Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption in Virginia (2026)

Last reviewed August 26, 2026. Every figure, form and deadline on this page is re-checked against the state’s own government sources once a quarter, and the date above is updated when we do it.

The disabled veteran property tax exemption in Virginia is a full exemption from real estate tax on your home and up to one acre of land, not a partial credit or a capped dollar amount. To qualify you need a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability rating from the VA. There is no income test and no dollar cap, which puts Virginia in the same small group as Texas and Florida rather than the capped-amount states like Ohio.

Unlike most states, Virginia does not require you to own the home on January 1. The exemption can start on the date you acquire the property or the date of your rating, whichever applies to your situation. That timing detail matters a lot if you are buying a home, and it is covered in full below.

How much is the Virginia exemption worth?

Who you are	What is exempt
Veteran with a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability rating, occupying the home as a principal residence	Full exemption: no real estate tax on the dwelling and up to 1 acre of land
Unremarried surviving spouse of a veteran who was eligible at death (death on or after January 1, 2011)	Same full exemption, at the current or a new principal residence
Veteran rated below 100 percent, or a rating that is not permanent	Not eligible for this exemption

Virginia does not scale this benefit by disability percentage the way Texas does. It is a hard line: 100 percent, and the VA has to have called it permanent and total, not scheduled for a future review. A veteran rated 90 percent, even a 90 percent combined with individual unemployability pay, does not qualify under this specific exemption. There is no partial version to fall back on at the state level.

Because it is a full exemption rather than a fixed dollar amount, the dollar value to you scales with your home’s assessed value and your locality’s tax rate. A veteran in a high-value, high-rate locality like Arlington or Fairfax saves far more in raw dollars than one in a rural county with a lower rate, even though both pay nothing.

Who qualifies in Virginia?

To claim the exemption in Virginia you must meet all of these:

• Be a veteran rated by the VA to have a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability. If the 100 percent rating has not been finally adjudicated, or is scheduled for a future review, Virginia’s own administrative code says the exemption does not apply yet.
• Occupy the property as your principal place of residence.
• Be on the deed, alone or with a spouse, or hold the property through a qualifying revocable or irrevocable trust that gives you a life estate or continuing right of use.

The exemption covers the dwelling, defined as the single structure that is your principal residence, and up to one acre of the land it sits on. If the veteran owns the house, including a qualifying manufactured home, but not the land underneath it, the house itself is still exempt, though the land is not.

No tiers, no income test

Virginia does not have a partial exemption for lower disability ratings the way Texas does with its $5,000 to $12,000 tiers. It is 100 percent permanent and total or nothing under this program. There is also no income limit of any kind, unlike some states’ age-based homestead programs.

Surviving spouses

An unremarried surviving spouse of an eligible veteran keeps the exemption if the veteran’s death occurred on or after January 1, 2011, and the veteran was eligible for the exemption at the time of death, even if the veteran never actually applied for it. The spouse can move to a different home and take the exemption with them. The spouse loses it on remarriage.

To apply, a surviving spouse files a VA summary of benefits letter for the deceased veteran, a locality application, proof of residence, a death certificate showing the date of death, and a marriage certificate.

Can the exemption be used before closing?

Virginia is unusual: it does not tie the exemption to owning the home on January 1. Instead, the exemption’s start date depends on which came first, your rating or your purchase.

• If you already hold your 100 percent, permanent and total rating when you buy, the exemption begins on the date you acquire the property. The seller may even be entitled to a prorated refund of taxes they already paid for the part of the year after your purchase date, under Va. Code 58.1-3360.
• If your rating comes through after you already own a qualifying home, the exemption begins on the date of the rating, not the following tax year.

That is a real advantage over states like Ohio that force everyone to wait for the next January 1. It does not automatically mean a lender will use it at underwriting, though. State law decides whether the exemption exists and when it starts. Your lender decides separately whether to count the lower or zero tax bill toward your qualifying payment before it is actually on the tax roll. Those are two different questions, and a state allowing something does not obligate any lender to underwrite it that way.

Virginia is one of only four states that put a pre-purchase determination in the statute

State rule. The rule above puts Virginia in a small group. The other three states that let a qualifying veteran get something in writing from the taxing authority before they own the home are:

• Maryland: you may apply for a specific dwelling you intend to purchase, and the Department of Assessments and Taxation must send a preliminary approval or denial, with the amount, within 15 business days. Md. Code, Tax-Property § 7-208(d)(5). No second application is needed once you own it.
• Utah: a qualifying disabled veteran claimant may apply before owning the residence with a real estate purchase contract, filed in the county where the home sits, and the county must send a receipt with preliminary approval or denial and the calculated amount within 15 business days. Utah Code § 59-2a-502(5).
• Alabama: for closings on or after October 1, 2026, the tax assessing official issues a tentative certificate of permanent and total disability before purchase, within 20 days, and the statute says a settlement agent or loan closing officer may not consider the homestead ad valorem taxes when calculating debt-to-income once you hand over that certificate. Ala. Code § 40-9-21.3.

