Op-Ed: Deadline approaching for property tax rebate

October 1st is the deadline to claim your $675 property tax rebate for this year. Tens of thousands of Montana property owners have already claimed theirs. If you're a Montana resident who pays property taxes on your primary residence, head to getmyrebate.mt.gov as soon as possible to claim yours.

And whether you've already claimed this year's rebate or not, put a reminder on your calendar to claim next year's as well. A second $675 property tax rebate will be available from August 15th to October 1st in 2024.

These rebates, as well as the income tax rebates that were automatically sent out this summer and permanent, long-term tax relief that will go into effect starting next year, were passed by Republicans in the state Legislature. All told, we passed over $1 billion in tax relief for Montanans, the largest tax cut in state history.

Most of that tax relief is happening automatically, with no action needed on your part in order to benefit. The property tax rebates are the one item that requires you submit a claim, and the reason for that is straightforward: we wanted to maximize the impact of the rebates for Montana citizens. That means the rebates are not available to out-of-state property owners, not available on second homes, and not available for properties owned by corporations. The claim process ensures the Department of Revenue is sending the rebates only to Montanans who paid taxes on their primary residence.

I'm glad that Republican lawmakers were able to overcome Democrats' opposition to tax relief in order to make these property tax rebates available to Montanans. Now is the time to claim yours if you haven't done so already.