US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

                                  TITLE  63
                             REVENUE AND TAXATION
                                  CHAPTER 7
                             PROPERTY TAX RELIEF
    63-701.  DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter:
    (1)  "Claimant" means a person who has filed an application under section
63-602G, Idaho Code, and has filed a claim under the provisions of sections
63-701 through 63-710, Idaho Code. Except as provided in section 63-702(2),
Idaho Code, on January 1, or before April 15, of the year in which the
claimant first filed a claim on the homestead in question, a claimant must be
an owner of the homestead and on January 1 of said year a claimant must be:
    (a)  Not less than sixty-five (65) years old; or
    (b)  A child under the age of eighteen (18) years who is fatherless or
    motherless or who has been abandoned by any surviving parent or parents;
    or
    (c)  A widow or widower; or
    (d)  A disabled person who is recognized as disabled by the social
    security administration pursuant to title 42 of the United States Code, or
    by the railroad retirement board pursuant to title 45 of the United States
    Code, or by the office of management and budget pursuant to title 5 of the
    United States Code; or
    (e)  A disabled veteran of any war engaged in by the United States, whose
    disability is recognized as a service-connected disability of a degree of
    ten percent (10%) or more, or who has a pension for nonservice-connected
    disabilities, in accordance with laws and regulations administered by the
    United States department of veterans affairs; or
    (f)  A person, as specified in 42 U.S.C. 1701, who was or is entitled to
    receive benefits because he is known to have been taken by a hostile force
    as a prisoner, hostage or otherwise; or
    (g)  Blind.
    (2)  "Homestead" means the dwelling, owner-occupied by the claimant as
described in this chapter and used as the primary dwelling place of the
claimant and may be occupied by any members of the household as their home,
and so much of the land surrounding it, not exceeding one (1) acre, as is
reasonably necessary for the use of the dwelling as a home. It may consist of
a part of a multidwelling or multipurpose building and part of the land upon
which it is built. "Homestead" does not include personal property such as
furniture, furnishings or appliances, but a manufactured home may be a
homestead.
    (3)  "Household" means the claimant and the claimant's spouse. The term
does not include bona fide lessees, tenants, or roomers and boarders on
contract. "Household" includes persons described in subsection (8)(b) of this
section.
    (4)  "Household income" means all income received by the claimant and, if
married, all income received by the claimant's spouse, in a calendar year.
    (5)  "Income" means the sum of federal adjusted gross income as defined in
the Internal Revenue Code, as defined in section 63-3004, Idaho Code, and to
the extent not already included in federal adjusted gross income:
    (a)  Alimony;
    (b)  Support money;
    (c)  Nontaxable strike benefits;
    (d)  The nontaxable amount of any individual retirement account, pension
    or annuity, (including railroad retirement benefits, all payments received
    under the federal social security act except the social security death
    benefit as specified in this subsection, state unemployment insurance
    laws, and veterans disability pensions and compensation, excluding any
    return of principal paid by the recipient of an  annuity and excluding
    rollovers as provided in section 402 or 403 of the Internal Revenue Code);
    (e)  Nontaxable interest received from the federal government or any of
    its instrumentalities or a state government or any of its
    instrumentalities;
    (f)  Worker's compensation; and
    (g)  The gross amount of loss of earnings insurance.
It does not include gifts from nongovernmental sources or inheritances. To the
extent not reimbursed, the cost of medical care as defined in section 213(d)
of the Internal Revenue Code, incurred or paid by the claimant and, if
married, the claimant's spouse, may be deducted from income. To the extent not
reimbursed, personal funeral expenses, including prepaid funeral expenses and
premiums on funeral insurance, of the claimant and claimant's spouse only, may
be deducted from income up to an annual maximum of five thousand dollars
($5,000) per claim. "Income" does not include veterans disability pensions
received by a person described in subsection (1)(e) who is a claimant or a
claimant's spouse if the disability pension is received pursuant to a
service-connected disability of a degree of forty percent (40%) or more.
"Income" does not include dependency and indemnity compensation or death
benefits paid to a person described in subsection (1) of this section by the
United States department of veterans affairs and arising from a
service-connected death or disability. "Income" does not include lump sum
death benefits made by the social security administration pursuant to 42
U.S.C. section 402(i). Documentation of medical expenses may be required by
the county assessor, board of equalization and state tax commission in such
form as the county assessor, board of equalization or state tax commission
shall determine. "Income" shall be that received in the calendar year
immediately preceding the year in which a claim is filed. Where a claimant
and/or the claimant's spouse does not file a federal tax return, the
claimant's and/or the claimant's spouse's federal adjusted gross income, for
purposes of this section, shall be an income equivalent to federal adjusted
gross income had the claimant and/or the claimant's spouse filed a federal tax
return, as determined by the county assessor. The county assessor, board of
equalization or state tax commission may require documentation of income in
such form as each shall determine, including, but not limited to: copies of
federal or state tax returns and any attachments thereto; and income reporting
forms such as the W-2 and 1099.
