Montana grants
& benefits: homestead tax, Big Sky Rx and Medicaid.

Starting in 2026, a home you live in for at least seven months a year, with its property taxes paid up, is taxed at tiered homestead rates. The catch is enrollment: the Department of Revenue says a property must be enrolled to qualify, and owners held through an LLC or irrevocable trust cannot use the homestead rate.

If you received the one-time 2025 rebate of up to $400 and still live in the same home, you were enrolled automatically. If you moved, sold, changed ownership or bought or built a new home, you must enroll yourself. The 2027 window runs May 4, 2026 to March 1, 2027.

A home that missed the 2026 deadline of March 20 is taxed at a flat 1.9% for 2026. Pay that bill in full, then ask for the difference back between January 1 and May 31, 2027, using the refund form on Homestead.mt.gov.

• 0.76% on the first $378,000 of market value
• 0.90% on value from $378,001 to $756,000
• 1.10% on value from $756,001 to $1,511,999
• 1.90% on value of $1,512,000 and up

The Property Tax Assistance Program (PTAP) cuts the tax rate on the first $418,000 of a home's value by 80%, 50% or 30%. For tax year 2027, 2025 federal adjusted gross income must be $29,943 or less for a single owner, or $40,131 or less if married or head of household.

The Montana Disabled Veterans program (MDV) goes further, reducing the rate by 50% to 100% for veterans with a 100% service-connected rating. Income caps for tax year 2027 are $64,551 single, $74,482 married or head of household, and $56,276 for an unmarried surviving spouse.

Both use a Department of Revenue form filed online or at a field office by April 15, and a late form rolls to the next year. Once approved, the application stays active while you own and live in the home, though income limits still apply each year.

• PTAP, single: 80% off up to $14,286, 50% off to $19,532, 30% off to $29,943
• MDV, single: 100% off up to $49,654, then 80%, 70% and 50% off to $64,551
• MDV, surviving spouse: 100% off up to $41,379, then smaller cuts to $56,276

The Elderly Homeowner/Renter Credit refunds up to $1,150 of property tax or rent to people 62 or older by December 31 with household income under $45,000. You must live in Montana nine months and rent, own or lease a home there for six months, and you can claim it without owing any tax.

Rent counts only if the building pays property tax, unless you rent from a county or city housing authority. In a care facility, only the out-of-pocket rent counts, not meals or nursing. File Form 2 with Schedule 2EC, free on the Revenue TransAction Portal.

Working families also claim Montana's own earned income credit on the same return. It was 10% of the federal EITC on 2025 returns, and HB 337 raises it to 20% of the federal credit starting with tax year 2026.

Montana covered adults up to 138% of poverty under the 2015 HELP Act. In 2025 the Legislature passed House Bill 245, which the governor signed on March 27, 2025, removing the program's termination date. KFF counts Montana among 41 expansion states, DC included.

Since July 1, 2026, expansion adults aged 19 to 64 must show 80 monthly hours spent working, in school, volunteering or in job training, or earnings of at least $580 a month. DPHHS checks its own data first and asks for pay stubs or logs only when that fails.

Many people are excluded: American Indians and Alaska Natives, parents or caretakers of a child under 14, pregnant or postpartum women, people who are medically frail, and veterans with a total disability rating. From January 1, 2027, most expansion members are rechecked every six months, not yearly.

Children are covered separately. Healthy Montana Kids, the state's CHIP, offers free or low-cost coverage up to age 19, including dental and eyeglasses, with medical care through the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana network.

Big Sky Rx is a state program funded by tobacco tax revenue that pays up to $50.60 a month toward a Medicare drug plan premium. It is open to Montana residents on Medicare with income under $31,920 single or $43,280 for a married couple living together. Savings and IRAs do not count as income.

Enrollment never closes. Because Big Sky Rx is a State Pharmaceutical Assistance Program, members can join a Part D plan at any time and switch plans once a year, outside the fall open enrollment period.

Apply online, or call 866-369-1233 for a paper form that must be signed and mailed. DPHHS also asks low-income applicants to apply for federal Extra Help through Social Security, and the State Health Insurance Assistance Program at 800-551-3191 can help compare plans.

The Montana Access Card carries SNAP benefits; apply at apply.mt.gov, by phone or in a local office. From November 1, 2026, after a delay, a state waiver bars using SNAP for candy, high-sugar drinks, energy drinks and shelf-stable prepared desserts. Diet drinks, coffee and store-made bakery items stay eligible.

LIHEAP helps with heating bills for applications filed from October 1 to April 30. The combined LIHEAP and Weatherization form can be filled out online but must be printed and mailed or delivered to your local eligibility office or a Tribal LIHEAP office.

For the 2026 to 2027 season the income ceiling is $36,120 for a single-person household and $69,463 for a household of four, set at 60% of state median income for households of up to eight. Weatherization applications are taken all year.