Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemptions: How They Differ by State

Many states offer property-tax relief to veterans with service-connected disabilities, but the programs are built very differently. In one state a 100% rating removes the home from the tax roll entirely; in the next, the same rating subtracts a fixed amount of value and the rest of the bill remains. Identify which design your state uses before you estimate a benefit or compare a move.

This guide compares the main designs and 14 states. For the general homestead process, see our homestead exemption filing guide.

The short answer

• A 100% rating often means a full exemption. Texas, Florida, Virginia, Michigan, and New Jersey exempt the whole homestead for veterans who meet their 100% or permanent-and-total rules.
• Lower ratings may still help. Texas, Illinois, and New York scale the benefit by rating, and New Mexico exempts a share of value equal to the rating starting in 2026.
• Some states subtract a fixed amount. Georgia’s 2026 exemption is $126,526 of value, and the rest of the home is still taxed.
• A few states test income. California’s low-income version and Pennsylvania’s need test both look at household income.
• You must apply. Bring your VA rating letter and discharge papers to the local assessor or appraisal district, and check the deadline.

The five common designs

1. Full exemption for a total or permanent-and-total rating

The most generous programs remove the home from taxation, but the qualifying language varies:

• Texas exempts the entire appraised value of the homestead when the veteran receives 100% disability compensation and the VA has rated the veteran 100% disabled or individually unemployable, according to the Texas Comptroller’s 100% disabled veteran FAQ (opens in a new tab).
• Florida fully exempts the homestead of an honorably discharged veteran whose service-connected disability is certified as total and permanent by a VA or federal letter (section 196.081, Florida Statutes (opens in a new tab)).
• Virginia exempts the principal residence, and up to one acre of land in most cases, of a veteran rated 100% service-connected, permanent and total (Va. Code § 58.1-3219.5 (opens in a new tab)).
• Michigan accepts a VA letter showing a 100% rating, individual unemployability, or specially adapted housing assistance, as described on the Grand Rapids assessor’s disabled veterans exemption page (opens in a new tab).

Virginia’s statute names a permanent-and-total rating, while Texas and Michigan also accept individual unemployability, so check the exact wording.

2. Tiered amounts by disability rating

Several states scale the benefit to the rating. Texas has a second exemption, separate from the 100% homestead exemption, that applies to any one property the veteran owns: up to $5,000 of value for a 10–29% rating, $7,500 for 30–49%, $10,000 for 50–69%, and $12,000 for 70–100% (Texas disabled veteran and surviving spouse FAQ (opens in a new tab)). A veteran can receive both.

Illinois uses three tiers in its Standard Homestead Exemption for Veterans with Disabilities: a $2,500 reduction in equalized assessed value (EAV) for a 30–49% rating, $5,000 for 50–69%, and exemption of the first $250,000 of EAV at 70% or more, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue’s tax relief page (opens in a new tab). For most homes, that top tier works like a full exemption.

New York’s alternative veterans exemption adds a reduction equal to half the veteran’s service-connected rating, on top of the wartime-service reduction. Each taxing jurisdiction sets dollar caps and can choose whether to offer it (New York’s alternative veterans exemption overview (opens in a new tab)).

3. Fixed reductions in assessed or taxable value

Other states subtract a set amount from value, so the remaining value is still taxed. New Mexico’s general veteran exemption is $10,000 off taxable value, adjusted each year for inflation. Nevada’s disabled veteran exemption, which requires a permanent service-connected rating of at least 60%, is a set amount of assessed value adjusted for inflation each year. Georgia subtracts the greater of $32,500 or the federal maximum for VA specially adapted housing grants from a qualifying disabled veteran’s homestead. That federal maximum is $126,526 for fiscal year 2026 (opens in a new tab), and county assessors such as Brantley County (opens in a new tab) list $126,526 as the 2026 exemption (it was $121,812 for 2025). North Carolina excludes up to $45,000 of appraised value.

