PUB-108 (R-01/09) Page 3 of 4
Illinois Property Tax Credit
What if I bought a house?
If you bought a house during the current tax year, you may not use
the property tax on that house to fi gure your credit for that year.
For the period of time that the seller lived in the house, the tax was
prorated and paid by the seller at the time of closing. The tax for
the remainder of the year will be assessed to you and paid in the
following year.
For example, you may not use the property tax paid on a house you
bought in 2008 on your 2008 return. The seller was liable for the tax
and will take the property tax credit.
If you bought a house during the previous tax year, you may use the
property tax on that house to fi gure your credit providing you fi gure
only that portion of your taxes that pertains to the time you owned
and lived at the property during the tax year. For example, if you
purchased and began living in a house in October 2007, you may
use an amount equal to three months of your total 2007 property tax to
fi gure your 2008 property tax credit.
What if I built a house?
If you built a house, you may not fi gure a property tax credit for tax
you paid on the vacant lot or the new house before it became your
principal residence.
For example, if you built a house in 2007 but did not move in until
2008, you may not include any property tax that you paid when
fi guring your property tax credit for your 2008 Form IL-1040, fi led in
2009.
What if I sell my house?
If you sell your house, you may include
the prior year’s property tax you paid and
the current year’s prorated tax offset against the sales price at
the time of closing
when fi guring your property tax credit.
For example, if you sold your house during 2008, you may include
the 2007 tax and the 2008 prorated tax you paid at the time of
closing when fi guring your 2008 property tax credit on your 2008
Form IL-1040, fi led in 2009.
However, if the house you are selling is vacant for a period of time
before it is sold, you may not fi gure credit for the period of time that it
was vacant and not your principal residence.
If you moved into your new house in April 2008 but did not sell your
other house until January 2009, you may not include the property
tax assessed on the old house for the time it was vacant.
May I include back property tax when I fi gure
my property tax credit?
You may only include back property tax if the tax was paid during the
current tax year. However, you may not include interest penalties or
fees when fi guring this credit.
May I include property tax if I am married and
fi ling a separate return?
If you and your spouse fi led separate federal returns, each spouse
must fi le a separate Form IL-1040. Each spouse may claim part of
the property tax. The total may not exceed 100 percent of the total
property tax paid.
If you fi led a joint federal return and you are fi ling a separate Illinois
return because one spouse is a resident and one is a nonresident or
part-year resident, the spouse who is fi ling as an Illinois resident or
part-year resident may fi gure a property tax credit for the tax paid on
the principal residence located in Illinois.
May I fi gure a property tax credit if I live in a
mobile home?
If you own a mobile home, that is your principal residence, and the
land on which it is located, you may fi gure a property tax credit for
the property tax you paid on the land during the tax year.
You may not fi gure a credit for mobile home privilege tax.
May I fi gure a property tax credit if a portion of
my residence is used for business?
If a portion of your principal residence is used for business, you may
fi gure a credit on only the portion of your tax that is not deductible
as a business expense on your federal return. You must subtract
federally deductible business expenses, whether or not you actually
took the federal deduction, before you fi gure your credit. For tax
years
2008 and after, you must subtract this amount on Schedule
ICR, Line 4b.
2007 and earlier tax years, you must subtract this amount on
Line 2 of the Homeowner’s Property Tax (PT) Worksheet
found in the Form IL-1040 instructions.
May I fi gure a property tax credit if I own farm
property?
If you own farm property that includes your principal residence,
you may fi gure a property tax credit on only the portion of the farm
property that is used for your principal residence. You must subtract
federally deductible business expenses, whether or not you actually
took the federal deduction, before you fi gure your credit. For tax
years
2008 and after, you must subtract this amount on Schedule
ICR, Line 4b.
2007 and earlier, you must subtract this amount on
Line 2 of the Homeowner’s Property Tax (PT) Worksheet
found in the Form IL-1040 instructions.
If you do not live on the farm property, you may not claim a property
tax credit on your Form IL-1040.
May I receive a refund if my property tax credit
exceeds the tax I owe?
If your property tax credit exceeds the tax you owe, you may not
receive a refund for that amount, and you may not carry unused
credit to other years. Your property tax credit may only reduce the tax
you owe to zero.
