Louisville Homestead Exemption: $49,100 Off Your Assessment at 65 or With a Disability

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Kentucky's homestead exemption takes a fixed amount off the assessed value of your home once you turn 65, or at any age if you're classified as totally disabled. In Louisville and the rest of Jefferson County, you file once with the Property Valuation Administrator (PVA). If you turned 65 this year, you still have until December 31 to claim it for 2026. Here's who qualifies, what to send, and the mistakes that cost people a year.

AT A GLANCE

What it's worth: $49,100 off your home's assessed value for the 2025 and 2026 tax years, according to the Kentucky Department of Revenue (DOR) and the Jefferson County PVA.
Who qualifies: owners who live in the home as their primary residence on January 1 and are 65 or older, or who are totally disabled and receiving disability payments.
Deadline: DOR says the application must reach your PVA no later than December 31 of the year you're claiming.
Reapplying: the age-based exemption doesn't need to be renewed once approved. The disability version may need yearly renewal.
One per household: you can have the homestead exemption or the disability exemption, not both.
Where to file: online through the PVA's homestead portal, or by mail to Jefferson County PVA, 815 W. Market Street, Suite 400, Louisville, KY 40202-2654.

How the exemption lowers your bill

Kentucky's Constitution allows the exemption, and state law (KRS 132.810) sets the amount. It isn't a credit or a refund. The PVA subtracts the exemption from your home's assessed value, and your property tax is calculated on what's left.

DOR gives this example. A home assessed at a fair cash value of $200,000 would be taxed on $150,900 ($200,000 minus $49,100).

Here's how that works at a few other values. These are our own calculations using the same subtraction:

Assessed value	Minus exemption	Taxable assessment	Share of value exempted
$120,000	$49,100	$70,900	About 41%
$200,000 (DOR's example)	$49,100	$150,900	About 25%
$300,000	$49,100	$250,900	About 16%

The dollar savings depend on the combined tax rate for your home. Multiply $49,100 by your combined rate per $100 of value, divide by 100, and you have a rough idea of your yearly savings.

The amount changes every two years

DOR recalculates the exemption every two years to keep up with inflation. In a November 14, 2024 announcement, it set the figure at $49,100 for 2025 and 2026, up $2,750 from $46,350 in 2023 and 2024. DOR said that in 2023 the exemption saved about $293 million for more than 474,000 older and disabled Kentuckians.

The figure for 2027 and 2028 wasn't on the DOR or PVA pages we checked. If you're already approved, ask the PVA how a new amount will show up on your account.

If you were 65 and living in your home on January 1, 2026, and haven't filed, you can still claim this year's exemption. The application is due by December 31.

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Who qualifies

Based on age

The PVA lists two requirements:

You're 65 or older.
You own the property and live in it as your primary residence on January 1 of the year you apply.

The PVA adds that you can get the exemption in the year of your 65th birthday. DOR's wording is that you must be at least 65 "during the tax period." So if you turned 65 in, say, September 2026, and you owned and lived in the home on January 1, 2026, you can claim the 2026 exemption before the year ends.

Based on disability

The PVA requires all of these:

You're classified as totally disabled under a public or private retirement system.
You've kept that classification for the entire year.
You've received disability payments under that classification.
You own and live in the home as your primary residence on January 1.

DOR describes the disability program as one "authorized or administered by an agency of the United States government or any retirement system located within or outside of Kentucky." Social Security disability, a federal pension's disability benefit or a private employer's disability retirement could all count, as long as you're classified as totally disabled and receiving payments.

What kind of property

You can claim the exemption on residential or commercial property, as long as it's your primary residence and you meet the other rules. It applies to one home. If you move, the PVA says it's your job to tell the office and reapply on the new home.

Disabled family members and trusts

The PVA notes that parents of disabled children or legal guardians of a disabled person may qualify by placing the property in a legal trust for the disabled person's benefit. It says free legal help may be available to set up the trust. Call or visit the office to ask how this works before you change the deed.

