusively for residential purposes, when such owner is sixty-five years of age or older or is certified as being permanently and totally disabled" (W. Va. Code § 11-6B-3)

The figure is a slice of assessed value, not market value. West Virginia's constitution says "all property subject to ad valorem taxation shall be assessed at sixty percent of its value" (W. Va. Const. art. X, § 1b), and the $20,000 comes off that assessed figure.

The assessor applies it as a line on the property books: "The exemption of the first $20,000 assessed value shall be shown on the property books as a deduction from the total assessed value of the homestead" (W. Va. Code § 11-6B-7). If $20,000 exceeds the home's total assessed value, no tax is levied on it, and the sheriff issues a statement that no taxes are due.

What counts as a homestead

Section 11-6B-2 defines the property broadly enough to include manufactured housing on rented land:

"Homestead" means a single family residential house, including a mobile or manufactured or modular home, and the land surrounding such structure; or a mobile or manufactured or modular home regardless of whether the land upon which such mobile or manufactured or modular home is situated is owned or leased. (W. Va. Code § 11-6B-2)

Who is eligible for the homestead exemption in West Virginia

Every one of these conditions comes from W. Va. Code §§ 11-6B-2 and 11-6B-3:

• Age or disability. The owner is 65 or older, which includes someone who turns 65 on or before the June 30 following the July 1 assessment day, or is certified as permanently and totally disabled.
• Residential use. The home is used and occupied by the owner exclusively for residential purposes. It must have been the owner's abode for more than six consecutive months of the calendar year before the application, with no commercial use.
• Residency. The owner "has been or will be a resident of the State of West Virginia for the two consecutive calendar years preceding the tax year." Two exceptions apply: a former resident who returns and re-establishes residency within five years and lived in West Virginia for two of the ten calendar years before the tax year, and a service member who was a West Virginia resident on entering active duty, kept West Virginia residency throughout, and returns and buys a homestead on retirement or on earlier separation for a permanent and total disability.
• No exemption elsewhere. An owner who receives a similar exemption in another state cannot claim this one, and the application must carry a sworn affidavit saying so.

One exemption covers a home no matter how many owners live there: "Only one exemption shall be allowed for each homestead used and occupied exclusively for residential purposes by the owner thereof, regardless of the number of qualified owners residing therein" (§ 11-6B-3).

An owner who moves because of illness, accident or infirmity to a family member's home, or to a nursing, personal care or rehabilitation facility, may keep the exemption if the property is kept for noncommercial purposes.

Owners under 65

There is no statewide exemption for owners under 65 who are not disabled. The constitution (art. X, § 1b) authorizes the Legislature to create an exemption of up to $20,000 for those owners, but article 11-6B, read section by section (§§ 11-6B-1 through 11-6B-12, with § 11-6B-8 repealed), contains no such exemption.

How and when to apply for the West Virginia homestead exemption

The exemption is not automatic. Section 11-6B-4 requires a claim:

"No exemption shall be allowed under this article unless a claim of exemption is filed with the assessor of the county in which the homestead is located, on or before December 1, following the July first assessment day." (W. Va. Code § 11-6B-4)

The deadline is firm: "Any person not filing his or her claim for exemption on or before December 1, shall be determined to have waived his or her right to exemption for the next tax year." Sections 11-6B-4 and 11-6B-5 contain no late-filing provision, so if you missed the date, ask your assessor what applies to the following year.

Where to file. File with your county assessor. The West Virginia Tax Division keeps a county assessor directory.

The form. Our research found no statewide form number. The law makes the Tax Commissioner responsible for the paperwork ("The Tax Commissioner shall prescribe and supply all necessary instructions and forms for administration of this article," § 11-6B-9), and you get the claim form from your county assessor.

Proof of disability. A claim based on disability must include one of the kinds of documentation listed in § 11-6B-4(b). They are a physician's certification, a Social Security Administration certification, an SSA award letter with a voided check, a Medicare card with a voided check, a Veterans Administration certification, workers' compensation or pneumoconiosis documentation, or other lawfully recognized documentation.

Do you have to reapply?

Owners 65 or older file once: "If the claimant is age sixty-five or older, then after the claimant has filed for the exemption once with his or her assessor, there shall be no need for that claimant to refile unless the claimant moves to a new homestead" (§ 11-6B-4).

Disabled claimants also file once and do not refile unless they move. They sign a statement that they will notify the assessor within thirty days if they stop receiving the disability benefits used as documentation.

