U.S. · Ohio · Property tax · 2027
Ohio homestead deadline, 2027.
Ohio’s deadline is the last day of the year you want the reduction for. File with the county auditor, once, and it continues.
December 31 of the year the reduction is sought. ORC 323.153(A)(3) says the application, including a late one, is filed on or before the thirty-first day of December of the year for which the reduction is sought. You file with your county auditor, and it is a continuing application.
Count the days
Days to December 31
The rule
Ohio’s homestead program is the reduction in real property taxes in Ohio Revised Code 323.152, applied for under 323.153. The owner files an application with the county auditor of the county where the homestead is located. Section 323.153(A)(3) says the original application and any later application, including a late application, is a signed statement filed on or before the thirty-first day of December of the year for which the reduction is sought. For the 2027 filing year that is December 31, 2027. If you want the reduction for 2026, the date is December 31, 2026, which is close if you are reading this in November 2026.
Who qualifies for the main reduction
Section 323.152(A)(1) applies to a person who is permanently and totally disabled, a person who is 65 or older, or the surviving spouse of someone who was disabled or 65 or older and who applied and qualified in the year of death, if the surviving spouse is at least 59 but not yet 65 on the date the spouse dies. The reduction equals a formula: $25,000 of the true value of the property, multiplied by the assessment percentage (not to exceed 35 percent), the effective tax rate and an adjustment for other reductions. The $25,000 figure and the income limit are adjusted each year for inflation under division (A)(1)(d), and the tax commissioner certifies the adjusted amounts to county auditors by December 1.
People who did not already receive the reduction in the years the statute names must also have total income that does not exceed $30,000 as adjusted under that division. The adjusted figure for a given year is certified by the tax commissioner, so check the current amount with your county auditor rather than relying on the statute’s base number. Disabled veterans and the surviving spouses of disabled veterans get a larger reduction based on $50,000 of true value, in place of the other reductions, and so do surviving spouses of public service officers killed in the line of duty.
The 2.5 percent reduction for any homestead
Division (B) gives a separate partial reduction to any homestead: 2.5 percent of the taxes to be levied by qualifying levies. Under 323.153(A)(2) an application for it is filed only if the homestead was transferred in the preceding year or did not receive the reduction for the preceding tax year. For a transferred home, the application can be built into the conveyance paperwork the county auditor uses. If you bought your home in 2026 and live in it, make sure the owner-occupant application is made.
Continuing application and late filing
An application under division (A) of 323.152 constitutes a continuing application for each year in which the dwelling is your homestead, so you do not refile every year. You do have to tell the county auditor when you stop qualifying. For a missed year, 323.153(B) lets you file a late application for the year before the year of an original application, together with the original application. If the auditor finds the information correct, the reduction for that preceding year is treated as an overpayment of taxes and refunded. That gives one year of reach-back, not more.
Worked example
You turn 65 in September 2026, own your home and live in it. To have the reduction apply for 2026 you file the signed application with your county auditor on or before December 31, 2026. If you file on January 15, 2027 instead, the original application is for 2027, and 323.153(B) allows a late application for 2026 filed with it, which is then refunded as an overpayment if the auditor agrees. Either way you do not need to file again in 2028 while you still qualify.
How the tool works
The tool applies the December 31 rule to the date you enter, or to today in your browser, and counts calendar days. The statute fixes December 31, so the date is not projected. It does not account for a county auditor’s office being closed on that day, so file earlier.
Limits of this page
We read the statute through Internet Archive copies of the Ohio Laws pages because the live site refused our connection, so check the current text with your county auditor. We do not model the income limit or the dollar amount of your reduction, which depend on the year’s certified figures and your levy rates.
Sources
Sources opened and read in November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Ohio homestead exemption deadline for 2027?
December 31 of the year the reduction is sought, under ORC 323.153(A)(3). To get the reduction for 2027, file on or before December 31, 2027; for 2026, December 31, 2026.
Where do I file the Ohio homestead exemption?
With the auditor of the county where your homestead is located. A housing cooperative occupant files through the cooperative, which files with the county auditor by May 15.
Who qualifies for the Ohio homestead exemption?
Under ORC 323.152(A)(1), people who are 65 or older, permanently and totally disabled, or certain surviving spouses, subject to an income limit that is adjusted each year for people not already receiving the reduction.
Do I have to reapply every year in Ohio?
No. An application under division (A) of 323.152 is a continuing application for each year the dwelling is your homestead, but you must notify the auditor if you stop qualifying.
Can I file late for last year in Ohio?
Yes, for one year. Section 323.153(B) allows a late application for the year before the year of the original application to be filed with it, and an approved reduction is refunded as an overpayment.
Is there an Ohio homestead reduction for everyone?
There is a 2.5 percent reduction on qualifying levies for any homestead under 323.152(B), applied for only if the home was transferred in the preceding year or did not already receive it.
Does this page file my application?
No. It counts days to December 31 in your browser. You file with your county auditor.
Not legal, tax or benefits advice
This page is general information drawn from the sources listed, not legal, tax or benefits advice, and it is not run by any government agency. Rules, forms and dates change and your state or county decides your case, so confirm with the office named on this page before you rely on it. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.