Massachusetts · Property tax exemptions · Updated Oct 2026
Massachusetts property tax exemptions
Homestead, senior, veteran, disability and surviving-spouse breaks in Massachusetts: what each one is worth, who qualifies, how to apply and the deadline, in plain English.
Set locallyhomestead exemption
Yessenior break
Up to full exemptiondisabled veterans
April 1homestead deadline
1.07%median tax rate
Exemptions by group
Every break for one group on one page, with step-by-step instructions and the tools set for that group.
Your city or town board of assessors decides every property tax exemption and deferral. You apply to your local assessors' office each fiscal year (July 1 - June 30); the state Department of Revenue (DOR) sets the rules but cannot grant exemptions.
Some amounts depend on where you live. In Massachusetts, some of these breaks or their amounts are set or adjusted by your county, city or town, as each exemption below explains. Ask your local assessor for the figure that applies to your home.
Property tax exemptions in Massachusetts
Homestead
Residential Exemption (local option)
Only in cities and towns that adopt it. It takes up to 35% of the average residential assessed value in your town off the taxable value of your home. Your taxable value cannot go below 10% of full value. Example: in Boston it saved qualified homeowners up to $4,353.74 last fiscal year.
Who qualifies
Owners whose home is their principal residence for Massachusetts income tax purposes, in a city or town that has adopted the exemption (Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and some others). In Boston, owners who buy before July 1 can qualify for that fiscal year.
How to apply
File a residential exemption application with your local assessors. Boston: Assessing Department, Room 301, One City Hall Square, Boston, MA 02201, or online; call TRAC at (617) 635-4287.
Deadline
Boston FY2027 (July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027): April 1, 2027. Other towns: generally April 1 or three months after actual tax bills are mailed, if later.
Renewal
Varies by town; in Boston, once granted it generally continues while you own and live in the home. Ask your assessors.
Senior Exemptions (Clauses 41, 41B, 41C, 41C½; alternative Clause 17D)
Clauses 41, 41B and 41C: $500 off your tax bill; towns may raise 41C up to $1,000. Clause 41C½: 5% of the town's average residential value, up to 20% if the town votes. Example: Boston (Clause 41C, FY2027) gives $1,000 plus up to another $1,000 of city relief.
Who qualifies
You are 70 or older on July 1 of the tax year (towns can lower the age to 65 for 41C and 41C½; Boston uses 65). You own and live in the home as your domicile on July 1. For 41B, 41C and 41C½ you must have lived in Massachusetts for 10 straight years and owned and occupied a Massachusetts home for any 5 years. Your ownership share must be worth at least $4,000 (41, 41B, 41C). Seniors 70+ who miss the income limits may get the smaller Clause 17/17D exemption.
Income limit
Set by clause and by town. Clause 41 starts at $6,000 single / $7,000 married; 41C½ can go up to the Circuit Breaker limit. Example, Boston Clause 41C for FY2027: gross income up to $26,687 single or $40,031 married (including the Social Security allowance) and assets (not counting the home) up to $41,080 single or $56,485 married.
How to apply
File the exemption application with your local assessors. Bring birth certificate, proof of ownership and domicile, prior-year income tax returns, and bank and other asset statements.
Deadline
April 1, or three months after actual tax bills are mailed, whichever is later. Assessors cannot accept late applications for any reason.
Renewal
Every year (Boston mails renewal forms to past recipients, but you are responsible for filing).
Base amounts off your tax bill: Clause 22 $400 (10%+ service-connected disability, Purple Heart, Gold Star parents and others); 22A $750 (loss or loss of use of one hand, foot or eye, certain medals, POWs); 22B $1,250 (loss of both); 22C $1,500 (specially adapted housing); 22E $1,000 (100% service-connected disability); 22F full exemption (paraplegic or 100% service-connected blindness); 22D full exemption for unremarried surviving spouses of service members and veterans whose death was caused by an active-duty injury or illness, or who are missing in action and presumed dead. Since the 2024 HERO Act, towns may also index Clauses 22-22F to inflation every year (Clause 22I) and add up to 100% more (Clause 22J). Boston FY2027 gives $423 for Clause 22 and $793-$1,586 for 22A-22E, plus extra city relief.
