Town Elderly and Disabled Homeowners Program

Applicants may be eligible for this program if they meet the following requirements:

• Resided in the Town of Wilton for at least one year prior to his or her application.
• Has been a taxpayer of the Town of Wilton for at least one year immediately preceding the receipt of tax relief.
• The real property for which the tax relief is being claimed MUST be the principal residence of the applicant.
• Applicant must be over the age of 65 years old by the end of the calendar year preceding the filing period OR applicant must be totally disabled (regardless of age). Current proof of disability will be required at the time of application.

Applicant(s) must meet the income requirements for the year in which they are filing.

The filing period is between February 1^st and May 15^th. Applications are available as of February 1st. Applicants must file annually in order to maintain eligibility. In order to apply applicants must provide the following documentation:

• Federal Income Tax Return. If you file a tax return you must submit it in its entirety to our office. If you do not file a tax return, you will need to provide documentation of all income* (see below for guidance on income, as per Chapter § 26-A, Section E. of the Town of Wilton's Ordinance, should you prefer to read the ordinance in it's entirety, please click on the link below.
• Social Security 1099 form.
• If under age 65 years old and social security disabled, you will also need current proof of disability from social security.
• Copy of any other income not included in the above documentation.

Applicants have the option of applying for a tax credit and/or a deferral. Eligible applicants who file between February 1^st and May 15th will receive the tax credit on their real estate tax bill in July 1st bill.  

* Chapter § 26-A-2, Section E.

E. Such person shall have, individually, if unmarried, or jointly, if married (whether or not separate federal income returns were filed by said person and/or his or her spouse), during the calendar year preceding the filing of his claim, total gross income in an amount not to exceed the amounts set forth in § 26A-6 of this article. For purposes of this article, the term "total gross income" shall be defined as adjusted gross income and tax exempt interest, plus any other income as may be reportable for federal income tax purposes, as well as nontaxable income, including the nontaxable component of social security benefits and excluding any current year business operating losses and losses from rental activities and current year deductions for depreciation of assets used in a trade or business, and any net operating loss (NOL) carryover reportable for federal income tax purposes. All monies received are to be considered part of total gross income unless specially excluded. Such amount of gross income may be reduced by the amount of allowable medical expenses deductible for purposes of federal income tax.

(1) Although the following list is not intended to be all-inclusive, examples of items to be included in total gross income are as follows:

(a) Wages, bonuses, commissions, gratuities, fees, self-employment net income (excluding depreciation).

(b) Gross social security, federal supplemental security income, payment for jury duty (excluding travel allowance).

(c) Dividends, interest, annuity distributions.

(d) Taxable portion of IRA distributions.

(e) Black Lung payments.

(f) Green Thumb payments.

(g) Interest or other income produced by gifts, bequests or inheritances received.

(h) Lottery winnings.

(i) Net income from sale or rent of real or personal property (excluding depreciation).

(j) Taxable pensions, veteran's pensions, railroad retirement pension.

(k) Severance pay, unemployment compensation.

(l) Workers' compensation.

(m) Alimony.

(2) For purposes of this article, the following types of income are specifically excluded from total gross income:

(a) Casualty loss reimbursements by insurance companies.

(b) Gifts, bequests, inheritances.

(c) Grants for disaster relief.

(d) Income derived from volunteer service under the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, as amended.

(e) Social security income of a spouse who resides in a health-care or nursing home facility in Connecticut and who is receiving payment related to such spouse under Title IX, Medicaid.

(f) Food stamps, fuel assistance, AFDC payments, social security payments specifically for a minor child or other dependent individual.

(3) The failure to produce required documentation without good and reasonable cause shall result in a disqualification for benefits hereunder. No tax relief shall be given if the applicant's income exceeds applicable limits as set forth herein.