text of "Homestead Deduction Lake Co. Indiana" with real estate agent Tony Anczer pointing to the text. The backround is blue, "homestead deduction" is in lime green, "Lake Co. Indiana" is in blue. Tony Anczer is wearing a suit

How To File A Lake County Indiana Homestead Property Tax Deduction

In this post we explain everything you need to know about how to file for your Lake County Indiana homestead property tax deduction.  As you may know, in Lake County Indiana, if you do not have the homestead deduction, then your property tax cap is 2% of assessed value plus “voter approved projects” (such as a school referendum.)  With a homestad exemption your tax cap is 1% of assessed value plus voter approved projects.  So, having the homestead exemption will save you just about half the amount you would pay for property taxes without the exemption.

 

As a quick story of a friend who forgot about filing for their homestead exemption – i was helping them get ready to sell and in that process have to lookup their taxes, and saw that they never applied for the homestead exemption, and over the years they lived in that house, ended up paying about $30,000 in taxes that they weren’t required to if they filed their homestead exemption.

What Information Is Needed To File?

  • Your Driver’s license or State ID, phone number, and e-mail address
  • Your Spouse’s drivers license number or state ID, phone number, and e-mail address
  • Smartphone for 2 factor authentication (to scan a QR code)
  • Credit card to pay the sub $7.00 online filing fee
  • Address of property

Where to go to file online?

Things to know when filing online

  • The Auditor’s office needs time to review your homestead deduction application after you submit it, so be aware that you aren’t fully done with this process until you receive notification from the Auditor’s office that they have approved your application and have applied the deduction to your property taxes.
  • Be sure to keep a copy of the approval email in case there is a mistake and the homestead deduction does not get applied – then you will need the approval email to prove that you filed on time and the Auditor will need this proof in order to correct this issue and to credit you back any overage you may have paid.

What happens after filing?

  • After filing online, vie email you will receive an attachment called “Claim For Homestead Property Tax Standard / Supplemental Deduction”.  This linked document is the copy that I received when filing for my homestead exemption in December 2024.  Note that this is not confirmation that your application was succesful, but is only confirmation that you succuessfully completed the application and that the Auditor’s office received your application.
  • Within 5-7 business days you will receive a second email that confirms your deduction application was approved.  If your application is disapproved you will receive an email with details of disapproval.

Here is my YouTube video walking through the homestead exemption filing process step-by-step.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Get The Mortgage Deduction?

As of 2023, the mortgage deduction has gone away.  The homestead deduction was increased to offset removal of the mortgage deduction.

Are There Other Deductions I May Qualify For?

Lake County Indiana (and most all counties) have a number of deductions that you may also qualify for.  The Auditor’s website pag that discusses the available deductions can be found here, and the County’s PDF document discussing the various deductions is here.  The list of available deductions include:

  • Over age 65 ($14,000 or half of the assessed value of the property)
  • Blind/Disabled ($12,480)
  • Disabled Veteran (Up to $14,000 and/or $24,960)
  • Solar/Wind/Geothermal Device

If I Forget To File My Homestead Deductions (or other deductions), Can I Get The Money Back

Generally speaking, no – you will not be able to get money back or a credit back for not filing for a deduction that you qualified for.  If you did file and the County did not apply the deduction, you can get that money back if you have proof that you successfully applied for and that county approved the deduction application.