Slight error in something I posted above
Here is what I wrote:
But let's look at the reverse situation. A senior citizen owns a house and has the STAR enhanced on it. I buy the house and close on March 5, 2013. I am not eligible for STAR enhanced, only STAR basic. However when the school tax bill comes for 2013-14 school tax year, I will have the STAR Enhanced "benefit." Why? Because on the taxable status date of March 1, 2013, the house had the STAR Enhanced exemption. So it is my duty to notify my municipality by March 1, 2014 that I own the house and the Enhanced exemption needs to be removed and I still have to go through the process of applying for the Basic.
Here is the way it should have been worded:
But let's look at the reverse situation. A senior citizen owns a house and has the STAR enhanced on it. I buy the house and close on March 5, 2013. I am not eligible for STAR enhanced, only STAR basic. However when the school tax bill comes for 2013-14 school tax year, I will have the STAR Enhanced "benefit." Why? Because on the taxable status date of March 1, 2013, the owner-occupant of the house was a senior who was eligible for the STAR Enhanced and re-applied for such benefit. So it is my duty to notify my municipality by March 1, 2014 that I own the house and the Enhanced exemption needs to be removed and I still have to go through the process of applying for the Basic.
Let's be real here however. Would a senior (otherwise eligible for the STAR Enhanced) who is selling their house, has accepted an offer, and the closing date has been set for March 5, would such a senior actually go on March 1, or on Feb 28, to apply for STAR Enhanced? Probably not. Would most seniors (the sellers) still occupy (be living) in their house on March 1 when a closing date had been set? Probably not, so they probably would not be eligible to apply for STAR Enhanced on that house anyway. Of course, if they had bought another house in NYS that they will occupy, they would surely close AND move into the new house prior to March 1 so that they could apply for STAR Enhanced in the new house
However, a wise senior citizen (otherwise eligible for the STAR Enhanced) if he or she is going to move to an apartment but if still occupying the ir hous, very possibly might apply for it, because anything could happen on March 4. I'm not an estate attorney but suppose the person buying the house died on March 4? Suppose the buyer died in a car accident on the way to the closing? Or died in a fire in their apartment on the morning of closing date. Could the seller (the senior) collect anything from the buyer's estate when the buyer has not yet signed the closing documents. I don't know.
I've gone well beyond the topic, but I was trying to illustrate the relationship of the application date for exemptions compared to closing dates for seller/purchaser and how exemptions remain with the home for the entire "assessment year" which is July 1 through June 30.
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Did you read the Gazetto story on the STAR scandal? Only one problem no mention of our own local turbo tax cheat Fat Morris! I'm sure this was a slight oversight on their part failing to add the Proctor's Czar Fat Morris to the front page story on how
