The Break On Your Tax Bill
RCW 84.36.381 — an exemption for owners sixty-one or older, retired by disability, or certain veterans
Who. The claimant is sixty-one years of age or older on December 31st of the year the claim is filed, or retired from regular gainful employment by reason of disability, or a veteran receiving compensation at a combined service-connected rating of 40 percent or higher or a total disability rating. A surviving spouse or domestic partner of a person receiving the exemption qualifies at 57 years of age or older.
The home. The residence is the claimant's principal place of residence when the claim is filed, and is owned in fee, as a life estate, or by contract purchase. A stay in a hospital, nursing home or similar care does not disqualify the claim if the home is temporarily unoccupied, occupied by a spouse or dependent, or rented to pay for the care.
| Combined disposable income | Exempt from |
|---|---|
| Combined disposable incomeAt or below income threshold 3 | Exempt fromAll excess property taxes, the state property tax under RCW 84.52.065, and voter approved regular taxes where the ballot measure named this exemption |
| Combined disposable incomeAbove threshold 1, at or below threshold 2 | Exempt fromRegular taxes on the greater of $70,000 or 45 percent of the valuation, not to exceed $200,000 |
| Combined disposable incomeAt or below threshold 1 | Exempt fromRegular taxes on the greater of $80,000 or 80 percent of the valuation |
The value is frozen. For a qualifying person, the valuation of the residence is its assessed value on the later of January 1, 1995, or January 1st of the year the person first qualifies, though never more than its true and fair value.
Other exemptions and credits, and the forms and proof the assessor asks for, are set out in other sections that are not on this page. Whether a particular home qualifies is a question for the assessor's office or a licensed Washington attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- RCW 84.36.381 — Senior and disabled residence exemption
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Washington attorney.