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Homestead or disability: which to claim

You can't stack them. The PVA allows only one exemption per household, and both are worth the same $49,100. The differences are in the paperwork:

	Age-based homestead	Disability exemption
Main requirement	65 or older	Totally disabled for the whole year and receiving payments
Proof	Copy of your ID	Copy of your ID plus your disability award letter
Renewal	Not required once approved	May be required every year
Deadline	By December 31	By December 31

If you're getting the disability exemption and you turn 65, ask the PVA about switching to the age-based homestead. It doesn't need annual renewal.

Who doesn't need to renew the disability exemption

DOR says disabled owners must reapply each year unless they:

Are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces with a service-connected disability
Have been found totally and permanently disabled under Social Security Administration rules
Have been found totally and permanently disabled under Kentucky Retirement Systems rules

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How to apply in Jefferson County

What to have ready

For the age-based exemption	For the disability exemption
Completed Homestead/Disability application	Completed Homestead/Disability application
Copy of a valid Jefferson County driver's license, Real ID or Jefferson County ID	Copy of a valid Jefferson County driver's license, Real ID or Jefferson County ID
	Copy of your disability award letter

The PVA says the ID must be issued by the Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk or the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. DOR's general guidance says age can be shown with a birth certificate, driver's license, passport or other approved document. In Jefferson County, follow the PVA's ID list. If you don't have a Kentucky license or state ID with a Jefferson County address, call the office before you file.

Online

The PVA's portal is at jeffersonpva.ky.gov/homesteadexemption. It forwards to the PVA's online homestead portal. Have a copy of your ID ready before you start.

By mail

Download the Homestead/Disability Application from the PVA's exemption pages. Mail it with copies of your documents to:

Age-based: Jefferson County PVA, Attn: Homestead, 815 W. Market Street, Suite 400, Louisville, KY 40202-2654
Disability: Jefferson County PVA, Attn: Disability Exemption, same address

DOR says you can also file in person. The office is at the same Market Street address.

Don't wait for the deadline

December 31 is a hard cutoff. If you miss it, you lose that year's exemption. File by early December so there's time to fix a missing document. Keep a copy of everything you send and a note of when you sent it.

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Keeping the exemption

Once you're approved for the age-based homestead, you don't reapply each year. A few events do require action:

You move. Tell the PVA and file again for the new home.
You sell or transfer the home. Under KRS 132.810(2)(h), the owner, or an administrator, executor, trustee, guardian, conservator, curator or agent, must report the transfer to the PVA.
Your disability status changes. If you're on the disability exemption and aren't in one of DOR's three permanent groups, watch for the yearly renewal.

The PVA's pages quote KRS 132.990(1): anyone who willfully fails to give the PVA complete, accurate property information can be fined up to $500. Make sure your application is accurate.

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Common mistakes

Waiting until next year. You can claim the exemption in the year you turn 65. Waiting means one less year of savings.
Assuming it's automatic. Nothing on the PVA or DOR pages says it's applied without an application. You have to file.
Filing on a home you didn't live in on January 1. The January 1 rule decides which year you can start. If you moved into the home after January 1, 2026, you'll file for 2027.
Forgetting to report a move. The exemption doesn't follow you to a new address.
Applying for both exemptions. Only one is allowed per household.

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Before you file

☐ Your property address or parcel number
☐ The date you moved in, to confirm you lived there on January 1
☐ A copy of your Jefferson County driver's license, Real ID or Jefferson County ID
☐ Your disability award letter, if you're filing based on disability
☐ The Homestead/Disability application, or access to the PVA's online portal
☐ A reminder set for early December if you're filing on paper

YOUR NEXT STEPS

Not sure if you already have it? Ask the PVA whether an exemption is on your account.
If you turned 65 in 2026 and lived in the home on January 1, file before December 31.
Disabled and under 65? Gather your award letter and confirm you received payments all year.
File online through the PVA portal, or mail the application to 815 W. Market Street, Suite 400.
Moving soon? Tell the PVA and reapply at your new home.

More help in Louisville

Official sources

Last checked: October 30, 2026. The exemption amount, eligibility, documents, renewal rules and deadline come from the Jefferson County PVA's exemption pages and the Kentucky Department of Revenue. The table examples other than DOR's $200,000 example are our own calculations.

This is general information, not tax or legal advice. The Jefferson County PVA decides who qualifies. If your situation is unusual, such as a trust, a recent move or a disability that isn't from Social Security, confirm the details with the PVA before December 31.