Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption in Minnesota (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.

Minnesota’s disabled veteran property tax break is a market value exclusion, not a flat exemption. It removes $150,000 of your home’s value from the tax roll if you’re rated 70 percent or more disabled, or $300,000 if you’re rated 100 percent permanent and total. It runs through Minnesota Statutes 273.13, subdivision 34, there’s no income test, and you apply through your county assessor’s office by December 31.

A number of sites, and Minnesota’s own older paperwork, still describe the surviving spouse benefit as capped at eight years. That cap was removed by the legislature in 2023. Further down I show you exactly where the old number still lives.

How much is the Minnesota exclusion worth?

Who you are	Rating required	Market value excluded
Veteran	70% or greater service-connected disability	$150,000
Veteran	100% permanent and total (including 100% individual unemployability)	$300,000
Surviving spouse of a qualifying veteran	Veteran was 100% P&T, or spouse receives DIC, or veteran died from a service-connected cause on active duty	$300,000
Primary family caregiver of a veteran (if the veteran doesn’t own a home)	Matches the veteran’s own rating tier, 70% or 100%	$150,000 or $300,000

This is an exclusion from your home’s taxable market value, applied by the county assessor before your tax bill is calculated. A home valued at $250,000 with the $150,000 exclusion is billed as if it were worth $100,000. If your home’s value is below the exclusion amount, the property is completely off the tax rolls for that year.

There is no partial tier below 70 percent. If your combined rating is under 70 percent, this program does not apply to you, though you may still qualify for Minnesota’s general homestead market value exclusion under a different subdivision of the same statute, which is unrelated to disability and phases out as home value rises.

Only two ratings matter, not a sliding scale

Unlike some states that scale the benefit in steps by disability percentage, Minnesota only has the two tiers above 70 percent, and it does not increase further between 70 and 99 percent. A veteran rated 80 percent and a veteran rated 99 percent both get the same $150,000. Only crossing into the 100 percent permanent and total rating, or 100 percent individual unemployability pay, moves you to $300,000.

Legislation to watch, not law yet

House File 3727, introduced in the 2026 session, would raise the two exclusion amounts, in one drafted version to $200,000 and $400,000 and in another to $225,000 and the existing $300,000 raised further. Track its status on the Minnesota Legislature’s own bill page before repeating a higher number to anyone. As of this writing it has not passed.

Who qualifies in Minnesota?

To qualify as a veteran, you must meet all of these:

• Be honorably discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces, shown on your DD214 or other official discharge paperwork.
• Have a service-connected disability rating of 70 percent or more certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or the 100 percent permanent and total rating (including 100 percent pay for individual unemployability) for the larger exclusion.
• Own and occupy the property as your homestead. The property must already carry a homestead classification with the county; this exclusion is not available on a second home, a rental, or property owned through a corporation, partnership, or LLC.

For an agricultural homestead, only the house, garage, and the immediately surrounding one acre qualify for the exclusion, not the whole parcel.

A property that qualifies for this veteran exclusion cannot also receive Minnesota’s general homestead market value exclusion under subdivision 35. You get one or the other, not both, and the veteran version is worth more in almost every case.

No income test

Minnesota does not test your income for this exclusion. Eligibility depends only on your discharge status, your VA disability rating, and whether you own and occupy the homestead.

Primary family caregivers

If a qualifying veteran does not personally own a homestead in Minnesota, the veteran’s primary family caregiver, approved by the VA under the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, can claim the exclusion on their own home instead, at whatever tier the veteran’s rating would otherwise support. The veteran cannot also own a homestead elsewhere while the caregiver is claiming it.

Surviving spouses, and the eight-year number that no longer applies

A surviving spouse can keep the $300,000 exclusion if any of these are true: the veteran had the 100 percent permanent and total rating (even if the veteran never applied before dying), the veteran died from a service-connected cause while serving honorably on active duty, or the spouse receives Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. There is no survivor benefit tied to the 70 percent tier alone; only the 100 percent P&T tier carries over to a spouse.

As the statute reads today, that $300,000 exclusion for a qualifying surviving spouse continues with no time limit until the spouse remarries, or sells, transfers, or otherwise disposes of the property. A one-time move to a lower-or-equal-value replacement home is allowed without losing it.

