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The Colorado senior property tax exemption takes 50% of the first $200,000 of your home's actual value off the tax rolls if you are 65 or older on January 1 and have owned and lived in the home for 10 straight years. You apply once, to your county assessor, between January 1 and July 15. The other senior benefit, the one that let you carry a reduced value to a new home (the senior primary residence classification), ends after tax year 2026. Here is who qualifies, how to apply, the forms, and what the change means if you plan to sell and move. Homeowners in Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Littleton and across Colorado, this is your plain-English guide.
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50% Of the first $200,000 exempt Up to $100,000 of actual value off the tax rolls (Colorado Division of Property Taxation, 2026) | 65 + 10 Age and years in the home 65 on January 1, owned and lived in the home 10 straight years |
July 15 Apply by Window opens January 1; late filings through August 15 lose appeal rights | 2026 Last year of the moving benefit SB26-116 ends the senior primary residence classification for 2027 and later |
Who qualifies for the Colorado senior property tax exemption
The Colorado Division of Property Taxation lists four tests. You need all of them:
- Age. You are 65 or older on January 1 of the year you apply. Only the applicant has to meet the age test; a younger spouse does not block you (Division of Property Taxation FAQ).
- Ownership. You or your spouse is the owner of record and has owned the home for at least 10 straight years before January 1.
- Occupancy. The home is your primary residence, and it has been for at least 10 straight years before January 1.
- Or surviving spouse. The surviving spouse of a senior who already qualified, who has not remarried, can apply on the long form.
What the exemption is worth. It exempts 50% of the first $200,000 of actual value, so the most it removes is $100,000 of value. A home the assessor values at $550,000 is taxed as if it were worth $450,000. Your dollar savings depend on your mill levy; see how assessment rates and levies turn value into a bill in our Colorado property taxes 2026 guide.
One exemption per person or couple. The Division says a person or a married couple gets one exemption in total. Filing for both the senior exemption and the veteran with a disability exemption, or claiming the same exemption on two homes, loses every exemption for that year. The application carries a signed statement that it is true, and false information can be treated as perjury.
Breaks in the 10 years: what still counts
The Division of Property Taxation FAQ lists the reasons a break in ownership or occupancy does not end your eligibility:
- Your earlier home, where you had the exemption, was taken through eminent domain.
- Your earlier home was destroyed by a natural disaster.
- You are in a hospital, nursing home or assisted living facility and would return home if you could, and the home is lived in only by your spouse or a financial dependent, or sits empty.
Those cases use the long form. A home held in a trust or LLC set up for estate planning also qualifies, on the long form. A relative who lived with you but was not your spouse does not inherit the exemption; survivor benefits go only to a surviving spouse.
How and when to apply
| Step | What to do | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pick the form | Short form if nothing interrupts your ownership or occupancy. Long form for a surviving spouse, a trust or LLC, or one of the exceptions above. | Any time |
| 2. File with your county assessor | Send it to the assessor in the county where the home sits, not to the state. Your parcel number is on your tax bill or the assessor website. | January 1 to July 15 |
| 3. Late filing | Accepted, but if the assessor denies it you have no appeal rights. | July 16 to August 15 |
| 4. See the savings | The cut shows on the tax bill for the year you applied, which arrives the next January. | Following year |
| 5. Report changes | A change in ownership, occupancy or who lives in the home means a new application. | Within 60 days of the change |
You do not reapply every year. Once approved, the exemption stays until something changes. If a deadline lands on a weekend or holiday, a filing delivered or postmarked the next working day counts (C.R.S. 39-1-120). There is no back credit: the Division says an exemption is not granted for years before you applied.
Timing example. Turn 65 before January 1, 2027, with 10 years in the home by then? Apply between January 1 and July 15, 2027. The cut shows on your 2027 tax bill, mailed in January 2028. Colorado taxes are paid a year behind; see the due dates in our Denver property taxes guide.
