Who qualifies for the Homestead exemption, age 65 or older in Nebraska?

You own and live in the home and turned 65 before January 1 of the tax year. Your household income (2025 income for 2026 filings) must be under the limit. Closely related household members' income counts. The state pays part of your tax. The share depends on income. For 2026, single / married or closely related: 100% through $37,000 / $43,400; 90% through $38,900 / $45,800; 80% through $40,800 / $48,100; 70% through $42,700 / $50,400; 60% through $44,700 / $52,800; 50% through $46,600 / $55,100; 40% through $48,500 / $57,500; 30% through $50,400 / $59,800; 20% through $52,400 / $62,100; 10% through $54,300 / $64,500; nothing at $54,301 / $64,501 and over. The county value limit also applies. Deadline: June 30, 2026 (next business day if it falls on a weekend or holiday). If the IRS extends your income tax return, Schedule I can follow by the extended date, but Form 458 is still due June 30 with a note about the extension.

Rules by state / Nebraska

Nebraska property tax, line by line.

Your county treasurer sends one bill each December for the tax year based on your January 1 value. The bill shows the homestead exemption the state is paying, if you have one. Special district taxes are on the same bill.

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At a glance

Who sends the bill: The county treasurer. The assessor certifies the list to the treasurer by November 22.
When it comes: December, for the tax year assessed that January 1.
When it's due: The full tax is due December 31, but it is not late on that date. You can pay in two halves. In Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy counties the first half is late after April 1 and the second half after August 1. In every other county the dates are May 1 and September 1. For 2026 taxes, those dates fall in 2027.
Value is set as of: January 1. To keep a homestead exemption you must own and live in the home from January 1 through August 15.
Limits on increases: The homestead program limits how much of your home's value can be exempt. If you are 65 or older, the limit is the greater of 200% of the county average value of a single-family home, or $95,000. If you are disabled or a qualifying veteran, it is the greater of 120% of the county average, or $50,000. If your home is $20,000 or more over the limit, you get nothing. The Department of Revenue publishes the county table.

Bill dates source · Assessment source

What may come off

3 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.

Homestead exemption, age 65 or older

Who: You own and live in the home and turned 65 before January 1 of the tax year. Your household income (2025 income for 2026 filings) must be under the limit. Closely related household members' income counts.
What you get: The state pays part of your tax. The share depends on income. For 2026, single / married or closely related: 100% through $37,000 / $43,400; 90% through $38,900 / $45,800; 80% through $40,800 / $48,100; 70% through $42,700 / $50,400; 60% through $44,700 / $52,800; 50% through $46,600 / $55,100; 40% through $48,500 / $57,500; 30% through $50,400 / $59,800; 20% through $52,400 / $62,100; 10% through $54,300 / $64,500; nothing at $54,301 / $64,501 and over. The county value limit also applies.
How to apply: File Form 458 and Schedule I with your county assessor, after February 1 and on or before June 30.
Deadline: June 30, 2026 (next business day if it falls on a weekend or holiday). If the IRS extends your income tax return, Schedule I can follow by the extended date, but Form 458 is still due June 30 with a note about the extension.
If you're late: With medical documentation, the assessor can accept a current-year late filing up to the first-half late date (April 1 in Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy, May 1 elsewhere). A prior-year late claim needs Form 458L with a physician's certification by June 30 of the next year. A late claim is also allowed by June 30 if your spouse died during the year. Form 458X can correct income for up to three years.
After that: Every year.

Form 458 and Schedule I: the form

Homestead exemption, disabled persons, nonservice-connected disabled veterans, developmental disability

Who: You own and live in the home and are a wartime veteran totally disabled by a nonservice-connected accident or illness, a person with a physical disability, or a person with a developmental disability. Your household income must be under the limit.
What you get: The state pays part of your tax, based on income, with higher limits than the over-65 table. For 2026, single / married or closely related: 100% through $41,600 / $47,700; 90% through $43,600 / $50,000; 80% through $45,500 / $52,400; 70% through $47,400 / $54,700; 60% through $49,300 / $57,000; 50% through $51,300 / $59,400; 40% through $53,200 / $61,700; 30% through $55,100 / $64,100; 20% through $57,000 / $66,400; 10% through $59,000 / $68,700; nothing at $59,001 / $68,701 and over. The value limit is the greater of 120% of the county average or $50,000. Check the table in the guide if your income is close to a line.
How to apply: File Form 458 every year with your county assessor. With your first application, add Form 458B or a VA certificate (physical disability and veterans). People with a developmental disability need Form 458B signed by DHHS. Form: Form 458 (with Form 458B or VA certificate).
Deadline: June 30, 2026.
If you're late: Same medical and prior-year late rules as the age 65 exemption.
After that: Every year.

Form 458 (with Form 458B or VA certificate): the form

Homestead exemption, 100% disabled veterans and certain surviving spouses

Who: A veteran with a 100% service-connected permanent disability, or paid at the 100% rate for unemployability, or with a 100% temporary service-connected disability. Also a veteran with paraplegia or multiple amputations whose home VA helped pay for (one acre or less), or the surviving spouse of a qualifying veteran under the remarriage rules in the guide. Discharge must be honorable or general under honorable where the law requires it.
What you get: No income limit and no home value limit. The state pays the exempt tax to the county. For the paraplegia or amputation category, the home is limited to one acre.
How to apply: File Form 458 with your county assessor the first year, with VA certification.
Deadline: June 30 of the first year, and any year a new filing is required.
If you're late: A late first filing still needs the VA certificate. You must file again the following year.
After that: Permanent disability and surviving spouse: no yearly form after the first approval, unless your status changes or the earlier filing was late. Temporary 100% disability: file every year.

Form 458: the form

Think your value is too high?

Asking for a lower actual value

Free review: Talk to your county assessor about your value before you protest. This is free and is not a separate board.
Formal appeal: The County Board of Equalization. File the protest with the county clerk. The next step is the Tax Equalization and Review Commission (TERC).
Deadline: Value protest: June 1 through June 30. If your homestead exemption was rejected because of value, you must also protest by June 30. The board may extend that homestead-value protest to July 20. TERC appeal timing depends on when the county board finishes. September 10 applies only to counties that extended their hearing deadline.
Good to know: Ask the county clerk whether the board can raise your value before you protest. Check for any TERC fee.

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

Any value above the county maximum. If your home is $20,000 or more over it, you get no exemption (for categories with a value limit).
Income over the 0% line. There is no partial exemption past it.
A home you did not both own and live in from January 1 through August 15.
A missed June 30 filing, unless a medical or death late rule applies.
There is no general homestead exemption if you are under 65, not disabled and not a qualifying veteran.

Special districts are paid through the same treasurer bill. The state reimburses the lost tax when a homestead exemption applies to it. A fee that is not a property tax is not covered. Douglas County uses the earlier April 1 and August 1 late dates.

Watch out. A new buyer or new home does not get the 100% disabled veteran exemption automatically. You must file Form 458 the first year.

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