If the assessor denies your claim

"The assessor shall, as soon as practicable after a claim for exemption is filed, review that claim and either approve or deny it" (W. Va. Code § 11-6B-5). A denial notice goes out by January 1 with a form to appeal to the county commission. You have 30 days after receiving the written notice to appeal; the commission must decide by February 28 of the tax year, and the assessor or the claimant can then ask the circuit court to review its decision (W. Va. Code § 11-6B-6).

Moving, selling or inheriting the home

The exemption does not follow you automatically. "An exemption shall not be transferred to another homestead until the following July first" (§ 11-6B-3).

When the home passes to someone else by deed or by will, the exemption is removed on the next July 1 unless the new owner meets the requirements and claims it.

Is there a cap on assessment increases?

Not in the provisions that govern the homestead exemption. Article X, § 1b of the constitution, read through subsections A to F, sets assessment at 60% of value, requires periodic statewide reappraisal, creates the homestead exemption, and provides a ten-year phase-in that applied only to the first statewide reappraisal. Article 11-6B contains no cap or freeze. This page does not cover the reappraisal statutes elsewhere in chapter 11.

Property tax credits for seniors, low-income homeowners and disabled veterans

Three refundable income tax credits work alongside the exemption. All are claimed from the West Virginia Tax Division, not the assessor.

Senior Citizens Tax Credit (W. Va. Code § 11-21-21)

This credit refunds the property tax paid on the slice of value the exemption covers. Section 11-21-21 allows "a refundable credit against the taxes imposed by this article equal to the amount of ad valorem property taxes paid on up to the first $20,000 of taxable assessed value of the homestead for property tax years that begin on or after January 1, 2007" (W. Va. Code § 11-21-21).

To claim it, you must be allowed the $20,000 homestead exemption and be low income, which the statute defines as federal adjusted gross income "one hundred fifty percent or less of the federal poverty guideline for the year in which property tax was paid, based upon the number of individuals in the family unit residing in the homestead." The Tax Division's 2025 income table, the current table at the time of our research, sets these limits (WV Tax Division):

Claim it on Form SCTC-A or through the MyTaxes portal option "Claim The Motor Vehicle and/or Senior Citizen Property Tax Credit(s)." The claim must be made within three years after the due date of the income tax return. A credit under $10 is not refunded, and anyone required to pay the federal alternative minimum tax cannot claim it.

Homestead Excess Property Tax Credit (W. Va. Code § 11-21-23)

This credit is not limited to seniors, but for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2012 it is limited to low-income homeowners. Section 11-21-23 gives "any low income homeowner living in his or her homestead in this state" a refundable credit equal to the real property taxes paid, minus any Senior Citizens Tax Credit, that exceed four percent of gross household income, and "no credit may be taken under this section for any homestead which is owned, in whole or in part, by any person who is not a low income person" (W. Va. Code § 11-21-23). Low income means federal adjusted gross income "three hundred percent or less of the federal poverty guideline for the year in which property tax was paid," based on the number of people in the family unit living in the homestead. The statute also caps the credit: "No homeowner may receive a refundable tax credit imposed by this article in excess of $1,000."

For property taxes paid in 2025, the Tax Division lists these income limits (its page explains which income measure applies to your return):

The Tax Division states that "The maximum credit cannot exceed $1,000" and gives the current test as "your property taxes paid in 2025 must have exceeded 4% of your income in 2024" (WV Tax Division). It is claimed on Schedule HEPTC-1 with the personal income tax return, within twelve months after the real property taxes are paid. Alternative minimum tax payers are disqualified.

Since 2012 a homeowner may take both credits, with the § 11-21-21 credit figured first. The Tax Division says neither credit can be taken by someone claiming the Disabled Veteran Real Property Tax Credit, described next.

Disabled Veteran Real Property Tax Credit (W. Va. Code § 11-13MM-4)

A veteran "given an honorable discharge from any branch of the armed services of the United States" who "has been rated as having a 90 percent or greater service-connected disability by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or meets the eligibility requirements for individual unemployability" (W. Va. Code § 11-13MM-2) can claim a refundable income tax credit "equal to the amount of West Virginia ad valorem real property taxes timely paid a county sheriff on a homestead which is used or occupied exclusively for residential purposes" during the taxable year (W. Va. Code § 11-13MM-4). Untimely, delinquent or back taxes do not count. The credit ends on the veteran's death, the sale of the property, or an assessor's finding that the property no longer qualifies, but the unmarried surviving spouse of a veteran who received it "may continue to receive the tax credit until his or her death or remarriage."

