File Your 2010 Homestead Exemption

Once the holiday decorations are packed up and back in storage and your out of town guests have returned to their homes, you will no doubt be returning to your normal, everyday routine. Of course, you’ll also have to remember that January 1st is the start of tax season, and any homeowner in metro Atlanta should be applying for their Homestead Exemption.

Why should you bother? Well, the standard homestead exemption for the state will provide your home with a $2,000 exemption from state, county and school taxes throughout the year. Counties offer a homestead exemption on the local level and, for some counties, this means giving homeowners a Homestead Valuation Freeze Exemption, which means that the homeowner’s taxes will be based upon the base year valuation, despite property values rising. Many metro Atlanta counties offer the Freeze exemption, including Cherokee, Cobb, Dekalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett and Henry. Of course, for specific details about the exemptions in your county, you should contact them directly.

All in all, it is to your benefit to apply for the Homestead Exemption every year, and, in order to do so, you apply for Homestead Exemption with your County tax commissioner’s office. In order to receive your exemption for the current tax year, you must have owned the property on January 1st and filed the homestead application by the county deadline. For your convenience here is a list of metro counties and their respective due dates and contact info:

• Cherokee County – due April 1st; application is made with the Board of Tax Assessors in the county – 678-493-6120
• Cobb County – due April 1st; application is made with the Tax Commissioner – 770-528-8600
• Dekalb County – due March 1st; applications made with the Tax Commissioner – 404-298-4000
• Douglas County – due April 1st; application is made with the Tax Commissioner – 770-920-7272
• Forsyth County – due April 1st; application is made with the Board of Tax Assessors – 770-781-2106 x 2617
• Fulton County – due April 1st; application is made with the Board of Tax Assessors – 404-612-6440
• Gwinnett County – due March 1st; application is made with the Tax Commissioner – 770-822-8800
• Henry County – due April 1st; application is made with the Tax Commissioner – 770-288-8180
• Paulding County – due April 1st; application is made with the Board of Tax Assessors – 770-443-7606

For specific information on your county (if it wasn’t listed here) be sure to visit https://etax.dor.ga.gov/ptd/county/index.aspx