• Senior citizens in Illinois may be able to get a circuit breaker tax grant if they qualify.Kathy Quirk-Syvertsen/Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  Illinois has a circuit breaker tax grant program for certain senior citizens and disabled persons in the state. In order to take advantage of the grant, you will have to qualify for the program by meeting certain requirements, including income limits. The state determines the grant amount you qualify for, based on a formula it uses. (See reference 1.)
  
  

Eligibility

• You may be eligible for a circuit breaker grant in Illinois if you paid property taxes or a mobile home tax on your home. You may also be eligible for the grant if you rent or live in a nursing home, retirement home or sheltercare that pays property taxes. (See reference 1.)
  
  

Age Restrictions

• In order to qualify for the circuit breaker grant, the Illinois state laws require that you be 65 years or older at the time of receiving the grant. You could also qualify if you are 16 years or older at the time of receiving the grant and are also disabled. Another basis to qualify is if your spouse was receiving the grant, or was eligible to receive the grant, and you are a widow or widower who was 63 or 64 at the time of your spouse's death. You will start receiving the grant once you turn 65. (See reference 1.)
  
  

Residency Requirements

• You must be a resident of Illinois at the time you file your application for a circuit breaker grant. If you are approved for the grant, you must continue to live in Illinois to continue to receive the grant. In order to be eligible for the grant, you should have lived in an Illinois residence that was subject to property or mobile home tax in the year you apply for the grant. The state does not have any citizenship requirements for the basic circuit-breaker grant. (See reference 1.)