One correction worth having, because it gets repeated a lot: outside of Alabama these laws bind the county or the state tax office, not your lender. They force the taxing authority to answer you in writing before closing. They do not order a lender to waive or exclude the tax. Alabama is the only one of the four that reaches into the loan file itself. North Carolina has a bill that would add a prequalification process, House Bill 94, which passed the House 112 to 0 in May 2025 and has sat in Senate Rules since. It is not law, so do not plan around it.

Getting the county’s answer is not the same as getting the lender’s, so shop it

Lender overlay and market practice. Virginia law tells the taxing authority to answer you. It does not tell your lender what to do with that answer. Whether the lower tax figure helps you qualify still comes down to lender policy, and here is what that looks like in practice, from lender guidance we collected directly in August 2026:

• Some lenders will use the reduced tax figure before closing, and some will not. One wholesale lender told us plainly it will consider a veteran real estate tax exemption and a reduced property tax number in the qualifying payment, as long as underwriting gets the local exemption rules and proof you meet them. If the documentation is short, underwriting uses the full tax amount instead. Another wholesaler checks it state by state and county by county on every single closing. If your lender says no, that is not the final answer on the benefit. It is that lender’s answer. Ask another one.
• Every lender will require proof of eligibility if the lower tax is doing work in your file. If the reduced tax is what lowers your debt ratio or raises your residual income, expect to document it: your VA rating decision or award letter showing the qualifying disability, the taxing authority’s own published exemption rules, and usually the completed exemption application. One lender’s VA guide requires proof of 100 percent disability from VA plus a copy of the completed county application for property tax exemption, and where the application has to be notarized it takes an unsigned copy up front and conditions it to be signed at closing.

Overlays cut both ways. One large investor allows the anticipated reduced tax for qualifying only for primary residences in California, Florida, Maryland, Texas, Utah and Virginia, and only with proof the veteran applied to the taxing authority before the note date. Virginia is on that list, which is a real advantage. It is still one investor’s policy, not a rule every lender follows, so confirm it on your file rather than assuming it.

Practically, ask your loan officer two questions before you write an offer: will you use a reduced tax figure to qualify me, and will you waive the tax escrow. Different lenders give different answers on the same file, and that is normal, not a mistake.

What we can do instead: waive the escrow

If the exemption cannot be counted yet, the fallback is to not escrow the taxes at all, so your monthly housing expense is not carrying twelve months of a tax bill that is about to shrink. VA does not require escrows, so this is a lender and investor decision, and many will allow it on a strong file. There are lenders that will waive the tax escrow on a VA loan even when the property taxes have not been waived yet, so this is a real option and not a rare favor. Some will waive it with no restrictions at all, others want the eligibility proof and the correct paperwork in the file first. Waiving escrow does not require the taxing authority to approve anything, which is why it is usually the easier ask of the two. Understand the tradeoff: with no escrow account, you pay the taxing authority directly and you are on your own for those tax bills until the exemption is actually approved, and approval can take a while. Budget for it and pay the bill on time; a delinquent tax bill on a home you just bought is an expensive way to save a few dollars of monthly payment.

One more VA rule to know, because it runs the other way. On estimating taxes, Chapter 4 says “If taxes are expected to increase, use the increased amount.” There is no matching VA instruction that lets an underwriter write down your taxes, which is why the reduction is always a lender option and never a VA entitlement. The Chapter 4 text is here if you want to read it.

Plan for the gap between closing and approval

These applications take a while to process, and the taxing authority’s calendar does not wait for your loan. A tax bill can come due between your closing date and the day your exemption is approved, and you are the owner, so that bill is yours. That can include taxes attributable to the period the prior owner held the home. One lender’s VA guide makes it explicit and requires a signed letter of explanation from the veteran borrower stating they are solely responsible for the property taxes owed for the prior owner. Keep the money set aside and do not assume the first bill will be reduced, especially if you waived escrow and Virginia is billing you directly.

How to apply in Virginia, step by step

1. Get your VA Summary of Benefits letter showing your 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability rating. This is the document that starts the process, and Virginia’s rule lets you file the local application before this letter arrives as long as you know the office cannot finish processing it without the letter.
2. Get the local application from the Commissioner of the Revenue, or the equivalent assessing office, in the city or county where the home sits. Virginia has no single statewide PDF form. Each locality writes its own, so search “[your county or city] disabled veteran real estate tax exemption application” or call the office directly. The Commissioners of the Revenue Association of Virginia district directory lists every locality’s office by region so you are never guessing which office to call.
3. Attach your supporting documents. The application, proof you occupy the home as your principal residence (a Virginia driver’s license is the usual proof), and if you are a surviving spouse, also a death certificate showing the veteran died on or after January 1, 2011, and a marriage certificate.
4. File it with the local office. Because there is no statewide deadline in the statute, localities set their own procedures. File as soon as you have your paperwork rather than waiting for a deadline that may not exist in your locality.
5. Reapply after a move. If your principal residence changes, you have to re-file with the new locality and notify the old one. Nothing carries over automatically.

