LA County Assessor: January is Homeowners Exemption Month

January is the month to sign up for the Homeowners’ Exemption that reduces your tax burden by $7,000, if the home is your primary residence as of Jan. 1. That translates to an actual reduction of $70 to a homeowners’ tax bill.

To get the entire savings, the homeowner must fill out an application at assessor.lacounty.gov/hox and they are good to go. The deadline is Feb. 15 to get the entire savings. However, if you miss the deadline, the homeowner still gets a prorated amount and the entire savings the following years. Homeowners need only apply once to receive these savings annually. The savings continue until a change (such as a sale) is recorded.

Remarkably, nearly one in three homeowners in Los Angeles County do not take advantage of this tax savings’ program, leaving $30 million unclaimed each year. Across the County, an additional 435,000 families can be saving on their tax bills.

The Homeowners’ Exemption is even more important now than ever before because of Proposition 19. Prop. 19 changes the rules that apply to transfers between parents and children and grandparents to grandchildren. It mandates that any property not being used as the primary residence will not be eligible for the transfer of the existing lower tax rate.