REAL PROPERTY TAX RELIEF AND EXEMPTIONS

If you are not currently receiving a home exemption, you may file a claim for the exemption to reduce the real property assessment on your home. To be eligible, you must occupy your property as your principal home for more than 270 days of a calendar year and file an income tax return as a full-time resident of the State of Hawaii with a reported address in the County the year prior to the effective date of the exemption. You must possess a valid Hawaii driver’s license, Hawaii State ID, green card, or military orders indicating assigned station in the County. For the exemption to be effective in the next year 2024-2025, the claim must be filed by September 30, 2023.
Others who may be eligible for an exemption and are affected by the September 30, 2023 deadline include Hansen’s disease sufferers, totally disabled veterans, property owners who are deaf, blind or totally disabled, nonprofit organizations, low & moderate-income housing projects, homes with a safe room, kuleana, and owner occupants whose combined gross income is less than or equal to $96,600. Other tax relief programs affected by the September 30, 2023 deadline are long term affordable rentals and home preservation tax limitation.
In order to qualify for an exemption or tax relief, the document by which the property was acquired (i.e., deed, lease, agreement of sale, etc.) must be recorded at the Bureau of Conveyances on or before September 30, 2023. To expedite the filing process, the claimant should know the tax map key number of the property.
A change in ownership or use, such as the sale or rental of the property, voids the exemption and must be reported to the assessor within 30 days. Failure to notify the assessor of the change subjects the claimant to back taxes and a civil penalty for each year that the change remains unreported.
Exemption and tax relief forms are available at 4444 Rice St., Suite A-454, Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii 96766 or online at www.kauaipropertytax.com. Certain forms are also available for online submission at https://connect.kauai.gov. For additional information, call 241-4224.
(TGI1427042 9/13, 9/15/23)