Minnesota’s own Property Tax Fact Sheet 11, last revised June 2017 and still hosted at its original file address on the Department of Revenue’s site, says the surviving spouse exclusion for a 100 percent P&T veteran runs for “the year of the veteran’s death, plus eight more taxes payable years.” That cap was removed from the statute by a 2023 amendment. The department’s current program page and the statute itself both describe the benefit as open-ended. If you or a spouse were told the benefit runs out, ask your county assessor to check against the current law, not an old PDF.

Can the exclusion be used before closing?

Only if you own and occupy the home by December 31, and even then not until next year’s tax bill. Minnesota ties the exclusion to owning and occupying the homestead on December 31 of the assessment year, with the application filed by that same date. Buy and move in during 2026 and file by December 31, 2026, and the exclusion first applies to taxes payable in 2027. Miss that window and you can still apply in a later year, you just start the clock over.

Compare that with a state like Ohio, which locks eligibility to January 1: in practice both rules force the same outcome for a purchase closing anywhere other than the very last days of December, the exclusion cannot lower the bill you’re closing on, only a future one.

Four states put a pre-purchase determination in the statute. Minnesota is not one of them

State rule. Four states let a qualifying veteran get something in writing from the taxing authority before they own the home:

• Virginia: file the normal exemption paperwork plus documentation of the purchase agreement and the commissioner of the revenue must process it and send an approval or denial letter, with the exemption amount, within 20 business days. Va. Code § 58.1-3219.6(B). The exemption itself takes effect only after you become the owner.
• 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.

In Minnesota it is a lender decision, so shop it

Lender overlay and market practice. There is no Minnesota statute telling the taxing authority to pre-approve you before you own the home, so whether this benefit helps you qualify comes down to lender policy. 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.

Lender overlays apply everywhere. State permission is not lender permission. 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. Minnesota is not on that list.

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 Minnesota is billing you directly.

How to apply in Minnesota, step by step

1. Confirm your rating with the VA and get your disability award letter, plus your DD214 or other honorable-discharge paperwork. A county veteran service officer can help you pull both if you don’t have current copies. Find yours through the Minnesota Association of County Veterans Service Officers directory, which covers every county.
2. Get the right form from your county assessor. The state uses form CR-DVHE70 for a 70 percent or greater rating, CR-DVHE100 for the 100 percent permanent and total rating, and CR-HESS for a qualifying surviving spouse; some counties issue a single combined form instead. Minnesota’s Department of Revenue explains the program and the paperwork on its Market Value Exclusion for Veterans with a Disability page, but the exclusion is administered locally, so the actual form comes from your county. Hennepin County’s version is a useful example of what the paperwork looks like: CR-HEV, Homestead Exclusion for a Veteran with a Disability (PDF download) (PDF download).
3. Find your own county assessor using the Department of Revenue’s statewide directory of currently licensed Minnesota assessors by county, or go straight to your county’s website. Every one of Minnesota’s 87 counties administers this exclusion through its own assessor’s office.
4. File your application, homestead classification and all, by December 31 of the assessment year. It then applies to the tax bill you pay the following year. Manufactured homes taxed in the same year they’re assessed should apply as soon as possible instead of waiting for the deadline.
5. Surviving spouses must apply even though the underlying eligibility already existed; the exclusion doesn’t carry over automatically. A first-time surviving-spouse application tied to a service member’s death on active duty must be filed within two years of the death.

Once accepted, most veterans don’t need to reapply every year unless something changes, such as selling the property or a change in rating. Confirm your county’s specific renewal rule when you file, since a few counties ask for periodic recertification of the disability rating through the county veteran service officer.

Can you get a refund of prior year taxes?

Minnesota’s exclusion works forward, not backward. Applying by December 31 gets you the exclusion on the following year’s tax bill; there’s no mechanism in Minn. Stat. 273.13, subdivision 34 for the county to reopen and refund several years of taxes you already paid because you didn’t know to apply earlier. If you missed a year, apply now for next year, you don’t get to file a late claim for this exclusion the way some states allow for their homestead programs.

Where you may have real money on the table is Minnesota’s separate Homestead Credit Refund program (the old “circuit breaker” refund), a different benefit based on your property tax relative to your household income, filed on Form M1PR. It isn’t limited to veterans, but disabled veterans who qualify on income can stack it with the exclusion above. The Department of Revenue occasionally sends letters to homeowners with a Veterans Exclusion who may be owed a special refund adjustment from a change in the regular refund calculation; if you get one of those letters, it’s real and worth acting on.

