To claim the Indiana homestead deduction, file State Form 5473 (Form HC10) with the auditor of the county where the home is, or complete the homestead section of the sales disclosure form at closing. For a home you buy and live in during 2026, the deadline is January 15, 2027, and the first bill it affects is payable in 2027.

This page covers the filing: who qualifies, when, where in Hamilton and Boone County, and what to check after closing. For how Senate Bill 1 moves the deduction amounts year by year, read our Senate Bill 1 property tax guide. Everything here comes from the Indiana Code as printed in 2026, the Department of Local Government Finance forms, and the two county auditors’ own pages, each read on October 2, 2026.

What is the Indiana homestead deduction?

It is a reduction in the assessed value the county taxes on the home you live in, granted once you file for it. The state calls the base piece the homestead standard deduction, under Indiana Code 6-1.1-12-37. A second piece, the supplemental homestead deduction under section 37.5, is applied to whatever assessed value remains after the standard deduction and before any other deduction, exemption or credit.

Two more benefits are tied to the same filing. The supplemental homestead credit under Indiana Code 6-1.1-20.6-7.7, for taxes first due in 2026 or later, is the lesser of one-tenth of the homestead’s property tax liability or $300, and it goes to a person who qualifies for the standard deduction. And the 1 percent property tax cap applies to a homestead, which the circuit breaker chapter defines as a homestead that has been granted a standard deduction under section 37.

Source: Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2026, Title 6, IC 6-1.1-12-37, 6-1.1-12-37.5, 6-1.1-20.6-2, 6-1.1-20.6-7.5 and 6-1.1-20.6-7.7, as printed in the 2026 edition. Retrieved October 2, 2026. This is general information, not tax or legal advice; confirm a parcel with the Hamilton or Boone County Auditor or Assessor and a licensed Indiana tax professional.

That last row is why the filing matters even if you never read a deduction schedule: which cap category a parcel sits in is a question for the county auditor, and the auditor answers it from the record.

Who qualifies for the homestead deduction in Indiana?

An individual qualifies for the home that is their principal place of residence in Indiana, where they hold one of the interests the statute names. The 2026 Code defines principal place of residence as an individual’s true, fixed, permanent home to which the individual has the intention of returning after an absence.

The qualifying interests in Indiana Code 6-1.1-12-37(a)(2) include:

• owning the home;
• buying it under a contract recorded in the county recorder’s office that makes the buyer pay the property taxes and obligates the owner to convey title when the contract is complete;
• occupying it as a tenant-stockholder of a cooperative housing corporation.

The homestead itself is the dwelling, meaning a single house and a single garage, plus up to one acre of land around it and certain residential improvements. DLGF’s form adds that no income-producing portion of a dwelling is eligible.

Three further rules decide most buyer questions:

• An individual or married couple may not claim it on two applications for different property in the same year, apart from the moving exception below.
• You must actually be eligible when you sign. Form HC10 says the property must be in use as your principal place of residence at the time of signing, so a buyer who has closed but not yet moved in should file after moving.
• The county auditor may ask for evidence that the home is your principal place of residence, and may limit it to a state income tax return, a valid driver’s license or a valid voter registration card showing the address.

When is the homestead filing deadline if I buy a home in 2026?

January 15, 2027. Indiana Code 6-1.1-12-37(f) says the statement must be completed, dated and filed on or before January 15 of the calendar year in which the property taxes are first due and payable. A mailed statement must be postmarked by that day.

The year is the part buyers misread. Indiana’s assessment date is January 1, and the January 1 assessment sets the taxes due in the following calendar year. Section 37(b) lets a buyer of real property claim the deduction for an assessment date if they hold the qualifying interest on that date or on any later date in the same year that the statement is filed. A home bought and lived in during 2026 is therefore claimed for the January 1, 2026 assessment date, and that assessment produces the bill payable in 2027. The Hamilton County Auditor states it directly: a person applying in 2026 for property taxes first due and payable in 2027 would need to apply by January 15, 2027.

Source: Indiana Code 2026, Title 6; DLGF State Form 5473 (R21 / 7-25), Form HC10; Hamilton County Auditor, Standard Homestead Credit page. Retrieved October 2, 2026.

What is the homestead deduction worth on a 2026 purchase?

We give the schedule, not a dollar figure, because the value on any bill depends on the parcel’s assessed value, taxing district and cap position. For the bill payable in 2027, the statute sets these terms.

Source: Indiana Code 2026, IC 6-1.1-12-37(c), 6-1.1-12-37.5(c), 6-1.1-20.6-7.5 and 6-1.1-20.6-7.7; the same pairing of $40,000 and 46 percent for 2026 pay 2027 appears on the Hamilton County Auditor’s Standard Homestead Credit page. Retrieved October 2, 2026. No worked bill is given. This is general information, not tax or legal advice; confirm a parcel with the Hamilton or Boone County Auditor or Assessor and a licensed Indiana tax professional.

Two clocks run here. The standard deduction follows the assessment date and the supplemental percentage follows the payable year, which is why the $40,000 labelled 2026 belongs to the bill paid in 2027. Our Senate Bill 1 guide lays out the full schedule through 2031.

How do I file the homestead deduction in Hamilton County?

Online or in person with the Hamilton County Auditor’s Real Property Department. The Auditor’s Standard Homestead Credit page says an applicant can apply in person or online and links an online Homestead Claim Form. The in-person filing location is the Historic Courthouse, 33 N 9th Street, first floor, southwest corner, Noblesville, phone 317-770-4412, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays. That covers Carmel, Westfield, Fishers and Noblesville, all in Hamilton County.

