Advisory to senior citizens: changes to Enhanced STAR to take effect in 2019

Because of changes New York state made to the Enhanced STAR tax exemption earlier this year, all residents ages 65 and over enrolled in Enhanced STAR now need to also be enrolled in the state’s Income Verification Program (IVP) to continue receiving their Enhanced STAR benefit.

The new state law requires all property owners who are 65 and over and eligible for Enhanced STAR to complete this form (PDF) with their local tax assessor to verify their income. To learn more, please visit the Department of Taxation and Finance website.

In most communities, the deadline to enroll in IVP is March 1, 2019. If a resident is already enrolled in IVP,  no action is necessary to continue receiving the Enhanced STAR exemption.

Homeowners only have to enroll in IVP once. After that, New York state verifies income eligibility automatically. As long as homeowners remain income-eligible, they will continue to receive the benefit every year.

For the 2019-20 school year, senior citizens age 65 and older with qualifying incomes of $86,300 or less are eligible for Enhanced STAR.