TITLE 63

REVENUE AND TAXATION

CHAPTER 6

EXEMPTIONS FROM TAXATION

63-602G.  Property exempt from taxation — Homestead. (1) For each tax year, the first one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($125,000) of the market value for assessment purposes of the homestead as that term is defined in section 63-701, Idaho Code, or fifty percent (50%) of the market value for assessment purposes of the homestead as that term is defined in section 63-701, Idaho Code, whichever is the lesser, shall be exempt from property taxation.

(2)  The exemption allowed by this section may be granted only if:

(a)  The homestead is owner-occupied and used as the primary dwelling place of the owner. The homestead may consist of part of a multidwelling or multipurpose building and shall include all of such dwelling or building except any portion used exclusively for anything other than the primary dwelling of the owner. The presence of an office in a homestead, which office is used for multiple purposes, including business and personal use, shall not prevent the owner from claiming the exemption provided in this section; and

(b)  The state tax commission has certified to the board of county commissioners that all properties in the county subject to appraisal by the county assessor have, in fact, been appraised uniformly so as to secure a just valuation for all property within the county; and

(c)  The owner has certified to the county assessor that:

(i)   He is making application for the exemption allowed by this section;

(ii)  The homestead is his primary dwelling place; and

(iii) He has not made application in any other county for the exemption and has not made application for the exemption on any other homestead in the county.

(d)  For the purpose of this section, the definition of "owner" shall be the same definition set forth in section 63-701(7), Idaho Code. When an owner, pursuant to the provisions of section 63-701(7), Idaho Code, is any person who is the beneficiary of a revocable or irrevocable trust, or who is a partner of a limited partnership, a member of a limited liability company, or a shareholder of a corporation, he or she may provide proof of the trust, limited partnership, limited liability company, or corporation in the manner set forth in section 63-703(4), Idaho Code.

(e)  Any owner may request in writing the return of all copies of any documents submitted with the affidavit set forth in section 63-703(4), Idaho Code, that are held by a county assessor, and the copies shall be returned by the county assessor upon submission of the affidavit in proper form.

(f)  For the purpose of this section, the definition of "primary dwelling place" shall be the same definition set forth in section 63-701(8), Idaho Code.

(g)  For the purpose of this section, the definition of "occupied" shall be the same definition set forth in section 63-701(6), Idaho Code.

(3)  The county assessor of each county shall prescribe and make available forms to be used by a homeowner to apply for the homestead exemption provided in this section. The homeowner shall provide on such forms the homeowner’s full name, date of birth, complete address, and most recent previous complete address. The homeowner shall also provide, if applicable, such homeowner’s state-issued driver’s license number or state-issued identification card number.

(4)  An owner need make application for the exemption described in subsection (1) of this section only once, as long as all of the following conditions are met:

(a)  The owner has received the exemption during the previous year as a result of making a valid application as set forth in subsection (2)(c) of this section.

(b)  The owner or beneficiary, partner, member or shareholder, as appropriate, still occupies the same homestead for which the owner made application.

(c)  The homestead described in paragraph (b) of this subsection is owner-occupied or occupied by a beneficiary, partner, member or shareholder, as appropriate, and used as the primary dwelling place of the owner or beneficiary, partner, member or shareholder, as appropriate.

(5)  The exemption allowed by this section shall be effective upon the date of the application and must be taken before the reduction in taxes provided by sections 63-701 through 63-710, Idaho Code, is applied.

(6)  Recovery of property tax exemptions allowed by this section but improperly claimed or approved:

(a)(i)  Prior to granting an exemption, the county assessor shall investigate whether an applicant for the exemption has claimed the exemption for another homestead and shall not grant the exemption where it appears the exemption has been improperly claimed. The applicant shall be notified of the county assessor’s refusal to grant the exemption.

