Question:
“I’m a senior citizen. What do I have to do to apply for the town’s Means-Tested Senior Property Tax Exemption”?
Answer:
The most important thing to do is check to see if you qualify for the state’s Senior Circuit Breaker Income Tax Credit when you fill out your Massachusetts state income tax return for calendar year 2025. The form to use is “Schedule CB.” Do this even if you don’t make enough money to file a state income tax return.
The state increases the maximum amount of this income tax credit every year. It went up from $2,730 last year to $2,820 this year.
Obtaining this state income tax credit means you have passed the biggest hurdle to obtain our local property tax exemption in the fiscal year that begins on July 1, 2026. Almost every senior applying for this exemption so far has met all the other criteria involving annual income, amount of assets, limit on the assessed value of your house and length of time you have lived in Holliston.
If you’re one of the 33 people who received this exemption in this fiscal year, the Assessors’ Office will send you an application for Fiscal Year 2027 in late June. If you didn’t apply before but now want to, applications will be available at the Assessors’ Office and can be downloaded for our page on the Town of Holliston’s website beginning on July 1st.
Unlike other property tax exemptions, these applications are due back by September 15th. This deadline allows us enough time to review your application and meet with the Select Board in October. The three members of that board vote each year to make the local exemption be anywhere from 50% to 200% of what your state income tax credit. For the current fiscal year, they voted for 100% — resulting in 33 recipients receiving reductions in their third and fourth quarter property taxes ranging from $230 up to $2,730.
So, remember the three steps involved:
1. See if you qualify for the state income tax credit when you fill out Schedule CB as part of your state income tax return for 2025.
2. Fill out our application, available beginning on July 1st.
3. Return our completed application to the Assessors’ Office by September 15th.