The county applies the supplemental deduction and credit with the standard deduction, and you reapply only after a change in deed, marital status or use of the property. It also works with a vendor, Tax Management Associates, that mails eligibility letters; the county says such a letter is not fraudulent and should be answered. Start from the Hamilton County Auditor’s Standard Homestead page.

How do I file the homestead deduction in Boone County?

With the Boone County Auditor, in person or by mail. The office is on the second floor in the southeast corner of the Boone County Courthouse, 201 Courthouse Square, Lebanon, phone 765-482-2940, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Zionsville, Whitestown and Lebanon are in Boone County, so a buyer there files in Lebanon, not Noblesville. Its forms page lists the claim as State Form 05473, Form HC10, and its FAQ says the supplemental is given automatically with the homestead deduction.

We found no online filing option on the Auditor’s pages, and its linked homestead PDF did not open when we checked. Get the current form from DLGF’s Deduction Forms page or from the office. Boone’s pages still show an older January 5 deadline; the 2026 Indiana Code and DLGF’s current form say January 15. Treat January 15, 2027 as the outer limit, file well before it, and confirm the date with the Boone County Auditor’s office.

Source: Hamilton County Auditor, Property Tax Deductions and Credits and Standard Homestead Credit pages; Boone County Auditor’s Office and Forms pages; IC 6-1.1-12-37(e) for filing by mail. Retrieved October 2, 2026. Office details change; confirm with the auditor before you go.

Does the title company file the homestead deduction at closing?

Do not assume it does. No state or county source we read puts that job on the title company. What the law says is narrower.

• In a single family first-lien purchase money mortgage, Indiana Code 6-1.1-12-43 requires the closing agent to give the borrower, before closing, the state’s property tax benefits form, which lists the homestead deductions and how to file. That is a duty to hand you a form, not to file one. A cash purchase is outside that definition.
• The sales disclosure form, State Form 46021, has a buyer section with a homestead box and questions on primary residence and any homestead being vacated. Under Indiana Code 6-1.1-12-44, a form that is accurate and complete, approved by the county assessor and filed with the county auditor by or on behalf of the purchaser serves as the homestead application. Part 4 is the auditor’s receipt.

So the practical question at closing is not who files but whether the homestead section of your sales disclosure form was completed and signed with your information. Ask to see it. If it was not, or you cannot tell, Form HC10 is open to you until January 15 of the payable year, once you are living in the home.

What happens to the seller’s homestead deduction, and to mine on the home I left?

The seller’s deduction can stay with the property for one tax cycle. Under Indiana Code 6-1.1-12-45, a deduction applies for an assessment date even if title changes hands before the next one, for one year only. How a specific bill shows that carryover against your own filing is a question for the county auditor, since only one standard deduction can apply to a homestead for an assessment date.

If you are leaving an Indiana homestead of your own, the rules run the other way. DLGF’s Form HC10 says that if you move after the assessment date to a new principal residence later that year, the deduction on the first property stays for that tax cycle and you can apply on the new one for the same cycle; it comes off the first property for the next assessment date. Hamilton County adds that the old deduction is not removed automatically; the homeowner must give the auditor a written, certified statement within 60 days of the change. Under the 2026 statute, a person who fails to and keeps claiming it shall owe the additional taxes plus a 10 percent civil penalty.

Does a new build qualify if it was not finished on January 1?

Yes, if you take title or contract to buy within the same calendar year. Indiana Code 6-1.1-12-37(n) entitles a buyer to the deduction for that year’s assessment date even if, on January 1, the lot was vacant land or the house was not complete, provided the buyer files the certified statement by January 15 of the year the taxes are payable, or a qualifying sales disclosure form is submitted to the county assessor on or before December 31 of the purchase year. For the rest of a builder purchase, see our guide to buying new construction in Indiana.

What did Senate Bill 1 change about filing?

Very little about the filing, a great deal about its value. Senate Enrolled Act 1-2025 replaced the old lesser-of-60-percent-or-$48,000 test with a fixed standard deduction that steps down to zero from the 2030 assessment date, raised the supplemental percentage to 66.7 percent from 2031, and added the supplemental homestead credit. The form, the office and the January 15 deadline are unchanged.

The filing stays the gateway as the standard deduction shrinks, because the supplemental deduction, the credit and the cap’s definition of homestead all turn on it. The 2026 session wrote the principal place of residence definition into section 37 and made the penalty for not reporting ineligibility mandatory. Our Senate Bill 1 guide covers each change in detail.

How do I confirm the deduction is on my record?

Ask the county auditor, by parcel number, before the deadline passes, and check the deduction lines on the first bill payable in 2027 when it arrives. Here is the readiness test. After a 2026 closing, can you state these five things from the county record rather than from memory or the closing packet?

1. The parcel number of the home, and that the auditor shows your homestead claim against that parcel, not a neighboring or combined one.
2. How you filed: Form HC10 in person or by mail, the Hamilton County online form, or the homestead section of the sales disclosure form, and the date.
3. That the filing date is on or before January 15, 2027.
4. That any homestead deduction on a home you left has been reported to that county’s auditor within 60 days of the change.
5. That nothing on the property is income-producing in a way that would carve it out, and that you live there as your true, fixed, permanent home.

If you cannot answer one, the auditor’s office can.

Frequently Asked Questions