(ii)  Upon discovery of evidence, facts or circumstances indicating any exemption allowed by this section was improperly claimed or approved, the county assessor shall decide whether the exemption claimed should have been allowed and, if not, notify the taxpayer in writing, assess a recovery of property tax and notify the county treasurer of this assessment. If the county assessor determined that an exemption was improperly approved as a result of county error, the county assessor shall present the discovered evidence, facts or circumstances from the improperly approved exemption to the board of county commissioners, at which time the board may waive a recovery of the property tax and notify such taxpayer in writing.

(iii) Upon the first instance of a taxpayer being discovered to have claimed more than one (1) homestead exemption, the taxpayer shall be subject to a penalty, payable to the county treasurer, in an amount equal to the amount of property tax recovered pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, which shall be paid in addition to such recovery amount. The taxpayer shall be notified of the assessment of such penalty at the same time as the notice of the assessor’s refusal to grant the exemption in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph.

(iv)  Any subsequent violation within seven (7) years of an instance pursuant to subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph shall be a misdemeanor, subject to the penalties provided in section 18-113, Idaho Code. The county assessor shall notify the county prosecuting attorney of any conduct that would constitute a misdemeanor pursuant to this subparagraph.

(v)   Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit a taxpayer from claiming a homestead exemption after January 1 for a property that is not already subject to the homestead exemption, provided any claim for an exemption is consistent with the requirements of subsection (2)(c)(iii) of this section.

(b)  Upon request by a county assessor conducting an investigation under paragraph (a) of this subsection, or when information indicating that an improper claim for the exemption allowed by this section is discovered by the state tax commission, the state tax commission shall disclose relevant information to the appropriate county assessor, board of county commissioners, county clerk, and county treasurer and to the secretary of state. Information disclosed to county officials and the secretary of state by the state tax commission under this subsection:

(i)   May be used to decide the validity of any entitlement to the exemption provided in this section;

(ii)  Shall, as necessary, be used to determine a person’s residence for voting purposes under title 34, Idaho Code; and

(iii) Is not otherwise subject to public disclosure pursuant to chapter 1, title 74, Idaho Code.

(c)  The assessment and collection of the recovery of property tax must begin within the seven (7) year period beginning the date the assessment notice reflecting the improperly claimed or approved exemption was required to be mailed to the taxpayer.

(d)(i)  An applicant for an exemption under this section may appeal to the county board of equalization the county assessor’s refusal to grant an exemption pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection within thirty (30) days of the date the county assessor sent notice of the refusal.

(ii)  The taxpayer may appeal to the county board of equalization the decision by the county assessor to assess the recovery of property tax within thirty (30) days of the date the county assessor sent the notice to the taxpayer pursuant to this section. The board may waive the collection of all or part of any costs, late charges, and interest in order to facilitate the collection of the recovery of the property tax.

(iii) The taxpayer may appeal the imposition of the penalty provided in paragraph (a)(iii) of this subsection within thirty (30) days of the date the county assessor sent the notice to the taxpayer pursuant to this section.

(e)  For purposes of calculating the tax, the amount of the recovered property tax shall be for each year the exemption allowed by this section was improperly claimed or approved, up to a maximum of seven (7) years. The amount of the recovery of property tax shall be calculated using the product of the amount of exempted value for each year multiplied by the levy for that year plus costs, late charges, and interest for each year at the rates equal to those provided for delinquent property taxes during that year.

(f)  Any recovery of property tax shall be due and payable no later than the date provided for property taxes in section 63-903, Idaho Code, and if not timely paid, late charges and interest, beginning the first day of January in the year following the year the county assessor sent the notice to the taxpayer pursuant to this section, shall be calculated at the current rate provided for property taxes.

(g)  Recovered property taxes shall be billed, collected and distributed in the same manner as property taxes, except each taxing district or unit shall be notified of the amount of any recovered property taxes included in any distribution.

