FAQ Category: Amendment 79 Questions

Amendment 79 provides a tax credit for property owners on their homestead (your primary residence) property. There are only two requirements for eligibility:

1. The property is your primary residence.
2. You are the owner of record.

The credit is itemized on your Real Estate Tax bill as a credit toward the amount of your taxes due.

Yes.

No. Amendment 79 is a CREDIT which is applied to your Real Estate Tax bill.

You are only eligible to receive the credit on your primary/homestead property, and only on one property per taxpayer.

First we need to verify that the property that you are applying to receive the credit on is your primary/homestead residence. Arkansas State Law requires that all homeowners must apply to be declared eligible and to receive the credit, and the homeowner’s signature is required to process the application. All applications must be submitted by October 15th on any given year to receive the credit for that year. The tax credit is not automatically applied to all homeowners because it is a voluntary tax credit.

No. Once you have applied for and received the credit, you do not have to reapply each year. The only time that you would need to reapply for the credit would be when you change your primary place of residence (i.e. sell your house and buy a different one).

You do not put the tax credit on your income taxes.

A property owner may claim only one property tax credit (homestead credit) in the state of Arkansas. Anyone discovered to be receiving the credit who does NOT qualify or who files a fraudulent application to receive the $375 property tax credit, must repay the $375 credit for each year it was received, plus a 10% penalty for the years 2000 and 2001; a 100% penalty for 2002 through current tax year.

The Ashley County Tax Collector will be sending a revised tax statement to the owner of record of the property in question, for the $375 property tax credit plus interest for all the years that the credit was received.

A land contract is a Purchase Agreement between the Seller and the Buyer. The Seller carries the note (no bank is involved) and the Buyer makes payments directly to the Seller. The Buyer does not receive the deed from the Seller (which would grant the Buyer ownership of the property) until the Seller has received the final payment, which satisfies the Buyer’s financial obligation to the Seller. In our records, ownership is not transferred until we receive a deed. The Buyer of a land contract arrangement may instead apply for the tax credit if the Purchase Agreement has been filed and recorded in the Circuit Clerk’s Office.