Re-Registration Deadline for Basic STAR Approaching

New legislation requires New Hyde Park homeowners receiving a Basic STAR tax exemption to re-register with the New York State Tax Department in order to receive the STAR exemption in 2014 and subsequent years.

Residents intending to register for the basic STAR tax property exemption have less than two weeks to do so.

Homeowners will not need to register to receive their 2013 STAR exemptions. This is a one-time registration process designed to protect New York property owners from the costs of inappropriate or fraudulent STAR exemptions that cost taxpayers millions of dollars each year.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli estimates the cost of these ineligible exemptions could increase taxes by $73 million in the next three years without implementation of the new registration process.

The state’s Department of Taxation and Finance is reminding homeowners that they must register for the exemption by the Dec. 31 deadline.

Between Sept. 16 and Oct. 4, a letter from the Tax Department was mailed to each homeowner with 2013-14 Basic STAR exemptions. The letter contained a unique code homeowners were asked to use to register. The code also can be accessed online through the STAR Registration website or by calling the Tax Department. If you have not yet registered, you can still register in two ways: online through the STAR Registration website/Nassau County website or by calling (518) 474-2819.

Specific questions should be emailed to the Office of Real Property Taxation Services. The due date for applications is Dec. 31. Homeowners have one year from that date to apply retroactively.

Senior citizens receiving the Enhanced STAR exemption are not impacted by the registration program. They will continue to apply annually or participate in the Income Verification Program.

The basic STAR exemption is available on the primary residence of homeowners with incomes less than $500,000. It stems from a Tax Department investigation that found thousands of taxpayers receiving STAR exemptions on more than one property.

Basic STAR was enacted in 1998 to offer relief to property owners paying some of the highest taxes in the nation. It provides an exemption on the first $30,000 of assessed value for primary residences if the household income is less than $500,000. Basic STAR is distinct from Enhanced STAR, which provides tax exemption benefits for senior citizens, and the now-defunct STAR rebate program, which expired in 2009.