Who qualifies for the Senior Citizen Property Tax Credit (circuit breaker) in Missouri?

A full-year Missouri resident who, by December 31, is 65 or older, or is a veteran 100% disabled from service, or has been disabled for at least 12 months, or is 60 and got surviving-spouse Social Security. The home is the house plus up to five acres. Renters qualify only if the landlord pays property tax. A refundable Missouri income tax credit, not a line off your county bill. For a 2025 claim filed in 2026, the income limits are $30,000 single or $34,000 married for a full-year owner. The maximum is $1,100 for owners and $750 for renters. For 2026 (claimed in 2027), the credit is capped at $1,550 of property tax. Special assessments, penalties, interest, service charges and personal property tax do not count. Deadline: April 15 of the next year. The 2025 claim was due April 15, 2026.

Who qualifies for the County senior real-property tax credit (senior freeze) in Missouri?

Age 62 or older, a Missouri resident, owner of record or holder of a written interest, liable for the real-property tax, and living in the home as your only primary residence. No income or value limit in the statute. Only available in counties that adopted it. St. Louis County and Jackson County both do. A credit that keeps your bill at the base-year amount. If your bill later falls, the lower year becomes the new base. New construction and annexation raise the base. The credit is printed on the collector's bill. You can't claim it on the same home as the all-age credit. Deadline: St. Louis County: the window for the freeze on the 2026 bill was November 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, and it has passed. The county has not posted the next window. Jackson County: the application year sets your base and the credit shows on later bills.

Rules by state / Missouri

Missouri property tax, line by line.

Your county collector sends one real-estate bill a year, due December 31. It lists each taxing district, such as school, fire, library, city and county. The assessor sets your value but does not bill you.

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At a glance

Who sends the bill: The county collector. The assessor sets value and does not bill. In St. Louis County it is the Collector of Revenue. In Jackson County it is the Department of Collection.
When it comes: November. In Jackson County, call if no bill arrives by December 1.
When it's due: December 31. A U.S. postmark on December 31 is on time. Jackson County online payments must be in before the site closes at 11:40 p.m. on December 31.
If you pay late: St. Louis County: after December 31, up to 18% interest a year plus a 2% penalty. Jackson County: interest, penalties and fees, with more charges on the first of each month starting January 1.
Value is set as of: January 1. New values are set January 1 of each odd year and reused the next even year, except for new construction and improvements.
Limits on increases: No statewide cap on your home's value. A county may adopt a senior tax credit (age 62 or older). Some listed counties may adopt an all-age credit, but St. Louis County and Jackson County are not on that list.

Bill dates source · Assessment source

What may come off

2 programs homeowners can claim

None of these are applied for you automatically. Each one is free to apply for. If you upload your bill, we check which ones are already on it and which may fit you.

Senior Citizen Property Tax Credit (circuit breaker)

Who: A full-year Missouri resident who, by December 31, is 65 or older, or is a veteran 100% disabled from service, or has been disabled for at least 12 months, or is 60 and got surviving-spouse Social Security. The home is the house plus up to five acres. Renters qualify only if the landlord pays property tax.
What you get: A refundable Missouri income tax credit, not a line off your county bill. For a 2025 claim filed in 2026, the income limits are $30,000 single or $34,000 married for a full-year owner. The maximum is $1,100 for owners and $750 for renters. For 2026 (claimed in 2027), the credit is capped at $1,550 of property tax. Special assessments, penalties, interest, service charges and personal property tax do not count.
How to apply: File Form MO-PTC if you don't need to file a Missouri income tax return. File Form MO-PTS with your MO-1040 if you do. Attach your paid real-estate receipt (or Form MO-CRP for rent). Form: MO-PTC / MO-PTS.
Deadline: April 15 of the next year. The 2025 claim was due April 15, 2026.
If you're late: You may file within three years of the original due date.
After that: Every year.

