Property Tax Exemption
A homestead exemption is most often only on a fixed monetary amount, such as the first 50,000 dollars of the assessed value. The remainder is taxed at the normal rate. In this case, a home valued at 150,000 would then only be taxed on 100,000; a home valued at 75,000 would only be taxed on 25,000.
The exemption is generally intended to make the property tax a progressive tax. In some places, the exemption is paid for with a local or state (or equivalent unit) sales tax.
The homestead exemption sales tax (HEST) in some places has been criticized for not exempting groceries, thus the poor end up paying some of their food money to subsidize those who can already afford their own homes. Since the poor typically rent, neither they nor their landlords get an exemption.
Read more about this topic: Homestead Exemption
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