Property Tax - Exemption for Blind Individuals - Alteration

Bigger property tax break for blind homeowners

Maryland increases the property tax exemption for qualifying blind homeowners from $15,000 to $40,000 of their home's assessed value. This removes up to $25,000 more from the taxable assessment—not $25,000 from the tax bill. Actual savings depend on the home's assessed value and local tax rates. The law took effect June 1, 2025, and applies to tax years beginning after June 30, 2025. The home must be owned by the eligible person, be their legal residence, and house no more than two families. Covered property includes the home's lot and structures needed for residential use. Blindness must permanently affect both eyes and meet the law's vision standards: corrected vision of 20/200 or worse in the better eye, or the qualifying visual-field test with a limit of 20 degrees in the better eye. A surviving spouse who has not remarried can continue the exemption on a home that previously received it. The exemption is prorated for the part of the tax year remaining after the application date. It can be combined with other exemptions, but not the exemption under Tax–Property § 7-208. Counties and municipalities can pass local laws allowing refunds to blind homeowners for years when this exemption was authorized but not granted. That refund authority does not cover surviving spouses.