Property Tax - Exemption for Blind Individuals - Alteration

Bigger property tax break for blind homeowners

Maryland raises the property tax exemption for eligible blind homeowners from $15,000 to $40,000 of assessed home value. This is not a $40,000 tax refund; savings depend on the home's assessment and property tax rates. The law took effect June 1, 2025, and applies to taxable years beginning after June 30, 2025. The owner must use the home as their legal residence, with no more than two families living there. The exemption also covers the lot and structures needed to use the property as a home. Blindness must involve permanent impairment of both eyes: corrected vision of 20/200 or worse in the better eye, or vision worse than 20/200 with a visual field no wider than 20 degrees in that eye. A surviving spouse who has not remarried can keep the exemption only if the home previously had it. The exemption is prorated for the part of the taxable year remaining after the application date. It can be combined with other exemptions, but applicants must choose between this exemption and the one under § 7-208. Counties and towns can authorize refunds of their property taxes for earlier eligible years when the exemption was not granted. That refund option is available to blind individuals who received this exemption, but not to surviving spouses.