The Tax Division's 2025 Form DV-1 instructions say to file Form IT-140 and Form DV-1, submit a copy of your tax receipt, and include a VA disability rating letter the first year you claim the credit. They also state: "You cannot take the Senior Citizen's Tax Credit (SCTC-A) or the Homestead Excess Property Tax Credit (HEPTC) if you are claiming the Disabled Veteran Real Property Tax Credit."

Penalties for false claims and unreported changes

Article 11-6B treats wrongful claims as crimes rather than as a back-tax lien (W. Va. Code § 11-6B-10):

• Willfully fraudulent claims. Filing one, or knowingly helping someone file one, is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $50 to $150, up to six months in county jail, or both.
• Failing to report a change. A claimant who does not notify the assessor, before the next July 1, that title has transferred, that the home is no longer used and occupied exclusively as the claimant's residence, or that the claimant is no longer permanently and totally disabled "shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year or both."
• Restitution. On conviction, the court must order restitution to the state of all taxes not paid because of the improper exemption, plus interest.

Separately, an assessor who reasonably believes a claimant is no longer eligible may deny the exemption on the next assessment date (§ 11-6B-5(b)).

Proposed increases that did not become law

Several 2025 and 2026 proposals to raise the exemption failed. The $20,000 figure in § 11-6B-3 is the law.

• 2026 SB 144, titled "Providing phased-in increase in homestead exemption," would have raised the exempt amount to not less than $40,000 of assessed value, taking effect only on ratification of a constitutional amendment. It passed the Senate on March 4, 2026 (Roll No. 321) and was referred to House Finance on March 5, 2026, with no later action (bill history).
• 2025 SB 724, which also amended §§ 11-6B-3 and 11-6B-7, passed the Senate on March 29, 2025 (Roll No. 227) and stopped in House Finance (bill history).
• 2026 HJR 42, the proposed "Homestead Exemption Increase Amendment," would have raised the constitutional exemption for owners 65 or older or permanently and totally disabled from $20,000 to $50,000 of assessed valuation. The House adopted it on March 4, 2026 (Roll No. 278), and the Senate adopted it with an amended title on March 13, 2026 (Roll No. 589). The last recorded action is "Senate requests House to concur" on March 13, 2026, and no House concurrence is shown (resolution history). The Legislature's record therefore does not show it as a measure passed for the ballot.

West Virginia homestead protection from creditors (a different law)

West Virginia also protects home equity from creditors. This is a separate law with separate figures, and none of them change your property tax.

Against judgment creditors: $5,000 (W. Va. Code § 38-9-3)

"a homestead shall be exempt up to the value of $5,000 from all debts and liabilities, except debts incurred for the purchase money thereof, or for the erection of permanent improvements thereon, and claims for taxes or county or district or municipal levies due thereon" (W. Va. Code § 38-9-3)

The protection belongs to a husband, wife, parent or other head of household residing in West Virginia, or to the infant children of deceased or insane parents (§ 38-9-1). Value means fair market value less all liens other than judicial liens. The law defines the homestead as "property owned and used as the principal home for the debtor, his spouse or a dependent, or any or all of them, whether classified as real property, chattel real, a fixture or personal property" (§ 38-9-2). There is no acreage limit, only a dollar limit.

Section 38-9-3(b) adds up to $7,500 more against debts for hospital or medical expenses from a catastrophic illness or injury, under conditions set out in that subsection.

The current exemption arises by operation of law, so no recorded declaration is needed. It does not defeat liens, debts and liabilities contracted before the article took effect. A waiver of the exemption is void, except where it is tied to a consensual security interest (such as a mortgage) that cannot be satisfied without reaching the exempt value (§ 38-9-6).

In bankruptcy: $35,000 (W. Va. Code § 38-10-4)

In a bankruptcy case, West Virginia's exemption list protects:

"The debtor's interest, not to exceed $35,000 in value, in real property or personal property that the debtor or a dependent of the debtor uses as a residence, in a cooperative that owns property that the debtor or a dependent of the debtor uses as a residence, or in a burial plot for the debtor or a dependent of the debtor" (W. Va. Code § 38-10-4(a))

A separate limit of up to $250,000 per household applies to certain physicians whose bankruptcy follows a medical malpractice judgment, under conditions in the same subsection that include holding malpractice insurance of at least $1 million per occurrence.

