Upcoming Cooperative Homestead Benefit Webinar Session

It’s Time for the Cooperative Homestead Reconfirmation Submission!

The DC Office of Tax and Revenue is pleased to announce the commencement of the semi-annual cooperative precertification information webinar session to enhance a collaborative approach to working with the COOP management community. We aim to review critical operational dates to facilitate the issuance of the 2025 real property first-half tax bills. We will also demonstrate the online (MyTaxDC.gov) Cooperative Homestead Reconfirmation process due on December 15, 2024, and the team will answer questions that you may have regarding the tax season.

Our webinar will be held on November 14th, 2024, from 11:00 am -12:00 pm. Registration is required by November 13th and can be completed by navigating to the official registration page.

You should have already received your Cooperative Homestead Reconfirmation Packet. If you have any questions, please email: [email protected]

Co-op Homestead Deduction

The Cooperative Homestead deduction benefit program reduces the annual real property taxes for a residential cooperative. The amount deducted from the annual tax depends on the number of units occupied by eligible shareholders/members (dwellers) within a Cooperative building.

Every October a Reconfirmation package is mailed to all eligible DC Cooperatives to update and confirm homestead information on file with the Office of Tax and Revenue. Homestead Reconfirmation packages returned after March 31 are only eligible for half-year credit. To allow adequate time for processing, the packet is due back by mid-December. Current and new homestead applicants are audited to confirm DC domicile and applicant occupancy of units.  

Homestead Qualification Requirements:

• An individual shareholder/member should complete a homestead application and forward it to the Cooperative Management Company or Representative of the Cooperative.
• The applicant shareholder/member must be a domiciled in the District of Columbia.
• The unit must be the applicant’s primary place of residence.
• Each applicant can qualify for the homestead on only one unit in the building, even if the applicant occupies an additional unit.
• Only one person in a household occupying a unit can qualify for the homestead.
• The applicant cannot own another property with a benefit comparable to homestead in any jurisdiction.

Benefits:

• The cooperative is billed instead of the individual shareholders (dwellers) with updated homestead information.
• With the new system, the trash credit is now included with the Homestead Cooperative program. The amount of the trash credit for the cooperative is calculated based on the total number of units within the cooperative and is divided between tax halves.

Cooperative Trash Credit
A trash credit deduction is allowed for cooperatives that pay for garbage collection instead of receiving city garbage service. The trash credit is *$129.00 per unit for 2024. To qualify, the following circumstances must be met:

• The property must be either: 1) a single dwelling unit owned as a condominium; 2) a single dwelling unit that is owned by a member of a homeowner association; or 3) a cooperative dwelling unit.
• The dwelling unit must be in a condominium building or a cooperative housing association building with at least four dwelling units.
• The housing association, condominium, and cooperative housing association must not receive trash collection services from the District of Columbia.
• The unit must be occupied by the owner and used for non-transient residential purposes.

Cooperative Senior/Disabled Tax Relief
Cooperative shareholders/members who qualify for the homestead deduction may also qualify for the senior/disabled deduction, which can reduce the applicant’s share of the cooperative’s annual real property tax by 25% or 50%, depending on which half of the tax year the benefit is applied.  

Senior/Disabled Qualification Requirements:

• The senior citizen/disabled applicant must apply for the benefit by completing the Senior Citizen or Disabled Shareholder Tax Relief Application.
• These packages are sent to the management company in March and due in June.
• The unit of the senior citizen/disabled applicant has qualified for the homestead deduction.
• The applicant must have at least a 50% interest in the unit by reason of the applicant’s ownership of stock or other evidence of membership in the cooperative.
• To qualify for the senior/disabled tax relief in tax year 2024, the total household federal adjusted gross income for 2022 must be less than *$154,750 .
• If an applicant is no longer filing tax returns, the applicant needs to complete the Statement of Income in order to verify income.
• To receive the senior citizen benefit, the applicant must be 65 or older.
• If the applicant turns 65 by March 31, then the applicant will receive the full 50% reduction.
• If the applicant turns 65 between (April 1–Sept 30, then the applicant will only receive a 25% reduction.
• To apply for the disabled benefit, the applicant must either provide a letter from the Social Security Administration stating that the applicant is permanently and total disabled or show that the applicant is receiving Federal or District disability benefits.

Benefits:

• The credit will be applied to the real property tax bill for the second half of the year.
• The credits are used by the Cooperatives to grant refunds to the eligible shareholders.
• The refunds are distributed by the management company and/or cooperative, not OTR.

*This figure changes annually.

For more information, please refer to the FAQs.