(Queens, NY) Before this busy holiday season comes to a close in a few weeks, New York State Senator Joe Addabbo wants his constituents who may not have filed for the Basic STAR tax exemption to know: the Basic School Tax Relief exemption recipients have longer to re-register with the Tax Department than originally thought.
“Immediately after the initial registration deadline of December 31, 2013, we will issue a third direct mailing to any remaining 2013 Basic STAR exemption recipients who have not registered, advising them that they need to come forward immediately to register with the Department if they believe they are eligible to continue receiving the exemption on that property,” State Department of Taxation and Finance Commissioner Thomas Mattox said at a State Assembly hearing Wednesday on the STAR re-registration process. The third direct mailing will be the Tax Department’s last attempt to contact homeowners. The Tax Department had always planned to extend one last opportunity to homeowners past Dec. 31, the Tax Department said.
“The deadline continues to be December 31, but we want to ensure that someone who is eligible for the exemption who misses that deadline still has the opportunity to register. We’ll send them a final notification that they missed the deadline and they need to act immediately before we notify their assessor,” department spokesman Geoffrey Gloak said.
“This past legislative session in Albany, our budget included additional funding for the STAR program. It is an effort to provide a measure of tax relief to our constituents. I am hopeful the qualified residents in my district register for STAR,” stated Senator Addabbo.
The Basic STAR re-registration process began earlier this year when the Tax Department found thousands of homeowners were receiving STAR exemptions on more than one property. Basic STAR exemptions are only allowed on a primary residence. Senior citizens receiving Enhanced STAR are not affected by the Basic STAR re-registration process.
The new registration will rely on Social Security numbers to make it easy to see if people are using the exemption on more than one property, Gloak said.
The Basic STAR exemption is available to homeowners who have an income of less than $500,000 and only on their primary residence. The average savings per year is about $700.
Currently more than 2 million homeowners of the about 2.7 million properties in the state have re-registered with the Tax Department for the Basic STAR exemption.
Homeowners can call 518-457-2036 to re-register for Basic STAR, or visit www.tax.ny.gov to apply online. If you need help with this online process or to check your current exemption status or perhaps your STAR code, call or visit any of Senator Addabbo’s district offices in Howard Beach (718-738-1111), Middle Village (718-497-1630) or Rockaway (718-308-0702).
