Non-Profit

General Information about the Non-Profit Exemption

Sections 420-a and 420-b of the New York State Real Property Tax Law authorize exemption from real property taxes of real property owned by certain nonprofit organizations.

The requirements of section 420-a, the mandatory class of exempt purposes, may be summarized as follows:

  • The real property must be owned by a nonprofit corporation or association organized or conducted exclusively for one or more of the purposes listed in section 420-a, i.e., religious, charitable, educational, hospital or moral or mental improvement of men, women or children.
  • The real property must be used exclusively for carrying out thereupon one or more of the purposes listed in section 420-a. Any portion of the property that is not so used is subject to taxation.
  • No officer, member or employee of the organization may be entitled to receive any pecuniary profit from its operations, except reasonable compensation for services performed in furtherance of the corporate purposes.
  • The owner of the property must file with the assessor either (a) an application form prescribed by the Office of Real Property Tax Services or (b) a comparable application form.
  • No exemption may be granted if the organization is a guise or pretense for directly or indirectly making any other pecuniary profit for the organization or for any of its members or employees.

The requirements of section 420-b, the permissive class of exempt purposes, may be summarized as follows:

  • The real property must be owned by a nonprofit corporation or association organized exclusively for one or more of the purposes listed in section 420-b, i.e., bible, tract, benevolent, missionary, infirmary, public playground, scientific, literary, bar association, medical society, library, patriotic or historical purposes, for the development of good sportsmanship for persons under the age of 18 years through the conduct of supervised athletic games or for the enforcement of laws relating to children or animals.
  • The real property must be used exclusively for carrying out thereupon one or more of the purposes listed in section 420-b. Any portion of the property that is not so used is subject to taxation.
  • No officer, member or employee of the organization may be entitled to receive any pecuniary profit from its operations, except reasonable compensation for services performed in furtherance of the corporate purposes.
  • No exemption may be granted if the organization is a guise or pretense for directly or indirectly making any other pecuniary profit for the organization or for any of its members or employees.
  • Application forms for exemption, as prescribed by the Office of Real Property Tax Services, must be filed by the owner of the property with the assessor of the appropriate county, city, town or village on or before the appropriate taxable status date.

The purpose of the RP-420-a and RP-420-b exemption application forms is to provide the assessor with the information needed to determine whether property owned by an organization seeking tax exempt status pursuant to either section 420-a or section 420-b is entitled to a tax exemption. The information requested in the forms is related to the statutory requirements summarized above, which must be satisfied before an exemption may be granted. However, while the forms are extensive, they are not meant to limit further inquiry by the assessor. Where he or she considers it necessary, the assessor should seek additional information from the applicant.

The applicant must answer in sufficient detail all questions asked in Forms RP-420-a-Org or RP-420-b-Org and RP-420-a/b-Use, and, where applicable, the organization must answer all relevant question.  All required attachments must be submitted with required forms. This exemption requires a yearly renewal application.

Non-Profit Organizations RP-420-a/b Org
Non-Profit Organizations RP-420-a/b Use