Wake County will host the first in a series of four free workshops to inform citizens of their eligibility and options for tax relief on Monday, March 9, 2009, from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m., in Room 100-C of the Wake County Commons Building, 4011 Carya Dr., Raleigh. Representatives from Wake County’s Revenue Department will lead the workshops.
Citizens eligible for tax relief include homeowners who are 65 years of age or older, totally and permanently disabled, or honorably discharged veterans with a 100 percent service connected disability (or a surviving spouse of the veteran). In addition, the total income for an applicant and spouse cannot exceed $38,400 for 2008. Participants in the Disabled Veteran program are not subject to income restrictions. Citizens meeting any of these criteria are encouraged to attend and registration is not required. Attendees are asked to bring a completed 2008 tax return to the session they choose to attend, if available.
"In a stressful economy it is difficult for some residents to meet their tax payment obligations. These workshops are designed to help qualified Wake County citizens learn how they can work together with the county to reduce their tax burden," said Wake County Revenue Director Marcus Kinrade. "Each workshop will allow citizens to ask questions and work with a revenue representative to determine if they qualify for assistance."
North Carolina offers three property tax relief programs for the permanent residence of qualified homeowners including an Elderly or Disabled Exclusion, Circuit Breaker Tax Deferment Program and Disabled Veteran Exclusion. Each program requires that citizens meet certain criteria for receiving any one of the tax relief options. Each owner may receive benefits from only one of these programs even though they may meet the requirements for more than one.
Separate applications are required for each owner that is claiming property tax relief. If a husband and wife are the sole owners of the property, only one application is required.
The deadline to submit an application for tax relief is June 1, 2009.
For more information and a full schedule of workshops, visit www.wakegov.com/tax/relief/.