Public Safety Officers Tax Credit – Frequently Asked Questions

PublicSafetyOfficersTaxCredit–FrequentlyAskedQuestions

WhatisthePublicSafetyOfficersTaxCredit?

ThePublicSafetyOfficersTaxCreditoffersacreditagainsttheBaltimoreCityrealpropertytaximposed

ontheprincipalresidencesofswornpublicsafetyofficersservingfulltimeintheBaltimoreCityPolice

Department,BaltimoreCityFireDepartment,BaltimoreCitySheriff’sOffice,

ortheBaltimoreCityPublic

SchoolSystem.

Whatisthecreditamount?

Thecreditisthelesseramountof$2,500andtheBaltimoreCityrealpropertytaximposedonthe

eligiblerealpropertyforeachtaxableyearthatthepropertyremainseligible.

Forexample,iftheeligiblepropertyisassessed

for$100,000,theBaltimoreCitypropertytaximposedis

$2,248.Asthetaximposedislessthan$2,500,thecreditamountis$2,248,whichisequaltothetotal

citypropertytaxliability.

Whatisthecreditterm?

Thecreditcanberenewedeverytaxableyearprovidedthattheeligibilityrequirements

continuetobe

metANDthecreditrecipientsubmits theAnnualEligibilityVerification(AEV)formpriortoApril1

ofthe

calendaryearinwhichtherenewalissought.

HowdoIknowifI’meligibleforthiscredit?

Inordertobeeligibleforthiscredit,theapplicantmust:

1. Bea“Publicsafetyofficer”meansafirefighter,anemergencymedicaltechnician,oralaw

enforcementofficerwhoisasworn

memberofandemployedfulltimeby:

(i)theBaltimoreCityFireDepartment;

(ii)theBaltimoreCityPoliceDepartment;

(iii)theBaltimoreCitySheriff’sOffice;or

(iv)theBaltimoreCityPublicSchoolSystem.

2. Ownadwellinglocated inBaltimoreCityandusesaiddwellingashisorherprincipal

residence;

and

3. BeotherwiseeligibleinallrespectsforthetaxcreditauthorizedbytheStateTax‐Property

Article,Section9‐105(“HomesteadTaxCredit”).

HowdoIknowifmypropertyis eligiblefortheHomesteadTaxCredit(#3above)?

Yourpropertyiseligibleif:

 Thepropertywas

nottransferredforvalueduringthetaxyearpriortothetaxyearinwhichthe

creditissought;and

 Thepropertywastheowner’sprincipalresidenceandtheownerlivedinitforatleastsix

monthsofthecalendaryearinwhichthecreditistobe

awarded,includingJuly1oftheyearfor

whichthecreditisapplicable.

FormoreinformationabouttheHomesteadTaxCredit,pleasevisit

http://dat.maryland.gov/realproperty/Pages/Maryland‐Homestead‐Tax‐Credit.aspx

WhatistheHomesteadTaxCredit?

TheHomesteadTaxCreditisdesignedtohelphomeownersdealwithlargeassessmentincreaseson

theirprincipalresidence. InBaltimoreCity,thecreditisgrantedforanyassessmentincreaseexceeding

4%fromoneyeartothenext.Thecreditiscalculatedbasedonthe10%

limitforpurposesoftheState

realpropertytax,and4%forpurposesofBaltimoreCityrealpropertytaxes.Inotherwords,the

homeownerpaysnopropertytaxonthemarketvalueincreasewhichisabovethoselimits.

FormoreinformationabouttheHomesteadTaxCredit,pleasevisit

http://dat.maryland.gov/realproperty/Pages/Maryland‐Homestead‐

Tax‐Credit.aspx

DoIneedtoapplyfortheHomesteadTaxCreditinordertoapplyforthePublicSafetyOfficersTax

Credit?

No.TobeeligibleforthePublicSafetyOfficersTaxCredit,thepropertymustonlybeeligibleforthe

HomesteadTaxCredit.WestronglyencourageyoutoapplyfortheHomesteadTaxCreditbecauseitisa

relativelysimpleprocessthatcanproveverybeneficialforhomeownersovertheperiodoftimethat

theyowntheirhome.However,itisnotarequirementofthePublicSafetyOfficersTaxCredit.



I’dliketoapplyfortheHomesteadTaxCredit.HowdoIapply?

TherearemultiplewaystoapplyfortheHomesteadTaxCredit.Formoreinformation,pleasevisit

http://dat.maryland.gov/realproperty/Pages/Maryland‐Homestead‐Tax‐Credit.aspx

Ioccupymyhomeasmyprincipalresidence.HowdoIconfirmthispri ortoapplyingforthePublic

SafetyOfficersTaxCredit?

Ifwhilecreatingyoura pplicationintheTaxCreditSystemyourPrincipalResidencestatusisan“N”,you

donotqualifyforthiscredit.However,ifyourPrincipal

Residencestatusisan“N”andyoubelievethisis

anerrorbecausethepropertyisyourprincipalresidence,pleasecontinue,completeandsubmityour

applicationbyApril1

.Afteryousubmityourapplication,pleasecontacttheBaltimoreCityofficeofthe

StateDepartmentofAssessmentsandTaxation(SDAT)immediatelyandhaveyourPrincipalResidence

statusupdated.Ifthisfielddoesnotreflectan“H”or“D”ontheTaxCreditSystembythefollowingMay

youwillnotbeeligibletoreceivethiscreditonyournextRealPropertyTaxBill.Noapplicationswill

beacceptedafterApril1

.

PrincipalresidencyisdeterminedbytheStateDepartmentofAssessmentsandTaxation(SDAT).Tolook

uptheresidencystatusofyourproperty,pleasevisit

https://sdat.dat.maryland.gov/RealProperty/Pages/default.aspxandenteryourpropertyinformationin

thesearchtool.Theprincipalresidenceindicatorisdisplayedintheupper‐rightsectionofthesummary

page.

