NY Homeowners Can Check When Their 2026 STAR Money Is Coming

If you've been checking the mailbox and wondering where your New York STAR check is, there's an easy way to find out when yours should be coming.

New York State has started sending STAR property tax credit checks to eligible homeowners across the state, but they don't all arrive at the same time. Depending on where you live and your school district, your check could already be on the way or you may still have a little while to wait.

Luckily, New York has a tool that lets you check the STAR delivery schedule for your area.

How to Check When Your NY STAR Check Is Coming

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has an online STAR Credit Delivery Schedule that allows homeowners to see whether checks have started going out in their area.

You'll need to select the county where your home is located and then choose your school district. The tool will show the expected timing for STAR credits in that community.

The state says STAR credits will be issued before school property taxes are due, as long as officials have all the information necessary to process the benefit.

What Is the STAR Credit?

STAR stands for School Tax Relief, and if you've owned a home in New York for a while, you may remember the program working a little differently.

Traditionally, STAR reduced the school property tax bill for qualifying homeowners. New York has increasingly transitioned homeowners to the STAR credit instead.

With the credit, homeowners receive their benefit directly from the state rather than seeing the entire savings applied upfront to their property tax bill.

Who Qualifies for Basic STAR in New York?

Basic STAR is available for qualifying owner-occupied primary residences. For Basic STAR, the program provides a benefit based on the first $30,000 of a home's full value for school property tax purposes. The income limit is $500,000.

There's also Enhanced STAR, which provides a larger benefit for eligible homeowners age 65 and older. For the 2026-2027 school year, the Enhanced STAR income limit is $110,750. The program provides a benefit based on the first $88,500 of the home's full value.

What If Your STAR Check Doesn't Arrive?

Don't panic just because someone you know already received theirs.

STAR checks are not mailed to every New York homeowner at once, so your neighbor, your parents or someone in another town getting a check doesn't necessarily mean yours is late.

Your first step should be checking the state's STAR Credit Delivery Schedule to see whether credits have been issued for your area.

If the state indicates that STAR credits have already been issued for your municipality and you believe you're eligible but haven't received your benefit, you can contact the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance at 518-457-2036.

So, before you make another disappointed trip to the mailbox, check the schedule. Your STAR money may simply not have been sent yet.

Check out the STAR Credit Delivery Schedule here.

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