The Michigan principal residence exemption deadline for this year's winter tax bill is November 1, 2026. If you bought and moved into a Michigan home after June 1 and have not filed Form 2368 with your city or township assessor, file it now; the exemption takes up to 18 mills off the school operating tax, and it only starts with the levy after the affidavit is filed. November 1 falls on a Sunday this year, so the working deadline for anything handed in at a counter is Friday, October 30. This post covers what the exemption is worth, the two deadlines and what each one buys, what a late filer can still recover, and the form most buyers forget: the one for the house they left.
In short
- Form 2368 filed on or before November 1 starts the exemption with the winter levy; filed on or before June 1, with the summer levy (MCL 211.7cc(2)).
- The exemption covers the local school operating millage, up to 18 mills, per Michigan Treasury. On a $150,000 taxable value that is up to $2,700 a year.
- A missed year is not always lost: an owner who qualified can claim the current year and the 3 preceding years (MCL 211.7cc(19)).
- The old home's exemption must be rescinded within 90 days of moving out, or the penalty runs at $5 a day up to $200.
What the principal residence exemption is worth
Michigan's Department of Treasury describes the principal residence exemption, or PRE, as exempting an owner's principal residence "from the local school operating millage, up to 18 mills." A mill is one dollar of tax for every thousand dollars of taxable value. So the arithmetic for your own house is short:
| Taxable value | Up to 18 mills a year |
|---|---|
| $100,000 | $1,800 |
| $150,000 | $2,700 |
| $200,000 | $3,600 |
| $250,000 | $4,500 |
Taxable value is the figure on your assessment notice, not the price you paid. In the year after a sale it resets toward half of market value, which is the uncapping every Michigan buyer runs into, and you can estimate your own number with the Michigan tax uncapping calculator. The PRE is the other half of the same bill. A buyer who misses it pays the non-homestead rate on a freshly uncapped value, which is the most expensive version of a Michigan tax bill there is.
The exemption is not the same thing as the Homestead Property Tax Credit, which Treasury points out is claimed on the income tax return. The PRE is filed with the local assessor, once, and stays on the roll until you rescind it or sell.
The two deadlines, and what each one buys
The statute gives an owner two dates a year. An affidavit filed on or before June 1 applies to "the immediately succeeding summer tax levy and all subsequent tax levies." One filed on or before November 1 applies to the winter levy and everything after it. Treasury's State Tax Commission calendar for 2026 lists both, June 1 and November 1, 2026, and describes each as the deadline for the "exemption from the 18-mill school operating tax."
The City of Novi's assessing page puts the practical version plainly: an owner who occupies the home as a principal residence at any time from June 2 to November 1, 2026 and submits Form 2368 by November 1 "may qualify for a PRE beginning with the 2026 winter tax levy."
Your tax bill lists the school operating millage as its own line. If your first bill charges it in full, the exemption is not on the roll for your parcel. The date matters in days, not months: on the ordinary route, a Form 2368 that arrives on November 3 does not reach this winter's levy.
How to file before November 1
- Check whether it was already filed at closing. MCL 211.7cc(18) requires whoever prepares the closing statement to give the buyer and seller the affidavit and rescission forms, and to file them if asked. Call the assessor and ask whether a PRE is on the roll for your parcel in your name.
- Fill in Form 2368 for the right parcel. The parcel number is on your closing documents and your assessment notice. A married couple filing a joint Michigan return is entitled to one exemption between them.
- Deliver it to the local assessor, not to Treasury. The statute says the affidavit is filed "with the local tax collecting unit in which the property is located." With November 1 on a Sunday this year, hand it in or have it confirmed received by Friday, October 30.
- File the Property Transfer Affidavit if you have not. It is due within 45 days of the transfer and carries its own penalty; the Property Transfer Affidavit guide has the dates and the arithmetic.
- Keep proof of residence ready. The assessor, the county or Treasury can ask you to show the house is your principal residence.
The mistake most buyers make at step 3: the house they left
The exemption on your previous home does not end by itself. Under MCL 211.7cc(5), within 90 days after a property stops being your principal residence you must file a rescission with that local unit. Miss it and the penalty is $5 a day after the 90 days, up to $200. Worse, if the old home keeps an exemption it is no longer entitled to, the denial comes back as a corrected bill with interest at 1.25% a month, and a person who claims the Michigan exemption alongside a substantially similar one in another state faces a $500 penalty.
There is one allowance for a seller whose old house has not sold. An owner who claims the exemption on the new home may keep it on the old one "for not more than 3 tax years" by filing a conditional rescission, Form 4640 on Treasury's calendar, if the old home is not occupied, is for sale, is not leased and is not used for business. Treasury's 2026 calendar lists November 1 as the deadline for a first-year conditional rescission for the winter levy too.
If you already missed a deadline
The statute has a remedy for a qualifying owner whose exemption simply never made it onto the roll. MCL 211.7cc(19) lets an owner who "owned and occupied a principal residence" in the qualifying period file an affidavit claiming the exemption "for the current calendar year or the immediately preceding 3 calendar years." The assessor processes it like any other affidavit and can ask for proof, which is due within 30 days. Ask your assessor how your unit handles it; Treasury's calendar has the December Board of Review convening as early as December 15, 2026.
What it cannot do is reach back further than that, except for a qualified error on the part of the local unit. A buyer who closed in 2022 and never filed has less time than they think.
One form, one date
Most of what goes wrong with a Michigan buyer's first tax bill comes from three filings made in the wrong order or not at all: the transfer affidavit within 45 days, the PRE by June 1 or November 1, and the rescission on the old home within 90 days. Each has a date computed from the closing. For an agent, every client who closed since June 2 is a client to remind this week. The real estate industry page describes the post-closing filing sequence we build for teams that want those reminders sent on the right dates without anyone having to remember them. The form takes ten minutes. The deadline is the whole difficulty.