Check current M1PR income thresholds and deadlines directly with the Department of Revenue before assuming you qualify, since those limits change every year and aren’t part of the veteran exclusion itself.

Other Minnesota programs for disabled veterans

The market value exclusion is the biggest property tax benefit for a disabled veteran homeowner in Minnesota, but it isn’t the only state program worth knowing about.

• County Veterans Service Officers (state-mandated, county-run). Every one of Minnesota’s 87 counties has one. They help file VA claims, pull discharge paperwork, and are the people who certify your disability status for the property tax exclusion above, at no cost to you. Find yours through macvso.org or by calling 1-888-LinkVet.
• Homestead Credit Refund (state, income-based). A separate refund for homeowners whose property tax is high relative to household income, filed on Form M1PR, open to veterans and non-veterans alike. See the Department of Revenue’s Homestead Credit Refund page.
• Minnesota GI Bill (state). A separate education and training benefit administered by the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, unrelated to property tax, worth knowing about for veterans still using education benefits.
• State income tax treatment (state). Minnesota allows a subtraction for military retirement pay and Survivor Benefit Plan payments. VA disability compensation is not taxable income at the federal or state level to begin with.
• Adapting a home for a service-connected disability (federal). The VA’s Specially Adapted Housing and Special Home Adaptation grants pay to build or modify a home for certain service-connected disabilities, and HISA grants cover smaller medical improvements. These are federal VA benefits, not Minnesota programs, and they can be used together with a VA loan.

Minnesota disabled veteran property tax FAQs

How much is Minnesota’s disabled veteran property tax exclusion worth?

It excludes $150,000 of your home’s market value from property tax if you have a service-connected disability rating of 70 percent or more. It excludes $300,000 if you’re rated 100 percent permanent and total, or paid at that rate for individual unemployability. It’s a reduction in taxable value, not a check, so the dollar savings depend on your local tax rate.

Do I need to be 100 percent disabled to get anything in Minnesota?

No. Minnesota is a tiered state. A 70 percent or higher rating gets you the $150,000 exclusion. Only the higher $300,000 exclusion requires the 100 percent permanent and total rating, or IU pay at the 100 percent rate.

Is there an income limit?

No. Minnesota Statutes 273.13, subdivision 34 does not test income for this exclusion. Your eligibility turns on your disability rating, discharge status, and owning and occupying the home as your homestead.

Can a surviving spouse keep the exclusion, and for how long?

Yes, if the veteran had the 100 percent permanent and total rating, died from a service-connected cause in active service, or the surviving spouse receives Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. As the law reads today, the $300,000 exclusion continues with no end date until the spouse remarries or sells, transfers, or otherwise disposes of the property. There is no survivor benefit tied to the 70 percent tier alone.

Why do some sources say the surviving spouse benefit only lasts eight years?

Because Minnesota’s own Property Tax Fact Sheet 11, last revised June 2017 and still posted at the old file URL, says the exclusion runs for the year of death plus eight more years. The legislature removed that cap in 2023. Aggregator sites and even some county pages have copied the old fact sheet instead of the current statute.

What is the deadline to apply in Minnesota?

Apply to your county assessor’s office by December 31 of the year you want the exclusion to first apply to. It then shows up on the tax bill you pay the following year, except for some manufactured homes taxed the same year they’re assessed. This is a change from the old July 1 deadline that still shows up on outdated forms and guides.

Can I use this exclusion on a house I’m buying right now?

Only if you close, and both own and occupy the home, on or before December 31 of the year you buy, and you file with the county assessor by that same date. Even then, the reduction doesn’t hit the tax roll until the following year’s bill, so a lender still qualifies you on this year’s full, non-exempt tax amount at closing.

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
• 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
• Property tax discounts for veterans on VA disability, the national overview
• Bad credit VA loans in Minnesota
• VA manual underwriting in Minnesota
• Minnesota Department of Revenue, Market Value Exclusion for Veterans with a Disability, and the statute itself at Minnesota Statutes 273.13
• Directory of every Minnesota county assessor and the directory of County Veterans Service Officers