Pennsylvania · 53 Pa.C.S. §§8583–8586Pennsylvania homestead exclusion: what a buyer must file after closing

Under Pennsylvania's Taxpayer Relief Act provisions, a county, municipality or school district may exclude a fixed dollar amount of the assessed value of each homestead from taxation (53 Pa.C.S. §8583), capped at one-half of the median assessed value of homesteads in that political subdivision (§8586). A homestead is a dwelling – including a condominium or cooperative unit – primarily used as the domicile of an owner who is a natural person (§8401). The exclusion isn't automatic: the owner must file an application with the assessor on the uniform form, no later than March 1 – or, in a city of the first class (Philadelphia), by a date the city sets that is no later than December 1 of the year before the exclusion first applies (§8584(a), (b)). The assessor must send a written denial with reasons by first class mail within 120 days after the filing deadline, or the application is deemed approved, and a denial can be appealed to the board (§8584(d), (e)). The approval belongs to the owner who applied: an owner whose property stops qualifying must notify the assessor within 45 days, and the recorder of deeds periodically sends the assessor a list of conveyance documents presented for recording (§8584(j)). A false application – including failing to give that notice – means paying the taxes that would have been due, with interest and a 10% penalty (§8584(h)).