Nashville Property Tax Relief and Tax Freeze: Who Qualifies for 2026
Davidson County has three programs that can lower or limit property taxes for older, disabled and veteran homeowners: Tax Relief, Tax Freeze and Tax Deferral. Sign-up for the 2026 tax year opened October 5. Here's who qualifies, how the Trustee's Office counts your income, and the April 5 rule that drops people from the programs every year.
AT A GLANCE
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Which program fits your situation?
If you are… | Look at | 2025 income limit |
|---|---|---|
65 or older by Dec. 31, 2026 | Tax Relief and Tax Freeze (you can be in both) | $38,470 (Relief); $63,470 (Freeze) |
Disabled, with an SSA or SSI award approved by Dec. 31, 2026 | Tax Relief | $38,470 |
A 100% service-connected disabled veteran, or a surviving spouse who hasn't remarried | Tax Relief (veteran and widow(er) group) | No income limit listed |
65+ or totally and permanently disabled, with combined gross income under $25,000 | Tax Deferral | Under $25,000 |
Homeowners 65 and older can qualify for both Relief and Freeze; the Trustee's Office refers to members of "Tax Relief and/or Tax Freeze." What Relief actually saves depends on your home's value, your tax district, the credit cap for the year, and whether you qualified by age or disability or as a veteran.
Tax Relief: money off, nothing owed back
"The benefit is not repaid and does not create debt or a lien on the property." (Office of the Metropolitan Trustee, on Property Tax Relief)
Tax Relief is a credit paid with state and Metro money. You must own the home and live there, and qualify in one of three ways: by age (65 by Dec. 31, 2026), by disability (approved by Dec. 31, 2026), or as a disabled veteran or surviving spouse. Age and disability applicants must also have 2025 income at or below $38,470.
Two caveats from the Trustee's Office are worth knowing:
Funding isn't guaranteed. If the state doesn't put up enough money, members may have to pay their full taxes before getting any credit back.
It isn't an exemption. Some years the credit covers the whole bill, but that doesn't mean every year will be $0.
Veterans and surviving spouses fill out a VA consent form at the Trustee's Office: F-16 for veterans and F-16S for surviving spouses.
Tax Freeze: a ceiling, not a cut
Freeze won't lower this year's bill. It locks in your tax amount for the year you qualify, so later Metro rate increases or countywide reappraisals don't raise it, as long as you requalify every year. Up to five acres of a residential property can be frozen. If a reappraisal ever lowers your home's value, your bill drops and freezes again at the lower amount.
The catch is that if you lose eligibility and reapply later, you don't get your old frozen amount back. A new base is set for the year you qualify again. That's the main reason not to miss the yearly voucher.
Tax Deferral: the last-resort option
Deferral is a separate state program (Tennessee Code Annotated 7-64-101). It's for homeowners 65 or older, or totally and permanently disabled, with combined gross income under $25,000. It postpones current taxes on your residence until the person getting the deferral dies or the home is sold. The deferred taxes build up 6% simple interest a year. If you have a mortgage, your lender must sign a letter of agreement. You must apply by December 31 of each tax year and reapply every year. Call 615-862-6330 to ask whether it makes sense for you.
How the Trustee counts your income
Relief and Freeze both use the combined 2025 income of the applicant, the applicant's spouse and everyone on the deed, whether or not they live there.
The 1040 formula
Step | Line on your 2025 Form 1040 |
|---|---|
Start with adjusted gross income | Line 11 |
Subtract taxable Social Security | Line 6b |
Add total Social Security | Line 6a |
Subtract 2025 Medicare | (see the Trustee's formula) |
Result | Income used for eligibility |
The Trustee calls this a general formula that can vary by person. If you didn't file a 2025 return, bring your other 2025 income records and one month's 2025 bank statement showing your Social Security deposit.
Who counts and who doesn't
Siblings or children on the deed count, even if they live elsewhere and don't help pay.
Adult children living with you but not on the deed don't count.
A divorced ex-spouse doesn't count if you bring the divorce decree. A separated spouse does count.
Life estate: the person who will inherit counts only if they live in your home.
Income that people forget to report includes IRA withdrawals, lump-sum back payments, rental income, unemployment, workers' comp, alimony, inheritances, and sales of stock or land in 2025.
How to apply
Gather your documents from the checklist below.
Go to the Trustee's Office, second floor of the Howard Office Building, 700 President Ronald Reagan Way, Suite 220. Applications are taken Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The office says the appointment takes about 35 minutes once you're called. You can book a specialist up to 24 hours in advance, or watch the Trustee's newsletter for community sign-up events.
Pay your 2026 property taxes in full by April 5, 2027. You don't qualify unless they're paid.
If you can't go in person, someone with your power of attorney can apply for you with your documents and a copy of the POA.
Staying enrolled
If you enroll this fall, you don't need to do anything more for this program year. Your first recertification voucher, a colored sheet that comes with your tax statement, arrives in fall 2027 and is due April 5, 2028. Current members must sign and return this year's voucher and pay their taxes by April 5, 2027. If yours hasn't arrived by November 2026, call 615-862-6330.
People are most often removed for:
Income going over the limit, often because a pension started or a new owner was added to the deed
A missing or unsigned voucher by April 5
Taxes not paid by April 5
Moving out, selling, or remarrying (for veterans' surviving spouses)
Tax Relief members aged 80 or older who've been enrolled five years in a row can now just check a box certifying their income is still under the limit, without reporting the amounts.
Before you call
☐ Driver's license. If its address isn't the home, bring a 2026 voter card, a 2026 car insurance statement, or two 2026 utility bills plus a bank statement.
☐ Medicare card
☐ 2025 federal tax return with all attachments, or your 2025 SSA-1099, pension and W-2 forms plus one bank statement
☐ SSA disability award letter, or a VA disability award letter for veterans
☐ Death certificate if a spouse or co-owner has died, or your divorce decree if divorced
☐ The trust section naming the grantor if the home is in a revocable living trust. Homes in an irrevocable trust can't qualify.
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK
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Last checked: October 23, 2026. Income limits, deadlines and rules come from the Office of the Metropolitan Trustee's 2026 program pages and the Tennessee Comptroller. Limits change every year, and the Trustee hadn't posted the 2026 Tax Relief credit amounts when we checked.
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