Source

County senior real-property tax credit (senior freeze)

Who: Age 62 or older, a Missouri resident, owner of record or holder of a written interest, liable for the real-property tax, and living in the home as your only primary residence. No income or value limit in the statute. Only available in counties that adopted it. St. Louis County and Jackson County both do.
What you get: A credit that keeps your bill at the base-year amount. If your bill later falls, the lower year becomes the new base. New construction and annexation raise the base. The credit is printed on the collector's bill. You can't claim it on the same home as the all-age credit.
How to apply: St. Louis County: apply or renew online or in person with proof of age, locator number, deed and proof of residence. Jackson County: online, by mail or in person through the Collection Department.
Deadline: St. Louis County: the window for the freeze on the 2026 bill was November 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, and it has passed. The county has not posted the next window. Jackson County: the application year sets your base and the credit shows on later bills.
After that: St. Louis County requires renewal every year.

The official page · Source

In some situations

If you moved, inherited, built or had a disaster

St. Louis County senior freeze (what your 2026 bill shows)

Who: A St. Louis County owner approved for base year 2025.
What you get: Your 2026 bill shows the frozen amount from base year 2025. The freeze covers increases from taxing districts, but not the Blind Pension Fund. It does not freeze your value, so you can still appeal your assessment.
How to apply: Use the St. Louis County Department of Revenue senior-freeze portal or the Clayton, North County or South County offices.
Deadline: June 30, 2026 for the freeze on this November bill.
After that: Yearly renewal, in a later window the county has not posted.

The official page

All-age homestead credit (RSMo 137.1055)

Who: Owners of any age who live in a listed 5% or 0% county whose voters approved the April 2026 question. You must be liable for the tax on one primary residence.
What you get: In 5% counties, your tax can't rise more than 5% a year or CPI-U (whichever is greater) over the 2024 base. In 0% counties, your tax stays at the 2024 amount. Both have add-ons for new voter-approved levies, new construction and annexation. St. Louis County, Jackson County and St. Louis City are not on either list, so it isn't available there.
How to apply: You file nothing. The collector applies it if your county's voters adopted it.

Source

Think your value is too high?

Asking for a lower assessed value (market value)

Formal appeal: The county Board of Equalization, then the State Tax Commission.
Deadline: St. Louis County: the 2026 window opened May 1, 2026 and closed July 13, 2026. A 2025 appeal result also covers 2026, and a 2025 appellant can't appeal again in 2026. The next reassessment year is 2027. Jackson County: a 2026 appeal that is still open does not delay your December 31, 2026 bill, and recalculations are suspended until January 2027.
Fee: No filing fee is stated on the St. Louis County Board of Equalization FAQ.
Good to know: Keep paying on time while an appeal is open. You file the appeal yourself. St. Louis County sends value disputes to the Board of Equalization and does not describe a separate free informal review.

A formal appeal reopens your whole value: the board can raise it as well as lower it. Bring recent sales of similar homes.

Source · We never charge for help asking for a lower value.

What can't come off

Charges you can't remove

Personal property tax. It is a separate January 1 assessment and is outside the circuit breaker and the real-estate credits.
The Blind Pension Fund, on a St. Louis County senior freeze.
Special assessments, penalties, interest and service charges, for the circuit breaker.
New construction, annexation and new voter-approved levies. These raise a frozen base.
A share of your value. Missouri has no statewide homestead exemption.

Your bill lists each taxing district, including school, fire, library, city, county and the statewide Blind Pension Fund. The St. Louis County senior freeze stops increases from those districts except the Blind Pension Fund. Special assessments, penalties, interest and service charges don't count toward the circuit breaker. No homestead exemption for special assessments was found.

Watch out. Missouri has no general homestead exemption. The old state homestead credit was repealed in 2018, so don't file for it.

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Rules checked October 28, 2026 against official Missouri sources. Rules change: check the deadline with your county before you rely on it. Not legal or tax advice.