    (6)  "Occupied" means actual use and possession.
    (7)  "Owner" means a person holding title in fee simple or holding a
certificate of motor vehicle title (either of which may be subject to
mortgage, deed of trust or other lien) or who has retained or been granted a
life estate or who is a person entitled to file a claim under section 63-702,
Idaho Code. "Owner" shall also include any person who:
    (a)  Is the beneficiary of a revocable or irrevocable trust which is the
    owner of such homestead and under which the claimant or the claimant's
    spouse has the primary right of occupancy of the homestead; or
    (b)  Is a partner of a limited partnership, member of a limited liability
    company or shareholder of a corporation if such entity holds title in fee
    simple or holds  a certificate of motor vehicle title and if the person
    holds at least a five percent (5%) ownership in such entity, as determined
    by the county assessor; or
    (c)  Has retained or been granted a life estate.
"Owner" includes a vendee in possession under a land sale contract. Any
partial ownership shall be considered as ownership for determining initial
qualification for property tax reduction benefits; however, the amount of
property tax reduction under section 63-704, Idaho Code, and rules promulgated
pursuant to section 63-705, Idaho Code, shall be computed on the value of the
claimant's partial ownership. "Partial ownership," for the purposes of this
section, means any one (1) person's ownership when property is owned by more
than one (1) person or where the homestead is held by an entity, as set forth
in this subsection, but more than one (1) person has the right of occupancy of
such homestead. A person holding either partial title in fee simple or holding
a certificate of motor vehicle title together with another person but who does
not occupy the dwelling as his primary dwelling place, shall not be considered
an owner for purposes of this section, if such person is a cosignatory of a
note secured by the dwelling in question and at least one (1) of the other
cosignatories of the note occupies the dwelling as his primary dwelling place.
The combined community property interests of both spouses shall not be
considered partial ownership so long as the combined community property
interests constitute the entire ownership of the homestead, including where
the spouses are occupying a homestead owned by an entity, as set forth in this
subsection, and the spouses have the primary right of occupancy of the
homestead. The proportional reduction required under this subsection shall not
apply to community property interests. Where title to property was held by a
person who has died without timely filing a claim for property tax reduction,
the estate of the deceased person shall be the "owner," provided that the time
periods during which the deceased person held such title shall be attributed
to the estate for the computation of any time periods under subsection (8)(a)
or (8)(b) of this section.
    (8)  (a) "Primary dwelling place" means the claimant's dwelling place on
    January 1 or before April 15 of the year for which the claim is made. The
    primary  dwelling place is the single place where a claimant has his true,
    fixed and permanent home and principal establishment, and to which
    whenever the individual is absent he has the intention of returning. A
    claimant must establish the dwelling to which the claim relates to be his
    primary dwelling place by clear and convincing evidence or by establishing
    that the dwelling is where the claimant resided on January 1 or before
    April 15 and:
         (i)   At least six (6) months during the prior year; or
         (ii)  The majority of the time the claimant owned the dwelling if
         owned by the claimant less than one (1) year; or
         (iii) The majority of the time after the claimant first occupied the
         dwelling if occupied by the claimant for less than one (1) year. The
         county assessor may require written or other proof of the foregoing
         in such form as the county assessor may determine.
    (b)  Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection,
    the property upon which the claimant makes application shall be deemed to
    be the claimant's primary dwelling place if the claimant is otherwise
    qualified and resides in a care facility and does not allow the property
    upon which the claimant has made application to be occupied by persons
    paying a consideration to occupy the dwelling. Payment of utilities shall
    not be payment of a consideration to occupy the dwelling. A claimant's
    spouse who resides in a care facility shall be deemed to reside at the
    claimant's primary dwelling place and to be a part of the claimant's
    household. A care facility is a hospital, nursing facility or intermediate
    care facility for the mentally retarded as defined in section 39-1301,
    Idaho Code, or a facility as defined in section 39-3302(14), Idaho Code,
    or a dwelling other than the one upon which the applicant makes
    application where a claimant who is unable to reside in the dwelling upon
    which the application is made lives and receives help in daily living,
    protection and security.