INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILING CHURCH LESSORS’ EXEMPTION CLAIM
IMPORTANT NOTICE
This claim may be filed to claim the welfare exemption on property leased by a church to a public school,
community college, state college, state university, including the University of California when the church and
public school or college both use the property in a joint manner. (See Revenue and Taxation Code section 214.6.)
Although the church has previously been granted the religious exemption, which only requires a one-time filing,
annual filing of this claim form is required for a property used in conjunction with a public school to be granted
the welfare exemption.
Failure to submit the public school or college lessee’s affidavit will result in denial of the exemption for the lessor.
Submission of the lessee’s affidavit after the date the lessors’ claim form is due will result in a portion of the
exemption being denied. A sample affidavit is included as page 3 of this form.
IDENTIFICATION OF APPLICANT
Enter your church, corporate or organization information
IDENTIFICATION OF PROPERTY
Enter the address of the property for which you are seeking exemption.
FISCAL YEAR
The fiscal year for which an exemption is sought must be entered correctly. The proper fiscal year follows the lien
date (12:01 a.m., January 1) as of which the taxable or exempt status of the property is determined. For example,
a person filing a timely claim in February 2011 would enter “2011-2012” on line four of the claim; a "2010-2011""
entry on a claim filed in February 2011 would signify that a late claim was being filed for the preceding fiscal year.
USES OF PROPERTY
Check each of the types of property being claimed, and state the primary and incidental uses of the property.
Primary use may include both church and school use; incidental uses would include others who use the property
for meetings, receptions, etc.
Enter the name and address of the public school or college lessee. If additional space is required, or if more than
one lessee is being listed, attach an itemized list.
Check the appropriate box to affirm that the total income received by the church in the form of rents, fees, or
charges from the lease does not exceed the ordinary and usual expenses in maintaining and operating the leased
property. The exemption is not available if the income exceeds the ordinary and usual expenses in maintaining
and operating the leased property.
Attach an affidavit in which the public school or college lessee declares it uses the property for exempt purposes.
If the property, or a portion thereof, for which exemption is claimed is a student bookstore that generates unrelated
business taxable income as defined in section 512 of the Internal Revenue Code, property taxes are determined
by establishing a ratio of the unrelated business taxable income to the bookstore’s gross income.
