Property Tax Exemptions for Seniors in Quincy MA: What You Qualify For (2026)
If you are 65 or older and own your home in Quincy, you may be paying more property tax than you have to. Massachusetts gives qualifying seniors several ways to lower their bill, and Quincy administers them locally. The two most common are a senior exemption that takes a flat dollar amount off your tax bill and a state income tax credit called the Circuit Breaker. There is also a deferral program that lets you postpone the tax entirely. None of them happen automatically. You have to apply, and in Quincy you have to reapply every year.
Here is a plain breakdown of what is available, who qualifies, how much it is worth, and how to claim it before the deadline.
This post is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm your specifics with the Quincy Assessors, your tax preparer, or an attorney.
Who This Applies To
This guide is for Quincy homeowners who are seniors, surviving spouses, veterans, or legally blind, and who own and live in the home as their primary residence. The senior programs are aimed at owners 65 and older, with a separate, lower-bar option for owners 70 and older. If you are an adult child helping a parent stay in their longtime Quincy home, this also applies to you, because most seniors never file simply because no one told them these programs exist.
A few ground rules apply across the board. You must be domiciled in Quincy, meaning it is your principal legal home. The property has to be your residence, not a rental or second home. And because most of these reset each fiscal year, filing once is not enough.
The Exemptions Quincy Offers Seniors
Quincy follows the Massachusetts Department of Revenue clauses and sets the local details. Here is how the main programs compare.
| Program | Who Qualifies | Approximate Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Senior Exemption 2 (Clause 41C) | Owners 65+ who meet income and asset limits | Up to $1,000 off the tax bill |
| Senior Exemption 1 (Clause 17D) | Owners 70+, looser limits | A small fixed amount, typically in the $175 to $350 range |
| Tax Deferral (Clause 41A) | Owners 65+ who meet an income limit | Postpones the tax as a lien, repaid later with interest |
| Senior Circuit Breaker (state credit) | Owners 65+ within income and home-value limits | State income tax credit, up to $2,820 for the 2025 tax year |
| Legally Blind (Clause 37A) | Owners certified legally blind | About $500 off the tax bill |
| Disabled Veterans (Clause 22) | Veterans with a service-connected disability | $400 and up, to a full exemption in some cases |
The exemption amounts come straight off your tax owed, not off your assessed value, so a $1,000 exemption is $1,000 in your pocket. Quincy's FY2026 residential tax rate is $11.78 per $1,000 of assessed value, which gives you a sense of how the numbers move.
Senior Exemption for Owners 65 and Older (Clause 41C)
This is the larger of the two senior exemptions and the one most people are after. In Quincy it can take up to $1,000 off your annual property tax bill, but it comes with income and asset tests because it is meant for seniors on fixed or modest incomes.
To qualify you generally need to be 65 or older as of July 1 of the tax year, have owned and occupied property in Massachusetts for a set number of years, and fall under income and asset limits that Quincy sets locally within the state framework. Those limits are modest but not as tight as people assume. In comparable Massachusetts communities, income caps tend to run from the mid $30,000s for a single applicant up to the low-to-mid $50,000s for a married couple, with a portion of Social Security excluded before income is tested. Countable assets often range from about $70,000 up past $100,000 depending on filing status, and the value of your home is not counted. The exact figures are set by Quincy and adjust over time, so confirm the current thresholds with the Quincy Assessors before you assume you do not qualify. Many seniors rule themselves out on outdated numbers they read somewhere else.
Senior Exemption for Owners 70 and Older (Clause 17D)
If your income or assets are too high for Clause 41C, the 70-and-older exemption is a fallback. The benefit is smaller, a fixed dollar amount that in Massachusetts communities typically lands somewhere in the $175 to $350 range and is set locally by Quincy, but the bar is lower. Clause 17D has no income test. Instead it uses a modest whole-estate limit, so seniors who are house-rich but income-comfortable sometimes qualify here when they cannot use 41C.
You cannot take both. If you are over 70 and meet the 41C limits, the 41C exemption is worth far more, so that is the one to file. The 17D option exists for people who fall outside those tighter limits.
The Tax Deferral Option (Clause 41A)
This one is widely misunderstood, so read it carefully. A deferral is not the same as an exemption. Clause 41A lets a qualifying senior 65 or older postpone paying some or all of the property tax on their primary residence, but the deferred amount becomes a lien on the home and is repaid later, with interest, usually when the home is sold or transferred or the owner passes away. State law caps the total deferred amount plus interest at 50 percent of the owner's share of the home's value, and the interest rate is set under state law and may be reduced by local vote, commonly landing around 4 to 5 percent. All owners and any mortgage holder have to sign a deferral and recovery agreement for the lien to be recorded, so confirm the current Quincy terms with the Assessors.