The moving benefit ends after 2026 (senior primary residence classification)
For 2025 and 2026 only, Colorado gave seniors who moved a reduced assessment at the new home. Per the Division of Property Taxation, it covered owners who received the senior exemption at a previous home in 2020 or later and were not able to get it at the new home. Its 2026 window ran January 1 to March 15, with late filings through July 15.
SB26-116, signed June 2, 2026 and in effect August 12, 2026, ends that classification for property tax years starting on or after January 1, 2027. What that means in plain words:
- If you sell and buy another Colorado home, the senior exemption does not follow you. You need 10 straight years of ownership and occupancy at the new home to qualify again.
- The bridge that eased that move is gone for 2027 forward. There is no 2027 application.
- The regular senior exemption is not affected by SB26-116. The 65-and-10-years exemption stays in place.
Searchers ask if the Colorado senior exemption is "suspended." It is not: the Division of Property Taxation lists the same January 1 to July 15 window every year, and SB26-116 left the exemption in place. The 2026 Blue Book notes that Proposition NN, on the November 3 ballot, would use kept TABOR money first to cover the senior, veteran and Gold Star exemptions, which the state already pays for today.
Other Colorado property tax help for older homeowners
The Division of Property Taxation FAQ points to three more programs it does not run itself:
- Property Tax/Rent/Heat Rebate from the Colorado Department of Revenue, for full-year residents 65 or older, surviving spouses 58 or older, and other eligible residents.
- Property tax deferral. Residents 65 or older can put off paying property tax on their home. Apply to the county treasurer between January 1 and April 1, every year.
- Property tax work-off. Any local taxing district can offer one for residents 60 or older on their primary residence. Ask your county treasurer which districts do.
Denver homeowners can also check the city's Property Tax Relief Program, covered in our 2026 property tax guide. Area by area, levies are broken down in our guides for Aurora, Arvada, Highlands Ranch and Parker.
How this affects you
Sellers. If you have the exemption and plan to move, it stops at your current home, and from 2027 there is no reduced value at the new one. On a home valued at $550,000, you give up a $100,000 cut in taxable value and start a new 10-year clock. Weigh that in the sell-or-stay math, and start with a free home value report. Selling a home with a reverse mortgage? Read selling a house with a reverse mortgage in Colorado.
Buyers. A home where the owner has the senior exemption shows a lower tax bill than you will pay. The exemption leaves with the seller. Ask the county assessor or treasurer for the tax with no exemption, and run your payment on that number in our Colorado mortgage calculator. Closing prorates the year's taxes; see closing costs in Colorado.
Homeowners. Turning 65, or hitting 10 years in your home, before January 1? Put January 1 to July 15 on your calendar and file the short form. Missed it? The next window opens January 1, and there is no back credit for missed years.
The Colorado market. With the moving benefit gone, a long-time owner who sells gives up the exemption for at least 10 years. Watch live Denver inventory on our Denver real estate statistics page and read what happens when boomer homes come to market.
What to watch out for
- Missing July 15. Filing between July 16 and August 15 is accepted, but a denial then comes with no appeal.
- Filing with the wrong office. The application goes to your county assessor, not the state. Sending it elsewhere delays it past the deadline.
- Double-dipping. Applying for two exemptions, or the same exemption on two homes, costs you all of them for that year.
- Forgetting the 60-day rule. A new co-owner, a move to assisted living or a change in who lives in the home means a new application within 60 days.
- Counting on the moving benefit. The senior primary residence classification ends after tax year 2026 (SB26-116).
Main-floor living homes for sale in Colorado
Planning a move to a one-level home? Below are ranch and patio homes with main-floor living, pulled live from the MLS every time you open this page. Compare costs in our guide to Colorado 55+ community rules and costs, the best 55+ communities in Colorado for 2026 and the 55+ communities map, or browse Castle Rock and Colorado Springs homes for sale.
