Auditor: Deadline nears for homestead verification form

Harrison County Auditor Karen Engleman urges anyone who received a letter in the mail about their homestead verification form to call the office (738-8241) or visit the office located along Atwood Street in the Government Center in south Corydon.
If a person’s homestead information has not been updated since July 2009, it needs to be filled out at the auditor’s office or by phone. If the needed information is not turned in to the office, the homestead tax deduction will not be given to the resident, according to state law.
The homestead standard deduction reduces the taxable assessed value of the homestead portion of a property by the lesser of 60 percent or $45,000. (Personal property mobile homes are limited to 50 percent of the home’s value in deductions.)
Individuals and married couples are limited to one homestead deduction.
The verification form was sent to all homestead owners on a pink paper with tax bills in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The Indiana Dept. of Local Government Finance is in the process of updating its database to help catch homestead credit fraud.
Also, married couples should put their spouse’s name on the homestead, too, because if the person listed for the benefit dies, the credit goes away, Engleman said.
The deadline to file the form was originally Jan. 1, but Engleman said it has been extended to Jan. 7 because of the number of people visiting and calling the office.
‘They’ve been pretty upset,’ Engleman said.