MyhomeisnotlistedasmyprincipalresidenceontheSDATpage.HowdoIupdatethatinformation?

PleasecontactSDAT’sBaltimoreCityofficeat410‐767‐8250andrequestanupdatetothatindicator.

Pleaseemailanyotherquestionstotax.credi ts@baltimorecity.gov,orcallusdirectlyat(410)396‐4585.

ImeetalltheeligibilitycriteriaforthePublicSafetyOfficersTaxCredit.HowdoIapply?

TheapplicationisavailablethroughtheBaltimoreCityTaxCreditApplica tionSystem:

https://propertytaxcredits.baltimorecity.gov/PropertyTaxCredits/ 

Oncecompleted,theapplicationcanbesubmittedviathesameonlinesystem.Thereisnohardcopyof

theapplication.

Step#1:Click“Register”ontheTaxCreditSystemhomepagetocreateauniqueuserlogin.

Step#2:Enteryourcon tactinformationintheappropriatefields.Yourpasswordmustbeatleast8

charactersandcontainatleast1number.Oncecomplete,click“CreateUser”toregister.

Pleasenote:theDepartmentofFinancewillupdateyouviaemailonthestatusofyourapplication.Itis

veryimportantthattheemailassociatedwithyouraccountiscurrentandonethatyou

useregularly.

Step#3:Onceyouraccounthasbeensuccessfullycreated,click“Here”toproceedtotheloginpage.

Enteryournewlycreatedusernameandpasswordintheloginfields.Click“LogIn”.

Step#4:Click“Applications”ontheleft‐sidemenu.Click“CreateApplication”fromthemenudropdown.

Step#5:

Onthe“CreateaNewApplication”page,clickthe“SelectApplicationType”dropdownand

select“PUBLICSAFETYOFFICERSTAXCREDIT”.Select“CreateaNewApplication” tostartyour

application.

Step#6:CreateandsubmityourapplicationviatheSignatureTab.Oncetheapplicationissubmittedyou

willreceiveanemail

confirmingthesubmissionoftheapplication,pleasekeepacopyforyourrecords.

Theapplicationasksforthepropertytransferdate.WheredoIfindthis?

Thetransferdateisthedateofsettlement/closing.YoucanfindthisonyourClosingDisclosuresform

thatyoureceivedatsettlement/closing.

Theapplicationasks

formyEmployeeIDnumber.WheredoIfindthis?

TheEmployeeIDnumbercanbefoundonyourpaycheck.Ifyoucannotlocatethisnumberonyour

paycheck,pleasecontactyourAgency’sHumanResourcesCoordinator.

Isthereadeadlinetoapplyforthiscredit?

Yes,applicationsmustbesubmitted

onlinebyApril1

ofthecalendaryearinwhichthecreditisinitially

sought.

DoIneedtoreapplyeveryyear?

Thecreditdoesnotautomaticallyreneweveryyear.TheapplicantmustsubmittheAnnualEligibility

Verification(AEV)formpriortoApril1

eachyear.Thismustbedoneonlineusingthesameapplication

systemtheapplicantusedtosubmittheirini tialapplication.FailuretosubmittheAEVbyApril1

will

resultinalossofthecreditforthatyear.Theapplicantcanreapplyinthefollowingyear.

Myapplicationwasrejected.CanIreapplyrightaway?

No.Ifyourapplicationwasrejectedyoucannotreapplyinthesametaxableyear.Ifyoulaterbecome

eligibleforthiscredityoumayapply insubsequenttaxableyears.

CanIcombinethiscreditwithotherBaltimoreCitypropertytaxcredits?

WiththeexceptionoftheTargete dHomeownersTaxCreditandtheHomesteadTaxCredit,thePublic

SafetyOfficersTaxCreditcannotbecombinedwithanypropertytaxcreditprovidedbytheCityof

Baltimore.

IhaveadifferentBaltimoreCitypropertytaxcreditonmypropertyandI’dratherhavethePublic

SafetyOfficerTaxCredit.WhatshouldIdo?

PleaseemailtheDepartmentofFinanceat[email protected].

ThesystemisnotacceptingmyWard,Section,Block,Lotcombination.

Pleaseentera“0”attheendofyourSectionnumber.Forexample,ifyourSectionnumberis“05”,enter

“050”.

WheredoIfindacopyofmylatestpropertytaxbill?

Youcansearchforyourlatestproperty

taxbillathttp://cityservices.baltimorecity.gov/realproperty/.

IcannotfindmyapplicationorIamreceivinganerrorsayingthatIcanonlysubmitonecredit

application.WhatshouldIdo?

Youmustusetheaccountinformationyoucreatedtologinintothetaxcreditsystemandthensearch

fortheapplication.Ifyoudonotrememberyour

logininformation,pleaseresetasshownbelowin

imageA,andthenfollowthestepsinImageB.

ImageA



ImageB



PleaserememberthatapplicationsforthePublicSafetyOfficersTaxCreditmustbesubmittednolater

thanApril1

.Oncetheapplication is submittedyouwillreceiveanemailconfirmingthesubmissionof

theapplication,pleasekee pacopyforyourrecords.

Ihaveaquestionnotlistedhere.WhocanIcontact?

Pleaseemailanyquestionsto[email protected],orcallusdirectlyat(410)396‐4585.



Importantnote:

Oncetheapplicationissubmittedyouwillreceiveanemailconfir mingthesubmissionoftheapplication,

pleasekeepacopyforyourrecords.

NoapplicationswillbeacceptedafterApril1

,sodon’twait!