It can be the right tool for a senior who is cash-tight but wants to stay in a home with significant equity. It is not free money and it is not forgiveness, and it does reduce what eventually passes to your heirs. Heirs are not forced to sell, though. They can pay off or refinance the lien, and a surviving spouse can often continue the deferral. If you are weighing a deferral against simply selling and downsizing, that is exactly the kind of numbers conversation worth having before you decide.
The State Senior Circuit Breaker Credit
The Circuit Breaker is separate from the local exemptions and comes back to you through your Massachusetts state income tax return, not your tax bill. It is built for seniors 65 and older whose property tax is high relative to their income.
The credit equals the amount your property tax (plus half of your water and sewer charges) exceeds 10 percent of your total income, up to an annual maximum that is adjusted each year. For the 2025 tax year, the year seniors file for in spring 2026, the maximum credit is $2,820. To qualify, income generally has to fall under $75,000 for a single filer, $94,000 for a head of household, or $112,000 for a married couple filing jointly, and the assessed value of your home has to be at or below $1,298,000 for that tax year. You claim it on Schedule CB with your Massachusetts return. Importantly, you can often stack this on top of a local exemption. The local exemption shrinks your bill, and the Circuit Breaker can credit back part of what remains. If you file a Massachusetts return, this is one of the most overlooked credits available to Quincy seniors.
How to Apply in Quincy
The exemptions are handled by the Quincy Assessors Office at 1305 Hancock Street. Applications for the fiscal year are generally due on or before April 1, and you must file a new application each year, even if you were approved last year. Confirm the exact current deadline with the Assessors, since it can run to the date of the third-quarter tax bill in some cases. You will need proof of age, residency, ownership, and, for the income-tested programs, documentation of income and assets.
The Circuit Breaker works differently. You claim it when you file your Massachusetts state income tax return on Schedule CB, not through the city, so loop in whoever prepares your taxes.
If you are not sure which program fits, the Assessors Office has an exemptions contact who can walk you through it, and the city publishes a property tax exemptions brochure that lays out each clause.
What This Means If You Are Thinking About Selling or Downsizing
A lot of Quincy seniors are sitting on homes they bought decades ago that are now worth far more than they ever expected. The exemption and Circuit Breaker programs can ease the carrying cost of staying put, and the deferral can buy time. But for some owners the better move is to convert that equity by selling and downsizing into something smaller, newer, or closer to family.
There is no single right answer, and the tax programs are only one piece of it. What matters is seeing the real numbers side by side: what you save by staying with the exemptions in place, versus what you free up by selling in today's Quincy market. That comparison is usually clearer than people expect once it is on paper.
The Bottom Line
If you are a Quincy homeowner 65 or older, there is a good chance you qualify for at least one form of property tax relief, and many seniors are leaving real money on the table simply because they never applied. The Clause 41C exemption is the biggest local benefit, the Circuit Breaker can return more through your state return, and the deferral exists when cash flow is the real problem. File with the Quincy Assessors by April 1, reapply each year, and confirm the current income and asset limits before you assume you are over them.
If you are a Quincy senior, or you are helping a parent navigate this, I am happy to look at the numbers with you, whether that means staying put with the right exemptions in place or weighing what downsizing would free up. Reach out through the contact page and we will work through your options with the actual figures in front of us.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can a senior save on property taxes in Quincy? The local senior exemption is worth up to about $1,000 a year for owners 65 and older who meet the income and asset limits, and a smaller fixed amount, typically in the $175 to $350 range, for the 70-and-older exemption. On top of that, the state Senior Circuit Breaker credit is worth up to $2,820 for the 2025 tax year through your Massachusetts income tax return.
What is the income limit for the senior exemption in Quincy? For Clause 41C, the limits are set locally and adjust over time. In comparable Massachusetts communities, single-applicant income caps tend to run in the mid $30,000s and married-couple caps in the low-to-mid $50,000s, with some Social Security excluded and countable assets often in the $70,000 to $100,000 range. Your home's value does not count toward the asset limit. Confirm Quincy's current numbers with the Assessors before ruling yourself out.
Do I have to reapply for the exemption every year? Yes. In Quincy, property tax exemptions are not automatic and do not carry over. You must file a new application each fiscal year, generally by April 1.
Is a tax deferral the same as having my taxes forgiven? No. A deferral under Clause 41A postpones the tax, but the deferred amount becomes a lien on your home and is repaid later with interest, usually when the home is sold or transferred. It helps with cash flow now, but it reduces the equity that eventually passes on.
Can I claim more than one program at once? Often, yes. The local exemption and the state Circuit Breaker credit are separate programs and can frequently be used together. You generally cannot claim both the 65-and-older and the 70-and-older exemptions at the same time, so you would file for the one that benefits you most.