Exemption

Article Dean Dorton

Under the Kentucky Constitution, property owners who are 65 or older are eligible to receive the homestead exemption on their primary residence. The homestead exemption is $40,500 for both 2021 and 2022. The exemption amount is subtracted from the property’s assessed value, which reduces the owner’s property tax liability. For example, if the owner’s residence is assessed at a value of $250,000, 2021 property taxes would be computed on $209,500.

To qualify, each person claiming the exemption must file an application with the property valuation administrator (PVA) of the county in which the person resides. Applicants must own and maintain the property for which the exemption is sought as their personal residence as of January 1 of the application year. The application deadline is December 31.

Some PVAs have homestead application forms available on their websites. For example, the application for Jefferson County is available here, and the application for Fayette County is available here.

Only one exemption is allowed per household. Once applicants have been approved for the exemption, they are not required to reapply annually. However, if they move, they are required to reapply for the exemption for their new residence.

Certain utility companies also offer discounts for individuals who are 65 or older. If you believe you may be eligible, contact your utility company for further information.

Have questions? Email us at insights@deandorton.com

Article Dean Dorton

Many tax breaks are reduced or eliminated for higher-income taxpayers. Two of particular note are the itemized deduction reduction and the personal exemption phaseout.

Income thresholds

If your adjusted gross income (AGI) exceeds the applicable threshold, most of your itemized deductions will be reduced by 3% of the AGI amount that exceeds the threshold (not to exceed 80% of otherwise allowable deductions). For 2016, the thresholds are $259,400 (single), $285,350 (head of household), $311,300 (married filing jointly) and $155,650 (married filing separately). The limitation doesn’t apply to deductions for medical expenses, investment interest, or casualty, theft or wagering losses.

Exceeding the applicable AGI threshold also could cause your personal exemptions to be reduced or even eliminated. The personal exemption phaseout reduces exemptions by 2% for each $2,500 (or portion thereof) by which a taxpayer’s AGI exceeds the applicable threshold (2% for each $1,250 for married taxpayers filing separately).

The limits in action

These AGI-based limits can be very costly to high-income taxpayers. Consider this example:

Steve and Mary are married and have four dependent children. In 2016, they expect to have an AGI of $1 million and will be in the top tax bracket (39.6%). Without the AGI-based exemption phaseout, their $24,300 of personal exemptions ($4,050 × 6) would save them $9,623 in taxes ($24,300 × 39.6%). But because their personal exemptions are completely phased out, they’ll lose that tax benefit.

The AGI-based itemized deduction reduction can also be expensive. Steve and Mary could lose the benefit of as much as $20,661 [3% × ($1 million − $311,300)] of their itemized deductions that are subject to the reduction — at a tax cost as high as $8,182 ($20,661 × 39.6%).

These two AGI-based provisions combined could increase the couple’s tax by $17,805!

Year-end tips

If your AGI is close to the applicable threshold, AGI-reduction strategies — such as contributing to a retirement plan or Health Savings Account — may allow you to stay under it. If that’s not possible, consider the reduced tax benefit of the affected deductions before implementing strategies to accelerate deductible expenses into 2016. If you expect to be under the threshold in 2017, you may be better off deferring certain deductible expenses to next year.

For more details on these and other income-based limits, help assessing whether you’re likely to be affected by them or more tips for reducing their impact, please contact us.