New Mexico now also uses a proportional design. Starting in 2026, a veteran with a VA service-connected rating from 10% to 100% can exempt the same share of the primary residence’s taxable value, so a 100% rating is a full exemption. Before 2026, only 100% disabled veterans qualified. The same constitutional amendment and laws (House Bill 47 of 2025 and House Bill 285 of 2026) raised the general veteran exemption from $4,000 to $10,000, adjusted each year for inflation, according to an August 2026 release from the Department of Veterans’ Services and the Taxation and Revenue Department (opens in a new tab). Veterans get a certificate of eligibility from the Department of Veterans’ Services (opens in a new tab) and file it with the county assessor.

4. Income-limited programs

California runs two versions of one exemption, and both require a 100% rating or 100% compensation due to unemployability (blindness in both eyes and loss of use of two or more limbs also qualify). For the 2026 lien date, the Board of Equalization’s 2026 letter to assessors (opens in a new tab) sets the basic exemption at $180,671 of assessed value and the low-income exemption at $271,009 for households with income of $81,131 or less. The basic version is filed once; the low-income version must be refiled every year. The BOE’s disabled veterans’ exemption page (opens in a new tab) says there is no partial exemption for ratings below 100%.

Pennsylvania adds a financial-need test to a full exemption. The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (opens in a new tab) presumes need when annual income is $114,637 or less (the level set January 1, 2025). Applicants above that amount must show that allowable expenses exceed household income.

5. Surviving spouse and portability rules

Most programs reviewed here extend to a surviving spouse who has not remarried, but the conditions differ:

• Texas: the spouse keeps the 100% exemption on the home that was the homestead at the veteran’s death. After a move, the new home’s exemption is limited to the dollar amount exempted on the old home in the last year it was received.
• Florida: the full exemption carries over to the spouse, who may transfer an amount up to the most recent roll’s exemption to a new primary residence. A veteran who buys a new home between January 1 and November 1 can receive a prorated refund of that year’s taxes after qualifying the new home the following year.
• Virginia: the spouse qualifies if the veteran died on or after January 1, 2011. The statute says the exemption follows the spouse to a new principal residence. For a qualifying veteran who buys a home, the exemption starts on the purchase date.
• Illinois: the spouse can keep the exemption or transfer it to a new primary residence by filing Form PTAX-342, as long as the veteran had already received it.
• Nevada: the spouse must have been married to and living with the veteran for the five years before death.
• California: remarriage ends eligibility at any age, but eligibility can return after a later divorce or the new spouse’s death.

State-by-state comparison

Each row summarizes an official source linked in this guide; “Check with the assessor” marks a detail we could not confirm. Year-specific amounts are labeled.

Sources for rows not linked above: Florida’s military and veterans brochure (PT-109) (opens in a new tab), Hamilton County, Ohio, homestead page (opens in a new tab), Georgia Department of Revenue homestead exemptions (opens in a new tab), Wake County tax relief programs (opens in a new tab), New Jersey’s veterans property tax programs brochure (opens in a new tab), Sandoval County, New Mexico, assessor FAQ (opens in a new tab), Nevada Department of Taxation veterans FAQ (opens in a new tab), and the Washoe County disabled veteran affidavit (opens in a new tab).

Hypothetical example: fixed reduction vs. full exemption

This example is invented and uses no state’s actual rates or values. Suppose a home has a taxable value of $300,000 and a combined tax rate of 2% of taxable value.

• No exemption: $300,000 × 0.02 = $6,000.
• Fixed $12,000 reduction (the size of Texas’s top rating-based amount): ($300,000 − $12,000) × 0.02 = $288,000 × 0.02 = $5,760, which saves $240.
• Full exemption: taxable value of $0, so the tax is $0, a saving of $6,000.

A fixed reduction stays the same as values rise, so it covers a shrinking share of the bill; a full exemption grows with the bill. Also check whether the reduction is applied to market, appraised, assessed, or equalized value, since a $10,000 reduction in assessed value can mean more or less than $10,000 of market value depending on the state’s assessment ratio. Our guide to assessed, market, and taxable value explains the difference.

