Nearly a third of New York City homeowners are about to miss out on tens of millions of dollars in property-tax rebates simply because they haven’t applied for them.
State officials said Friday that 168,000 city property owners missed the Dec. 31 deadline to register for the state STAR tax abatements despite a massive publicity campaign conducted by the Tax Department.
The errant homeowners represent 30 percent of all those in the city eligible for the program. The average rebate is $280 a year.
Despite blowing the deadline, Tax Department spokesman Geoffrey Gloak said there’s still a brief window for late filers to send in their paperwork because it’ll be a few weeks before the state transmits a list of those qualifying to the city Finance Department.
“The deadline has passed. We are accepting late registrations,” he said.
Registration is available online at http://www.tax .ny.gov or by calling (518) 457-2036.
A much greater percentage of homeowners in surrounding suburbs, where property taxes are higher, registered for rebates that average $1,750 in Westchester and $1,200 in Suffolk.
The Tax Department required homeowners to re-register for benefits for the first time in 15 years after an audit found thousands were improperly getting the rebates.
New Yorkers are eligible for the rebate for their primary residence, not second homes.