If you own your home and live in it, you almost certainly qualify for STAR, New York's school tax break. The only question is which level. Basic STAR has no age rule. Enhanced STAR pays about three times as much and goes to homes where an owner is 65 or older. In Nassau, the average Basic check last year was $881. The average Enhanced check was $2,507.
Why it's worth your time
You sign up once, for free, and the state pays you every year after that. It checks your income on its own. The steps are in our sign-up post, and the amount for your school district is in our STAR amounts post.
STAR arrives in one of two forms:
- A check or direct deposit from the state. This is the STAR credit. Everyone who signs up today gets this one.
- A line on your school tax bill. This is the older STAR exemption. It's closed to new owners. You can only still have it if you already had it on your current home in 2015.
The check can grow by up to 2% a year. The line on the bill stays flat. If you still have the old exemption, you can switch to the check in the state's portal, but you can't switch back.
Basic and Enhanced, side by side
| Basic STAR | Enhanced STAR | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | Any age | At least one owner who lives there is 65 or older by December 31 |
| The home | You own it and it's your main home | Same |
| Income limit for 2026 | $500,000 or less | $110,750 or less |
| Income limit for 2027 | $500,000 or less | $113,550 or less |
| Whose income counts | Owners who live there, and their spouses who live there | Same |
| Average Nassau check last year | $881 | $2,507 |
A few more rules worth knowing:
- A married couple gets one STAR benefit, even if they own more than one home.
- Houses, condos, co-ops and manufactured homes all qualify. A home owned by an LLC or a company doesn't.
- If you still have the old exemption on your bill, the Basic income limit is $250,000.
- Since 2026, only one owner who lives in the home needs to be 65 for Enhanced. It doesn't matter how the owners are related.
- If you've moved into a nursing home, you can keep STAR as long as nobody but a co-owner or your spouse lives in the house.
Which tax return the state looks at
The state uses your return from two years back. For this year's STAR, it reads your 2024 return. For next year's, it reads your 2025 return.
The figure it uses is your federal adjusted gross income minus the taxable part of your IRA withdrawals. On the federal Form 1040, that's line 11 minus line 4b. On the New York IT-201, it's line 19 minus line 9.
Only the owners who live in the home count, along with their spouses who live there. An owner who lives somewhere else is left out. So if a parent co-owns the house with a child but lives elsewhere, the parent's income doesn't count.
If you aren't required to file a tax return, the state may mail you a letter asking for your income figures.
When you turn 65
You don't have to apply for Enhanced. Since 2026, the state moves you up on its own in the year an owner in the home turns 65, as long as the income fits. That's true whether you get the check or the line on the bill. If an owner in your home is already 65, the upgrade happens this year.
What to do next
If you haven't signed up, read how to sign up for STAR. To see the dollar amount for your district, read our STAR amounts post.
Every rule here comes from the New York State tax department's STAR eligibility page. Registering is free, and you can do it yourself.