The Commissioners of the Revenue Association also publishes a statewide Veterans Exemptions Handbook (PDF download) that walks through both this real estate exemption and the separate vehicle exemption below, written for the commissioners themselves, which makes it a useful plain-language reference for what your local office is going to ask for.

Can you get a refund of prior year taxes?

Virginia’s statute does not set up an ongoing multi-year back-tax refund process the way some states do. What it does address directly is the purchase-year situation: if you acquire a home after you already hold your 100 percent rating, and the previous owner already paid taxes for part of the year after your purchase date, that previous owner may be entitled to a prorated refund of the taxes they paid, under Va. Code 58.1-3360, since you are exempt from that point forward rather than them.

On the other side, if your locality approves your application after you have already paid a tax bill that covers a period when you were already exempt, that is a matter to raise directly with the Commissioner of the Revenue, since procedures for correcting an already-paid bill are handled at the local level, not spelled out uniformly in the state code. One protection is written into the statute already: the locality is not on the hook for interest on any refund for the period before you actually filed your affidavit or application, so filing promptly protects you even though it will not manufacture interest you did not ask for.

Other Virginia programs for disabled veterans

The real estate exemption is the biggest one for homeowners, but Virginia has other programs worth knowing about. All of these are state programs unless labeled otherwise.

• Motor vehicle tax exemption (state, locally administered). A separate law exempts one passenger car, pickup or panel truck registered for personal use and owned by a veteran with the same 100 percent, permanent, and total service-connected rating. The vehicle can be owned by either spouse if one is the qualifying veteran. It only applies starting the later of the date you acquired the vehicle or January 1, 2021, and it expires on the veteran’s death, it does not continue for a surviving spouse the way the real estate exemption does. Apply through your locality; it is a different application than the real estate exemption.
• Military Benefits Subtraction (state income tax). Virginia lets you subtract military retirement income, and Survivor Benefit Plan payments paid to a surviving spouse, from state taxable income, up to $40,000 for tax year 2025 and later returns ($30,000 for tax year 2024). This is a Virginia Department of Taxation program, separate from the property tax exemption.
• Virginia Department of Veterans Services benefit navigation (state). DVS runs 38 offices across the state helping veterans and families with VA claims, education benefits, and referrals. If you are not sure whether your rating letter qualifies as “permanent and total” for the property tax exemption, a DVS benefits counselor is a good first call before you file with your locality.

Virginia disabled veteran property tax FAQs

How much is Virginia’s disabled veteran property tax exemption?

It is a full exemption. If you qualify, your home and up to one acre of land are exempt from real estate tax entirely, not reduced by a set dollar amount. There is no cap and no income test.

Do I need a 100 percent rating to qualify in Virginia?

Yes. Virginia has no partial or scaled version of this exemption. You need a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability rating from the VA. A rating that is not permanent, meaning it is scheduled for a future review, does not qualify under the state’s own rule.

Can I use the exemption on a house I am buying, or does Virginia require ownership on January 1?

Virginia is not a January 1 state for this exemption. If you already hold your 100 percent rating when you close, the exemption starts on the date you acquire the property. If your rating comes through after you already own the home, it starts on the date of the rating instead.

Can the exemption be used before I close?

Only if your commissioner of the revenue approves it before your note date and your lender agrees to use it, since state law and lender underwriting are two separate questions. Otherwise plan on paying the full tax bill at closing and getting a refund or credit once you are approved.

Can a surviving spouse keep the Virginia exemption?

Yes, if the veteran died on or after January 1, 2011, was eligible for the exemption at death, and the surviving spouse does not remarry. The spouse can move to a new home and keep the exemption there.

Does Virginia exempt a vehicle too?

A separate state law, not this one, exempts one car, pickup or panel truck owned by a veteran with the same 100 percent, permanent and total rating. It is a different application than the real estate exemption and it ends when the veteran dies, it does not pass to a surviving spouse.

Where do I apply in Virginia?

With the Commissioner of the Revenue, or the equivalent assessing office, in the city or county where the home is. There is no single statewide form. Each locality issues its own application.

Where to go next

• Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption Guide, every state’s exemption, form and deadline in one directory
• The complete guide to VA home loans
• Property tax discounts for veterans on VA disability, the national overview
• Bad credit VA loans in Virginia
• Funding Fee Waivers and Refunds Guide, the fee is waived outright at a 10 percent rating or higher, and can be refunded if you already paid it
• Code of Virginia, Article 2.3, Exemption for Disabled Veterans, the statute, and 1VAC80-10, the Department of Veterans Services regulation that applies it