"Except for the land in excess of one acre, the undisputed evidence shows the subject property fits the statutory definition of a homestead - there was no dispute about the testimony that the Petitioner was living in the home in 2009 even though its construction was incomplete or about the fact that the Petitioner owns it. In other words, the subject property was a homestead that was eligible for the standard deduction, even though the Petitioner missed the filing deadline to get that deduction.
An interpretation that requires actually having the homestead deduction on the subject property in order to get the credit provided by Ind. Code § 6-1.1-20.6-7.5 would be overly restrictive. The county auditor should have applied this credit to the subject property even though the Petitioner‘s filing for the homestead deduction was late."
