Montgomery County, Maryland
Montgomery County's Design for Life Tax Credit: Get Up to $10,000 Back on Your Home Accessibility Project
A little-known property tax credit worth 50% of the cost of individual accessibility features (up to $2,500 per application, one per property per tax year), or up to $10,000 for a fully Liveable home.
If you live in Montgomery County, Maryland and you're thinking about making your home more accessible — widening doorways, adding a no-step entrance, installing a stair lift, or remodeling a bathroom for a wheelchair user — there's a little-known property tax credit worth 50% of the cost of individual qualifying features (up to $2,500 per application, one per property per tax year), or 100% of reasonable costs up to $3,000 or $10,000 if a single-family home meets the Visitable or Liveable standard. It's called the Design for Life (DFL) Property Tax Credit, and most homeowners have never heard of it.
Here's the short version: if your home renovation meets the program's accessibility standards, the county can credit up to $10,000 directly against your property tax bill. That's real money back in your pocket — and right now, almost nobody is talking about it.
What Is the Design for Life Tax Credit?
The Design for Life program was created by Montgomery County to encourage homeowners to build or renovate their homes with long-term accessibility in mind. There are three credit tiers, and the differences matter:
Accessible Features Credit
Covers individual qualifying features like 32-inch doorways, stair glides, grab bar reinforcement, or accessible light switches. Worth 50% of your eligible costs, up to $2,500 per application (one application per property per tax year), less any other subsidy for the feature.
Level I: VISITable
For homes that meet a baseline accessibility threshold: no-step entry, wider doorways, accessible alarm controls. Credit worth 100% of reasonable costs, up to $3,000.
Level II: LIVEable ⭐ Most Common for Aging-in-Place
The top tier. Must meet the full live-in accessibility standard: everything in Level I plus a fully maneuverable kitchen and bathroom, elevators or lifts, and reinforced grab bar walls. Reward: 100% of your reasonable costs, up to $10,000 credited against your property taxes.
Every tier is reduced by any grant or subsidy you receive for the same work (and Levels I and II by any school impact tax credit). At most $2,000 is applied per tax year, and never more than that year's county property tax; the excess rolls over, so a $10,000 credit takes at least five years to use.
Who Is Eligible?
The basics: you own the home, it's your principal residence (the "Occupancy" box on your tax bill reads "Principal Residence"), and you've spent at least $500 on qualifying improvements within 12 months of applying.
Individual features can be claimed on single-family detached homes, attached homes, townhomes, duplexes, and condominiums (condos require a commercial building permit). The Level I and Level II credits are for single-family homes, attached or detached (Montgomery County Code § 52-18U); DPS's program pages say that includes townhomes and duplexes. DPS's Levels FAQ also lists existing condo units, but the Code and DPS's tax-incentives page do not, so check with DPS before planning a condo project around a Level credit. There is no age or income limit.
How Do You Apply?
The process runs through Montgomery County's Department of Permitting Services (DPS):
- 1
Pull a building permit through DPS — specifically select the "Design for Life Features" option when submitting your plans.
- 2
Complete the work and pass the final DPS inspection (in Rockville or Gaithersburg, the city must also sign an affidavit that inspections are complete).
- 3
Submit the tax credit application to DPS with your permit, cost documentation (contracts, receipts or invoices) and records of any other grants or subsidies for the work.
No age or income limit. One application per property per tax year. Sources: DPS homeowner FAQs and DPS tax incentives.
How Much Will You Actually Save?
Say you spend $8,500 on a roll-in shower and a no-step entrance, paid entirely yourself, as individual accessibility features:
- ✓Credit: $2,500 (50% of costs would be $4,250, but the cap is $2,500)
- ✓Applied as $2,000 in the first tax year and $500 the next (if your county property tax is at least $2,000)
- ✓If a grant paid for part of that work, the credit is reduced by the grant amount
Even a smaller $3,000 doorway-widening and grab bar project under the Accessible Features tier gets you back $1,500 (50% of costs). A whole-home Level II renovation can earn up to $10,000.
The Catch: You Need the Right Contractor
The Design for Life credit requires your renovation to pass a DPS inspection against specific accessibility standards. Not every contractor knows those standards.
You need someone familiar with universal design and accessibility code, who can pull the right permit, complete the work correctly, and help you get the credit you earned.
Find a Design for Life Contractor in Montgomery County →Don't leave $10,000 on the table.