Who qualifies
Veterans discharged under other than dishonorable conditions who are Massachusetts legal residents, own the home and live in it as their domicile on July 1, and who lived in Massachusetts 6 months before entering service or for 2 straight years before filing (1 year if your town has accepted that option). Spouses who own the home and unremarried surviving spouses of qualifying veterans can also apply (for 22D the surviving spouse must have lived in Massachusetts 2 straight years before filing, or the service member must have been domiciled here).
How to apply
File the veterans exemption application with your local assessors. Bring proof of ownership and domicile and the VA (or service branch) certification of your service-connected disability.
Deadline
April 1, or three months after actual tax bills are mailed, whichever is later. No late filing.
Renewal
You file with the assessors every fiscal year. After the first approval, you usually do not have to prove the disability again (22E requires a yearly statement that your VA rating is still 100%).
Clause 37: $5,000 off the taxable value or $437.50 off the tax, whichever saves more. Towns that accept Clause 37A give $500 off the tax instead. Some towns add more through a local option.
Who qualifies
A Massachusetts legal resident who is legally blind and owns the home (alone or jointly) and lives in it as their domicile on July 1.
How to apply
File the exemption application with your local assessors each year, with proof that you are legally blind and proof of ownership and domicile. Ask your assessors which documents they accept.
Deadline
April 1, or three months after actual tax bills are mailed, whichever is later.
You can put off paying all or part of your property tax each year. The deferred tax plus interest (8%, or less if your town votes) becomes a lien and is due when you sell or die (unless your surviving spouse keeps deferring). Total deferred tax and interest cannot exceed 50% of your share of the home's value.
Who qualifies
Owners 65 or older who own and live in the home as their domicile and meet the residency rules.
Income limit
Prior-year gross receipts of $20,000 or less (combined if married), or up to the Circuit Breaker income limit if your town has voted to raise it (DOR guide, rev. 11/2016).
How to apply
File a deferral application with your local assessors and sign a tax deferral and recovery agreement.
Deadline
April 1, or three months after actual tax bills are mailed, whichever is later.
A refundable state income tax credit when your property tax plus half your water and sewer charges is more than 10% of your income. Maximum credit for tax year 2025: $2,820. You get it even if you owe no income tax.
Who qualifies
Massachusetts residents who are 65 or older by December 31 of the tax year and own or rent their principal residence in Massachusetts.
Income limit
Tax year 2025: total Massachusetts income up to $75,000 single, $94,000 head of household, $112,000 married filing jointly. Home's assessed value (January 1, 2025, before residential exemption) up to $1,298,000.
How to apply
File Schedule CB with your Massachusetts income tax return (Form 1). If you forgot, you can file an amended return with Schedule CB.
With your state income tax return. If you missed it, you can file Schedule CB (on an amended return) within 3 years from the return's due date, not counting extensions.
No cap on how fast a home's assessed value can rise. Proposition 2½ (M.G.L. c. 59, § 21C) limits the total yearly growth of a town's tax levy, not an individual home's value.
Good to know in Massachusetts
With limited exceptions you can get only one Clause 5 personal exemption a year (senior, veteran, etc.); assessors give you the one worth the most, and you can still use the residential exemption and a deferral (DOR guides).
Exemption applications have a hard deadline: April 1 or three months after actual bills are mailed. Assessors may not accept late filings (DOR).
Boston adds extra city relief on top of the state senior and veteran exemptions (City of Boston FY2027 fact sheets).
Savings estimate for Massachusetts
Roughly what an exemption could save you a year: the value it takes off, times your tax rate.
