Lexington County, South Carolina, takes homestead exemption pre-applications from July 16 through Dec. 31 of the year a person turns 65, so for anyone born in 1961 the window closes in about nine weeks. It is not the only way in, and the county’s own page shows why waiting is less risky than the date suggests. The same page carries a dollar figure that is set to change for the first tax year these new 65-year-olds can claim.
A $75,000 exemption for 2026 and a $50,000 baseline
The county’s homestead exemption program page says the program exempts the first $50,000 of a home’s value from all property taxes for owners who are 65 or older, or who are disabled or blind. For tax year 2026 only, the General Assembly temporarily raised that to $75,000.
The page is blunt about what follows: “Unless extended or made permanent by the General Assembly, the statutory exemption remains $50,000 for future tax years.” Under the county’s formula, a person turning 65 in 2026 first becomes eligible for tax year 2027, so pre-applying this fall does not bring the $75,000 version.
For a Lexington County homeowner who turns 65 this year, the question is when to file: now, in the pre-application window, or after New Year’s in the regular season. The county accepts either, but the routes close on different dates, and the paperwork for a Medicare-age owner who has never filed should be ready before the first one shuts.
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State law gives the same baseline. Section 12-37-250 of the South Carolina Code exempts the first $50,000 of the fair market value of a dwelling for a resident who reaches 65 by Dec. 31, and applies to county, municipal, school and special assessment property taxes. The exemption lowers the value a tax rate is applied to, not the bill itself, and the county page does not translate it into dollars. The county page does establish that the first benefit year for a 2026 birthday is not 2026, and that the amount in that first year depends on a vote the page says has not happened.
Why a 2026 birthday starts a 2027 clock
The county sets the age test at Dec. 31 of the year before the exemption tax year. A person must be 65 on that date, so turning 65 on any day of 2026, even Dec. 31, qualifies for tax year 2027. The page gives an example from the earlier side of the calendar: someone born in 1958 becomes eligible in tax year 2024.
The pre-application window runs July 16 through Dec. 31 of the year a person turns 65 or becomes eligible through disability or blindness. The regular application period for the next year runs Jan. 1 through July 15. A post-application period then runs until the first penalty date of the tax year in which the exemption can first be claimed.
So Dec. 31 is not a cliff for a new 65-year-old. An owner who misses it can still apply Jan. 1 through July 15, and the page says a post-application filer who qualifies may be eligible for a refund for the preceding year. The December date mostly rewards the owner who wants the paperwork finished before the tax year starts.
The window ending Dec. 31 belongs to the year of the 65th birthday, and the one ending July 15 belongs to the year after it. An owner who assumes the July 15 date means July 15, 2026, has already passed it.
Title, residency and the documents behind one filing
The page sets two conditions beyond age. The owner must hold complete fee simple title or a life estate to the primary residence, and must have been a legal resident of South Carolina for one full calendar year as of Dec. 31 before the exemption year. It states no income limit.
For age, the county asks for a birth certificate or a Medicare card, plus a South Carolina driver’s license. Disability needs documentation from a state or federal agency certifying the owner as 100 percent permanently and totally disabled. Blindness needs documentation from a licensed ophthalmologist plus photo ID, and a trust beneficiary must supply a copy of the trust agreement.
A Medicare card is often already in hand for an owner turning 65, since enrollment centers on the birthday, and the county lets it stand in for a birth certificate. That removes one likely delay for someone who cannot find the original certificate.
One filing that lasts, and what ends it
The page says reapplication is not needed every year, with exceptions: a change of ownership through death, or a change in occupancy. It lists reapplication triggers of a change in disability status, a change in ownership, renting out the home, and the remarriage of a surviving spouse.
A surviving spouse can keep the benefit if the spouse was a qualified homestead recipient, and can also receive it where the late spouse was not otherwise qualified but never applied before death. Remarriage ends it. The coordinator for the program answers questions at (803) 785-8181, and the Lexington County Auditor’s page links to the homestead qualifications and the online application.
That makes the first filing the one that counts. Owners who file in the pre-application window lock in the paperwork once, and the exemption then stays until a listed event ends it. What the county page leaves to Columbia is the amount: whether the $75,000 returns for 2027 is a decision for the General Assembly, not the auditor’s office.
Turning 65 this year: file by Dec. 31 or wait for January?
The missed detail for a Lexington County owner is that a 2026 birthday starts the exemption a tax year later, and the window that feels optional can slide into spring with a smaller exemption than this year’s $75,000.
The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit covers the senior programs and what each one does in Part 3, and it includes an application log and renewal calendar, so the filing date and the first tax year it applies to sit in one place.
Get the senior-programs guide and application log for the 65th-birthday year →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