The 2021 act that set the $35,000 figure, HB 2730, also describes itself in its enrolled title as allowing a debtor in bankruptcy to use the federal exemptions under 11 U.S.C. § 522(d) (HB 2730, enrolled). Section 38-10-4(k) now reads:

"Solely for the purpose of applying the provisions of 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(2) in a federal bankruptcy proceeding and only to the extent otherwise allowed by applicable federal law, an individual debtor domiciled in this state may exempt from property of the debtor's bankruptcy estate the property specified under 11 U.S.C. § 522(d)."

Older lists of states that bar the federal exemptions predate this change. A 2023 act amended § 38-10-4 again, and § 38-10-4(l) applies those amendments to bankruptcies filed on or after their effective date. A 2026 bill to let a surviving spouse claim a deceased spouse's bankruptcy homestead exemption, HB 5393, was introduced and referred to committee, with no enactment shown (bill history). For which exemption list fits a particular case, and how to use it, see West Virginia bankruptcy law and talk with a bankruptcy lawyer.

Probate and inherited homes

This page does not cover what a surviving spouse or children may claim from an estate. One creditor-homestead rule does apply at death: the benefit of the $5,000 creditor homestead "shall descend to his or her minor children" and lasts until all of them reach 21, unless they die sooner (W. Va. Code § 38-9-5). For what a surviving spouse or children may claim from an estate, see West Virginia probate. For a home inherited by will, remember the property tax rule above: the exemption comes off on the next July 1 unless the new owner claims it.

Related

• Homestead exemptions by state
• West Virginia bankruptcy law
• West Virginia probate
• West Virginia property records

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about West Virginia's homestead exemption under W. Va. Code chapter 11, article 6B, the related credits in chapter 11, articles 21 and 13MM, and the creditor and bankruptcy homestead in chapter 38. It is not tax or legal advice. The information was verified on October 8, 2026. For your specific situation, contact your county assessor, the West Virginia Tax Division, or a lawyer licensed in West Virginia.

Last updated: October 8, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is the homestead exemption in West Virginia?

It exempts the first $20,000 of a home's assessed value from property tax, shown on the property books as a deduction from total assessed value (W. Va. Code 11-6B-3 and 11-6B-7). It is available only to owner-occupants who are 65 or older or certified as permanently and totally disabled.

When is the deadline to file for homestead exemption in West Virginia?

File with your county assessor on or before December 1 following the July 1 assessment day. A person who misses December 1 is treated as having waived the exemption for the next tax year (W. Va. Code 11-6B-4).

Do I have to reapply for homestead exemption every year in West Virginia?

No. An owner 65 or older files once and does not refile unless moving to a new homestead. A disabled claimant also files once but signs a statement promising to notify the assessor within 30 days if the disability benefits used as documentation stop (W. Va. Code 11-6B-4).

Can I get the West Virginia homestead exemption if I am under 65?

Only if you are certified as permanently and totally disabled. The state constitution (art. X, sec. 1b) authorizes the Legislature to create an under-65 exemption of up to $20,000, but article 11-6B contains no such exemption.

Did West Virginia raise the homestead exemption to $40,000 or $50,000?

No. 2026 SB 144 (not less than $40,000, contingent on a constitutional amendment) and 2025 SB 724 passed only the Senate, and 2026 HJR 42 (a $50,000 constitutional amendment) shows no House concurrence after the Senate amended it. The code still sets $20,000 (W. Va. Code 11-6B-3).

I just moved to West Virginia. Can I claim the homestead exemption?

Generally not right away. The owner must have been a West Virginia resident for the two consecutive calendar years before the tax year; exceptions cover a former resident who returns within five years and lived in the state for two of the ten calendar years before the tax year, and a service member who was a resident on entering active duty, kept West Virginia residency and returns to buy a homestead on retirement or disability separation (W. Va. Code 11-6B-3).

Is there extra property tax help for low-income seniors in West Virginia?

Yes. Owners who receive the homestead exemption and have federal adjusted gross income at or below 150% of the federal poverty guideline can claim the refundable Senior Citizens Tax Credit for property tax paid on up to the first $20,000 of taxable assessed value (W. Va. Code 11-21-21), using Form SCTC-A or the MyTaxes portal.

Does the West Virginia homestead exemption protect my house from creditors?

The property tax exemption does not. A separate law exempts a homestead up to $5,000 in value from most debts, except purchase-money debts, debts for permanent improvements and taxes on the property (W. Va. Code 38-9-3). In bankruptcy, a debtor's interest in a residence is exempt up to $35,000 (W. Va. Code 38-10-4(a)).