(h)  Thirty (30) days after the taxpayer is notified, as provided in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the assessor shall record a notice of intent to attach a lien. Upon the payment in full of such recovered property taxes prior to the attachment of the lien as provided in paragraph (i) of this subsection, or upon the successful appeal by the taxpayer, the county assessor shall record a rescission of the intent to attach a lien within seven (7) business days of receiving such payment or within seven (7) business days of the county board of equalization decision granting the appeal. If the real property is sold to a bona fide purchaser for value prior to the recording of the notice of the intent to attach a lien, the county assessor and treasurer shall cease the recovery of such unpaid recovered property tax.

(i)  Any unpaid recovered property taxes shall become a lien on the real property in the same manner as provided for property taxes in section 63-206, Idaho Code, except such lien shall attach as of the first day of January in the year following the year the county assessor sent the notice to the taxpayer pursuant to this section.

(j)  For purposes of the limitation provided by section 63-802, Idaho Code, moneys received pursuant to this subsection as recovery of property tax shall be treated as property tax revenue.

(7)  The legislature declares that this exemption is necessary and just.

(8)  A homestead that previously qualified for exemption under this section in the preceding year shall not lose such qualification due to: the owner’s, beneficiary’s, partner’s, member’s or shareholder’s absence in the current year by reason of active military service or because the homestead has been leased because the owner, beneficiary, partner, member or shareholder is absent in the current year by reason of active military service. An owner subject to the provisions of this subsection must apply for the exemption with the county assessor every year on or before a deadline date as specified by the county assessor for the county in which the homestead is claimed. If an owner fails to apply on or before the established deadline, the county may, at its discretion, discontinue the exemption for that year.

(9)  A homestead that previously qualified for exemption under this section in the preceding year shall not lose such qualification due to the owner’s, beneficiary’s, partner’s, member’s or shareholder’s death during the year of the owner’s, beneficiary’s, partner’s, member’s or shareholder’s death and the tax year immediately following such death, provided that the homestead continues to be a part of the owner’s, beneficiary’s, partner’s, member’s or shareholder’s estate. After such time, the new owner shall reapply to receive the exemption pursuant to this section and shall meet the qualification criteria contained in this section.

(10) The amount by which each exemption approved under this section exceeds one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) may, in the discretion of the governing board of a taxing district, be deducted from the new construction roll for the following year prepared by the county assessor in accordance with section 63-301A, Idaho Code, but only to the extent that the amount exceeds the same deduction made in the previous year.

(11) By July 1, 2023, the state tax commission shall establish a database of all active exemptions claimed under this section, which database shall be searchable by a person’s name and by the address of the homestead for which the exemption is claimed. The database shall be made accessible to officials listed in subsection (6)(b) of this section for the purpose of verifying that:

(a)  Multiple active exemptions have not been claimed by the same person; and

(b)  A person’s residence for voting purposes is the same as the homestead for which such person has an active exemption pursuant to this section, if an exemption is so claimed.

History:

[63-602G, added 1996, ch. 98, sec. 7, p. 350; am. 1997, ch. 358, sec. 1, p. 1059; am. 1999, ch. 382, sec. 1, p. 1047; am. 2001, ch. 69, sec. 1, p. 129; am. 2001, ch. 166, sec. 1, p. 576; am. 2004, ch. 156, sec. 1, p. 495; am. 2004, ch. 190, sec. 1, p. 597; am. 2005, ch. 283, sec. 1, p. 919; am. 2006, ch. 429, sec. 1, p. 1313; am. 2007, ch. 39, sec. 1, p. 96; am. 2009, ch. 7, sec. 1, p. 7; am. 2012, ch. 214, sec. 1, p. 581; am. 2013, ch. 21, sec. 4, p. 37; am. 2014, ch. 324, sec. 1, p. 802; am. 2015, ch. 141, sec. 159, p. 501; am. 2016, ch. 94, sec. 1, p. 287; am. 2020, ch. 248, sec. 1, p. 727; am. 2021, ch. 360, sec. 1, p. 1110; am. 2022, ch. 81, sec. 4, p. 230; am. 2022, ch. 92, sec. 1, p. 258; am. 2024, ch. 168, sec. 1, p. 642.]