Updated September 5, 2026. Quick answer: South Dakota runs two separate deferral programs at the same time: one for homes under $170,000 charging the ordinary 10% delinquent-tax rate, and a newer income-based one charging just 4%; a homeowner can qualify for either, or both, depending on which facts apply.
Two programs, not one, with two different gates
South Dakota is the only state in this family running two parallel deferral statutes at once. Program 1, the older ‘exempt from tax sale’ statute at SDCL 43-31-1, opens to homeowners 70 or older, or an unremarried surviving spouse, whose home is valued under $170,000, with no income test at all. Program 2, recodified into a new chapter, SDCL 10-6C, in 2023, is income-gated instead: household income under $18,470 for a single owner or $23,087 for multiple owners (the most current published figures, both indexed annually to the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment), with either three years of home ownership or five years of state residency and at least eight months of occupancy in the prior year.
10% versus 4% interest, on the same set of facts
The two programs charge entirely different rates. Program 1 accrues interest at the ordinary statewide delinquent-tax rate, currently 10% a year, because the statute simply lets the tax continue accruing rather than setting a special deferral rate. Program 2, by contrast, uses a different statutory interest category set at 4% a year; less than half of Program 1’s rate, for what is otherwise a similar deferral. Neither program’s lien statute addresses priority against an existing mortgage: Program 1 relies on the state’s general tax lien rather than stating a special rule, and Program 2’s lien section requires the county to file the lien with the register of deeds and bars any transfer of the property until the deferred tax and interest are paid in full, but is silent on ranking against a mortgage specifically.
The caps, and how to apply
Program 1 is capped by its $170,000 home-value ceiling rather than a running-balance cap; Program 2 caps the total uncollected taxes and interest at the value of the property itself, and separately bars any property transfer until the balance is paid in full. Both programs are administered through an annual application to the county treasurer due on or before April 1. One of the Department of Revenue’s own printed forms still cites the pre-2023 statute number for Program 2, which has since been repealed and recodified into chapter 10-6C; a stale citation on the state’s own paperwork, not a change in the underlying law.
South Dakota’s broader senior property-tax picture, covering exemptions, freezes and circuit-breaker credits, not just the deferral: property tax breaks for seniors in South Dakota.
How every state’s programme compares: property tax relief for seniors by state. What a deferral means in general, and who it catches out: the property-tax deferral lien trap.
Statutory text read at each state’s own legislature, revisor, or revenue agency this session. General information, not tax or legal advice; rates, caps and thresholds change most years and a county or state agency retains the final say on your own application.