In Michigan, there is no age at which seniors stop paying property taxes. The obligation continues as long as you own the home, whether you are 65, 75, or 95. What the state does offer is a stack of relief programs — a summer tax deferment starting at 62, a Homestead Property Tax Credit that gets more generous at 65, a poverty exemption for the lowest incomes, and a full exemption for qualifying disabled veterans — that together can cut what a senior actually pays by thousands of dollars a year, or in some cases to nothing.
Summer Tax Deferment Starting at Age 62
The earliest age-based relief kicks in at 62. Michigan lets qualifying seniors postpone paying their summer property taxes until February 15 of the following year, with no penalty or interest during the deferral period.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.51 This is not a reduction. You still owe the full amount. But shifting the due date gives homeowners on fixed incomes room to plan around Social Security deposits, pension payments, or annual distributions.
You qualify if you are 62 or older, or the unremarried surviving spouse of someone who was 62 or older at death, and your total household income for the prior year was $40,000 or less.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.51 People who are totally and permanently disabled, blind, or eligible veterans can also qualify at any age, provided they meet the income limit.
File Form 471 (Application for Deferment of Summer Taxes) with your city or township treasurer by September 15, or by the date the tax would otherwise become subject to a late penalty, whichever is later.2State of Michigan. Deferment of Property Taxes Winter taxes are not covered and remain due on their normal schedule.
The Homestead Property Tax Credit at 65
At 65, the most valuable program becomes available. The Homestead Property Tax Credit is a refundable credit on your Michigan income tax return, meaning you can receive it even if you owe no state income tax. It reimburses you for the portion of your property taxes that exceeds a set percentage of your total household resources.
How Much It Pays
The general formula credits back property taxes that exceed 3.2 percent of your total household resources.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 206.520 Seniors 65 and older get a more generous calculation at the lower end: if total household resources are $6,000 or less, nearly all of your property taxes can be credited back.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 206.522
For the 2025 tax year (filed in 2026), the maximum credit is $1,900. The credit phases out starting when total household resources exceed $62,500, dropping 10 percent for every additional $1,000 of income, and disappears entirely above $71,500.5State of Michigan. 2025 Homestead Property Tax Credit Information These figures adjust for inflation each year.
Renters aged 65 and older qualify too. Michigan treats 23 percent of your annual gross rent as the equivalent of property tax paid, and that figure runs through the same calculation.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 206.520 Senior renters who spend more than 40 percent of household resources on rent may qualify for an additional credit.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 206.520 – Credit for Property Taxes
Who Qualifies
You or your spouse must reach 65 by December 31 of the tax year. Unremarried surviving spouses of someone who was 65 or older at death also qualify.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 206.522 The home must be your principal residence in Michigan, and its taxable value cannot exceed $165,400 for the 2025 tax year, unless the property includes unoccupied farmland.5State of Michigan. 2025 Homestead Property Tax Credit Information
Total household resources counts income received by everyone in the household, both taxable and nontaxable. Social Security benefits, pensions, interest, and nontaxable retirement distributions all count. One disqualifier: if 100 percent of your household resources came from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, you cannot claim the credit.
How and When to File
You claim the credit on Form MI-1040CR, filed with your Michigan income tax return. Seniors who are blind, paraplegic, quadriplegic, deaf, totally disabled, or eligible veterans should also look at Form MI-1040CR-2, which uses a different calculation, and file whichever form yields the larger credit.
The standard deadline is April 15, but the credit can be claimed for up to four years after the original due date.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 206.520 If you qualified in earlier years and never filed, going back and claiming those years can produce several thousand dollars in refunds. Electronic filing with direct deposit is the fastest way to be paid.7Internal Revenue Service. Tax Guide for Seniors
Poverty Exemption for Low-Income Homeowners
For seniors with the lowest incomes, the poverty exemption goes a step further than the credit: it reduces your taxable value directly, partially or completely, so the tax bill itself is smaller. The credit reimburses after you pay; the poverty exemption keeps you from being billed in the first place.8Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.7u
You must own and occupy the property as your principal residence and meet income guidelines based on federal poverty levels. Local municipalities can adopt their own thresholds but cannot set them below the federal guidelines.8Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.7u File the claim with the local Board of Review after January 1 and before the Board’s final meeting, and include copies of your federal and state tax returns. If you were not required to file returns, an affidavit can substitute. The exemption must be renewed every year.
Full Exemption for Disabled Veterans
The one program in Michigan that comes close to letting a homeowner truly stop paying property taxes is the disabled veterans exemption. Qualifying veterans receive a complete exemption from property taxes on their homestead.
To qualify, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs must have determined that you are permanently and totally disabled due to service and entitled to benefits at the 100 percent rate, or that you received assistance for specially adapted housing, or that you are individually unemployable. The exemption also extends to the unremarried surviving spouse and applies to any homestead the spouse owns, including one acquired after the veteran’s death.9Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.7b Contact your local assessor to start the application.
The Baseline: Confirm Your Principal Residence Exemption
Before any of the senior-specific programs, every Michigan homeowner should confirm the principal residence exemption is on file. It removes up to 18 mills of local school operating taxes from your bill, which is worth hundreds or thousands of dollars a year depending on your taxable value.10Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.7cc It has no age requirement and applies to anyone who owns and occupies the property as a primary home.
File the affidavit with your local tax collecting unit by June 1 for the summer levy or November 1 for the winter levy.10Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.7cc Once on file it stays in effect until you move or the home is no longer your primary residence. Forms and guidance are on the Michigan Department of Treasury site.11State of Michigan. Principal Residence Exemption Seniors who inherited a home, moved, or refinanced years ago sometimes discover the affidavit was never filed, and they have been overpaying ever since.
Free Help Filing
The Homestead Property Tax Credit is the most commonly missed benefit among Michigan seniors, often because people who owe no state income tax skip filing a Michigan return entirely. The credit is refundable, so you can receive it with zero tax liability, but only by filing.
Several programs help seniors file at no cost. The IRS-sponsored Tax Counseling for the Elderly program provides free help for people 60 and older, with volunteers trained on pension and retirement questions.12Internal Revenue Service. Free Tax Return Preparation for Qualifying Taxpayers The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program serves taxpayers who generally earn $69,000 or less. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, the largest free tax preparation service in the country, focuses on taxpayers over 50 with low to moderate income and operates at thousands of locations from February through mid-April. AARP membership is not required.
Any of these services can prepare Form MI-1040CR alongside your federal return. If you qualified in prior years and never filed, ask about the four-year lookback while you are there.