Eligibility finder for Massachusetts
Answer a few questions to see which property tax breaks may fit you. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere.
Document checklist for Massachusetts
Pick the breaks you plan to apply for. You get a checklist of forms, documents, steps and deadlines to print or keep on your phone.
Questions about property tax exemptions in Massachusetts
Is there a homestead exemption in Massachusetts?
Yes: the Residential Exemption (local option). Only in cities and towns that adopt it. It takes up to 35% of the average residential assessed value in your town off the taxable value of your home. Your taxable value cannot go below 10% of full value. Example: in Boston it saved qualified homeowners up to $4,353.74 last fiscal year. Who qualifies: Owners whose home is their principal residence for Massachusetts income tax purposes, in a city or town that has adopted the exemption (Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and some others). In Boston, owners who buy before July 1 can qualify for that fiscal year.
When is the deadline to apply for the homestead exemption in Massachusetts?
Boston FY2027 (July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027): April 1, 2027. Other towns: generally April 1 or three months after actual tax bills are mailed, if later.
Do I have to reapply for the homestead exemption every year in Massachusetts?
Varies by town; in Boston, once granted it generally continues while you own and live in the home. Ask your assessors.
Are there property tax breaks for seniors in Massachusetts?
Senior Exemptions (Clauses 41, 41B, 41C, 41C½; alternative Clause 17D): Clauses 41, 41B and 41C: $500 off your tax bill; towns may raise 41C up to $1,000. Clause 41C½: 5% of the town's average residential value, up to 20% if the town votes. Example: Boston (Clause 41C, FY2027) gives $1,000 plus up to another $1,000 of city relief. Senior Tax Deferral (Clause 41A): You can put off paying all or part of your property tax each year. The deferred tax plus interest (8%, or less if your town votes) becomes a lien and is due when you sell or die (unless your surviving spouse keeps deferring). Total deferred tax and interest cannot exceed 50% of your share of the home's value. Senior Circuit Breaker Tax Credit: A refundable state income tax credit when your property tax plus half your water and sewer charges is more than 10% of your income. Maximum credit for tax year 2025: $2,820. You get it even if you owe no income tax.
Do disabled veterans get a property tax exemption in Massachusetts?
Veterans Exemptions (Clauses 22, 22A-22F, 22H): Base amounts off your tax bill: Clause 22 $400 (10%+ service-connected disability, Purple Heart, Gold Star parents and others); 22A $750 (loss or loss of use of one hand, foot or eye, certain medals, POWs); 22B $1,250 (loss of both); 22C $1,500 (specially adapted housing); 22E $1,000 (100% service-connected disability); 22F full exemption (paraplegic or 100% service-connected blindness); 22D full exemption for unremarried surviving spouses of service members and veterans whose death was caused by an active-duty injury or illness, or who are missing in action and presumed dead. Since the 2024 HERO Act, towns may also index Clauses 22-22F to inflation every year (Clause 22I) and add up to 100% more (Clause 22J). Boston FY2027 gives $423 for Clause 22 and $793-$1,586 for 22A-22E, plus extra city relief.
Is there a limit on how fast my home's taxable value can rise in Massachusetts?
No cap on how fast a home's assessed value can rise. Proposition 2½ (M.G.L. c. 59, § 21C) limits the total yearly growth of a town's tax levy, not an individual home's value.
Where do I apply for property tax exemptions in Massachusetts?
Your city or town board of assessors decides every property tax exemption and deferral. You apply to your local assessors' office each fiscal year (July 1 - June 30); the state Department of Revenue (DOR) sets the rules but cannot grant exemptions.
Think your home’s assessed value is too high? An exemption and an appeal are separate: you can do both.
Median effective tax rate: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2020–2024 5-year estimates, tables B25103 (median real estate taxes paid, owner-occupied homes) and B25077 (median value, owner-occupied homes). The rate is the median tax paid divided by the median home value.