Documents assessors commonly require

• A current VA letter showing the rating. It should show the rating and, where required, permanent-and-total status or 100% unemployability pay. New York requires the letter to specifically say the disability is permanent and total. Texas will not accept a driver’s license or state ID as proof of the rating.
• Discharge proof, usually a DD-214, showing honorable or “other than dishonorable” character of service. California, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, and New Mexico all list it.
• Proof of ownership and residence, such as a deed and a state driver’s license or ID. Nevada asks for a Nevada license or ID card.
• For surviving spouses: the death certificate, a marriage certificate, and, where eligibility depends on the cause of death, a VA letter stating the death was service-connected.
• For income-tested programs: tax returns or other income records. California’s low-income claim counts veterans’ and Social Security benefits as household income.

Deadlines, late filing, and refunds

• Texas: the general deadline is April 30, but the 100% and rating-based exemptions can be claimed up to five years after the tax delinquency date. A veteran who qualifies mid-year receives the exemption for the rest of that year.
• Florida: exemption applications are due March 1 (section 196.011 (opens in a new tab)). A veteran can apply before the VA documentation arrives; once it does, the exemption dates back to the application and refunds cover up to four years.
• California: to receive the full first-year exemption, file by the later of the next January 1 or 90 days after the qualifying event. Later filings receive 85% or 90%. If the VA rating itself was delayed, the exemption can go back to the rating’s effective date, subject to an eight-year limit.
• Virginia: a veteran can file before buying a home, and the locality must respond within 20 business days. Refunds for taxes paid before the filing do not include interest.
• New Mexico: bring the Department of Veterans’ Services certificate to the assessor within 30 days after the notice of value is mailed.

Some programs are filed once and renewed automatically; others require yearly renewal. California’s basic exemption and Michigan’s exemption (since January 1, 2025) are filed once, while California’s low-income version is filed annually.

Practical checks before you rely on a benefit

1. Match your VA letter’s exact language to the statute. “100% schedular,” “100% for unemployability,” and “permanent and total” are not interchangeable everywhere.
2. If you are moving, file in the new county right away. Portability is the exception, not the rule.
3. Compare overlapping programs. In Illinois, the veterans exemption cannot be combined with the general disability exemption in the same year, and California’s exemption replaces the homeowners’ exemption.

Veterans 65 or older may also have options in our senior property tax relief guide. To find your assessor or appraisal district, start from the state directory pages, such as Texas, Florida, or California.

Frequently asked questions

Do 100% disabled veterans pay property taxes?

In many states, no tax is owed on the home itself. Texas, Florida, Virginia, Michigan, and New Jersey fully exempt the homestead of a qualifying 100% or permanent-and-total disabled veteran. Other states, such as Georgia and California, exempt only a set amount, so part of the bill can remain.

Can I get a property tax exemption with a 50% or 70% VA rating?

In some states. Texas gives $10,000 off at 50–69% and $12,000 at 70–100%. Illinois gives $5,000 of EAV at 50–69% and exempts the first $250,000 of EAV at 70% or more. In New Mexico, a 50% rating exempts half of the home’s taxable value starting in 2026.

Does the disabled veteran exemption transfer to a surviving spouse?

Usually, if the spouse has not remarried. Texas, Florida, Virginia, and Illinois also let the spouse carry a benefit to a new home, with limits. Nevada requires five years of marriage before the veteran’s death.

Do I have to reapply for the disabled veteran exemption every year?

It depends on the program. California’s basic exemption and Michigan’s exemption are filed once. California’s low-income version must be filed every year. Ask your assessor whether renewal is automatic.

What if my assessment is still too high after the exemption?

An exemption and a value appeal are separate. If the assessor’s market value is too high, you can still appeal it. Our appeal preparation guide walks through the evidence to gather.

Sources reviewed October 13, 2026; Georgia and New Mexico figures updated October 26, 2026. Summaries cover the main statewide programs only; local options, recent legislation, and county procedures can change eligibility, so confirm details with your assessor before filing.