New York STAR Program: Eligibility, Savings, and Registration

The New York STAR program lowers school property taxes on owner-occupied primary residences, delivered either as a credit check (or direct deposit) from the state or as a direct exemption on your school tax bill. Which format you get depends on when you bought the home and your income, and the two are not equivalent in the long run. There are also two tiers: Basic STAR for any qualifying homeowner, and Enhanced STAR, which pays more but is limited to seniors.

Who Qualifies for Basic and Enhanced STAR

Both tiers require that the home be your primary residence, meaning where you actually live most of the year.¹ Cooperative apartments and manufactured homes qualify. Corporations, partnerships, and LLCs do not, unless the property is a farm dwelling.²

Basic STAR is open to homeowners of any age. The income ceiling depends on the format:

STAR credit: household income of $500,000 or less
STAR exemption: household income of $250,000 or less

Income is measured from your tax return two years back. For the 2026 benefit year, the state looks at your 2024 return.²

Enhanced STAR pays a larger benefit but requires that at least one owner turn 65 by December 31 of the benefit year. For co-owning spouses or siblings, only one has to meet the age. The 2026 Enhanced STAR income limit is $110,750.²

Credit or Exemption: Which One You Get

If you bought your home after 2015, the exemption is not available to you. You receive the STAR credit as a check or direct deposit from the state, timed to arrive shortly before school taxes are due.³ Homeowners who bought before 2016 and have been receiving the exemption can keep it as long as they remain eligible.

One income rule forces long-term owners off the exemption. If your household income is between $250,000 and $500,000, you must switch to the credit, because the exemption’s ceiling is $250,000 while the credit’s is $500,000.²

Why the Credit Can Be Worth More Over Time

The STAR credit can grow by as much as 2% each year. The exemption savings are frozen and cannot rise.⁴ Over ten or twenty years in the same home, that compounds into real money. If you currently receive the exemption, you can voluntarily switch to the credit, but the switch is one-way. Run the numbers first; the state publishes a comparison tool that shows your specific savings under each format.

How Much STAR Actually Saves You

There is no single statewide dollar figure. Your savings depend on your school district’s tax rate and the STAR exemption amount assigned to your municipality. The state multiplies your local exemption amount by the school tax rate, then caps the result at a maximum savings figure set for your district.⁵

You can look up the amount for your specific school district on the Department of Taxation and Finance website. The state’s Property Tax Credit Lookup tool also shows any STAR credit checks already issued to you.⁶

How to Register for the STAR Credit

If you bought your home after 2015, or you’re switching from the exemption, you have to register with the Department of Taxation and Finance. Existing exemption recipients who have received the benefit continuously do not need to register again unless they’re changing formats.

Before you start, have these ready:

Social Security numbers for every owner listed on the deed, plus their spouses, even if a spouse is not on the deed
Your 2024 federal or state income tax return, for adjusted gross income
Your school tax bill or assessment notice, which shows your parcel number
Your school district name as it appears on the bill

The registration portal sits under the homeowner benefit section of the Department of Taxation and Finance website. Check the parcel number against your bill carefully; it’s what ties your registration to the right property. Save the confirmation number the system generates when you submit.⁷

No internet? You can register by phone at 518-457-2036, weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.⁷

Getting Paid by Direct Deposit

You can have the credit deposited to a bank account instead of receiving a paper check. Log in to your Individual Online Services account on the Department of Taxation and Finance website, go to the Real Property Tax section, open the Homeowner Benefit Portal, and choose “Enroll in or edit Direct Deposit.” You’ll enter your bank’s routing and account numbers. If you enroll fewer than seven days before the state processes your credit, you get a paper check for that cycle instead.⁸

Deadlines and When Your Check Arrives

Most STAR problems come from timing. Registering by July 1 generally puts your credit check in your hands before the September school tax due date. Register later and the credit still comes, just later. Nassau and Suffolk County homeowners follow a different schedule because Long Island school tax bills go out later in the year.

Checks don’t all mail on the same date. The Department of Taxation and Finance has a delivery schedule lookup where you enter your county, school district, and municipality to see when checks for your area are expected to go out. Allow five to ten business days after that date for delivery.⁹

If you still receive the exemption, the deadline that matters is your local taxable status date. In most communities that’s March 1, but some municipalities use a different date. Confirm with your local assessor.¹⁰

Enhanced STAR Renews Automatically

Once you’re approved for Enhanced STAR and the assessor verifies your eligibility, you don’t reapply each year. Under the Income Verification Program, the Department of Taxation and Finance checks your income against tax records and tells your assessor whether you still qualify.¹¹ If the state needs more information, it contacts you. If your income climbs above $110,750, the state notifies your assessor, who may drop you to Basic STAR or remove the benefit depending on the numbers.²

What STAR Does to Your Federal Taxes

If you itemize on your federal return, the credit reduces what you can deduct as real estate taxes. The IRS treats the credit as a rebate, so if you paid $8,000 in school taxes and got a $900 STAR credit, only $7,100 goes on Schedule A.¹² If a STAR benefit covers taxes paid in a prior year, some or all of it may have to be reported as income on your federal return; IRS Publication 525 covers recoveries.

Fixing Mistakes on Your STAR Benefit

If the assessor missed a STAR exemption you were entitled to, the state treats it as a clerical error, and you have two ways to fix it:

File Form RP-554 for a corrected tax bill with your county director of real property tax services, before the school tax warrant expires. If approved, you get eight days from the correction notice to pay without interest, as long as you filed during the interest-free period.
File Form RP-556 for a refund or credit on taxes already overpaid, up to three years after the warrant was annexed.

The county director investigates and recommends approval or denial to the tax-levying body.¹³

Penalties for Claiming STAR Improperly

Claiming STAR on a property that isn’t your primary residence, or keeping the benefit on a former home after you move, counts as a material misstatement under state law.¹ The consequences stack:

A penalty tax of the greater of $100 or 20% of the improperly received savings, capped at $2,500
Repayment of up to six years of improperly received benefits, plus interest and a $500 processing fee
A six-year disqualification from either the credit or the exemption
Possible criminal prosecution under the penal law¹⁴

If you own two homes and aren’t certain which one should carry STAR, sort it out with your assessor before your next filing. The six-year lookback means exposure builds fast.

1
New York State Senate. New York Real Property Tax Law 425 – School Tax Relief (STAR) Exemption
2
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. STAR Eligibility
3
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. STAR Frequently Asked Questions
4
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. STAR Credit and Exemption Savings Amounts
5
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Maximum 2026-2027 STAR Exemption Savings
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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Property Tax Credit Lookup
7
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Register for the School Tax Relief (STAR) Credit
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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. STAR Credit Direct Deposit
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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. STAR Credit Delivery Schedule
10
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Property Tax Calendar
11
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Administering the Enhanced STAR Income Verification Program
12
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 530 (2025), Tax Information for Homeowners
13
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Correction of Errors and STAR
14
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Penalties Related to the STAR Program