Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption in Oregon (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 Oregon shields $27,092 or $32,512 of your home’s assessed value from property tax, depending on how your disability rating was certified. Oregon calls it the Disabled Veteran or Surviving Spouse Exemption, under ORS 307.250. There is no 100 percent requirement, the threshold is 40 percent or more, and the dollar amount grows 3 percent every year by statute. You claim it with form 150-303-086, filed with your county assessor by April 1.

Oregon exempts a slice of assessed value, not market value, and assessed value in Oregon is usually well below what your house would sell for because of the state’s Measure 50 assessment cap. That distinction matters more here than in almost any other state, and I explain what it does to the dollar savings below.

How much is the Oregon exemption worth?

Certification	Assessed value exempt
VA or armed-forces certified, service-connected disabilities of 40 percent or more, and their qualifying surviving spouse or partner	$32,512
VA or armed-forces certified disabilities of 40 percent or more (not service-connected), or licensed-physician certified 40 percent or more within the income limit	$27,092
Surviving spouse of an honorably discharged Civil War or Spanish War veteran, pensioned and living on the homestead	Additional $2,000

Both base figures increase 3 percent every year under ORS 307.250(4). The statute’s original base amounts were $15,000 and $18,000; three decades of compounding is why the current numbers look nothing like the plain statute text if you only read the code section and not the Department of Revenue’s current-year publication.

Why the dollar savings looks smaller than the exemption

Oregon taxes assessed value, and under the state’s Measure 50 system assessed value is capped and often well under real market value, sometimes by 30 percent or more on a home that has appreciated for years. The exemption comes off assessed value, so the actual tax dollars you save is the exemption amount times your local tax rate, applied against a number that is already discounted from what your house is worth. Ask your county assessor for your property’s assessed value and current tax rate to get an exact dollar figure. There is no way to give one number that is accurate statewide, because rates and assessed-value ratios vary by county and by taxing district within a county.

The exemption applies to your home first, and if it exceeds your home’s assessed value, whatever is left over applies to your taxable personal property.

Who qualifies in Oregon?

To claim the Oregon exemption you must meet all of these:

• Be an Oregon resident who owns and lives in the home as your homestead. Buyers under a recorded land sale contract and life estate holders count as owners.
• Meet the veteran definition in ORS 408.225: discharged or released under honorable conditions, and you served at least 91 consecutive days beginning on or before January 31, 1955, at least 179 consecutive days after that date, or you were discharged early for a service-connected disability, have a VA disability rating, served at least one day in a combat zone, received a combat or expeditionary award, or receive a nonservice-connected VA pension.
• Be certified as 40 percent or more disabled by the VA, a branch of the armed forces, or a licensed physician or naturopathic physician.

The two certification paths are not interchangeable

A VA or armed-forces certification of 40 percent or more, without a service-connected finding, gets you the $27,092 exemption, and you generally file once and stay on the roll unless your circumstances change. A service-connected 40 percent or more certification from the same sources gets you the larger $32,512 exemption. A licensed-physician certification also gets you $27,092, but it comes with an income test and you must refile every year with a certificate dated within the past year.

Active-duty and National Guard members

Oregon also runs a separate exemption for currently serving members of the Oregon National Guard or Reserve who are deployed, on the Active-Duty Military Service Member’s Exemption Claim. That is a different program from the disabled veteran exemption and not covered by the dollar figures on this page.

Surviving spouses and partners

An unmarried surviving spouse or registered domestic partner of a qualifying veteran can claim the exemption even if the veteran never filed for it while alive. The spouse gets the larger $32,512 exemption if the veteran died of a service-connected injury or illness, or if the veteran had already received at least one year of the maximum exemption. A remarriage or new partnership ends eligibility.

Can the exemption be used before closing?

Timing matters a lot in Oregon, and it cuts both ways. The claim form has to be filed with the county assessor on or before April 1 of the assessment year for which you want the exemption, and Oregon’s property tax year runs July 1 through June 30. If you buy your home between March 1 and June 30, you get a special 30-day window from the date you acquire the property to file, instead of waiting for the next April 1.

That 30-day window is Oregon’s version of a before-closing rule, and it is more generous than states that lock everything to a single ownership date like January 1. Close on May 10 and you have until roughly June 9 to file and still get the exemption applied for the tax year beginning July 1. Close outside that March-to-June window, on say September 1, and the earliest you can typically file is the following April 1, for the tax year beginning the July 1 after that.

Four states put a pre-purchase determination in the statute. Oregon 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 Oregon it is a lender decision, so shop it

Lender overlay and market practice. There is no Oregon 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. Oregon 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 Oregon is billing you directly.

How to apply in Oregon, step by step

1. Get form 150-303-086, the Disabled Veteran or Surviving Spouse Exemption Claim, from the Oregon Department of Revenue (PDF download) or your county assessor’s office. Complete Part 1 if you’re the veteran, Part 2 if you’re a surviving spouse or partner. Don’t complete both.
2. Attach your documents. A copy of your DD-214 or equivalent discharge paperwork showing honorable conditions and your period of active service, plus your disability certificate from the VA, a branch of the armed forces, or your licensed physician, showing 40 percent or more. A VA or armed-forces certificate has to be dated within three years of your claim; a physician’s certificate has to be dated within one year and refiled annually. Surviving spouses also attach the veteran’s death certificate and proof of marriage or registered domestic partnership.
3. File it with your county assessor, the office that administers the exemption where your home sits. Use the Oregon Department of Revenue’s directory of all county assessor offices to find the right one for your county.
4. Watch the deadline. On or before April 1 of the assessment year, or within 30 days of acquiring the property if you buy between March 1 and June 30. A physician-certified claimant who missed the April 1 deadline but had the exemption the year before can still file by May 1 with a $10 late fee.
5. Refiling depends on your certification path. VA- and armed-forces-certified veterans generally don’t refile every year unless ownership or use of the home changes. Licensed physician certifications must be renewed with a fresh claim and a new certificate every year.

If you receive a disability rating notice from the VA or armed forces that applies to a date in the past, you can reach back. You may file within six months of that notice and claim up to three prior tax years plus the current one, as long as the certified disability date precedes the start of each tax year you claim.

Can you get a refund of prior year taxes?

Yes, in a specific, limited way, and it isn’t a refund of taxes you already paid at a house you’ve since sold. Oregon’s late-certification rule lets you reach back when the paperwork was slow, not when you simply missed filing on your own. If the VA or a branch of the armed forces issues a disability certification showing a qualifying rating as of a prior date, you can file a claim within six months of that notice and claim the exemption for up to three tax years prior to the year you file, plus the current year, as long as the certified disability date is before the start of each tax year you’re claiming.

Outside that late-certification window, the plain April 1 deadline controls, and a claim filed after that (aside from the May 1 physician-certification exception with its $10 fee) only takes effect going forward from the next tax year.

Other Oregon programs for disabled veterans

The exemption is the main property tax benefit for Oregon veterans, but it isn’t the only one.

• Oregon Property Tax Deferral for Disabled and Senior Homeowners (state). The state pays your county property taxes for you every November 15 and puts a lien on the property; you repay later with 6 percent yearly interest. For 2026 the household income limit is $70,000 and the real market value cap is $301,000, though a 2025 change (House Bill 3712) relaxes that cap for homeowners in their homes fewer than 17 years. This is a loan from the state, not a reduction, and it stacks with the disabled veteran exemption on the same home if you also qualify for both.
• Active-Duty Military Service Member’s Exemption (state). Deployed members of the Oregon National Guard or Reserve may exempt a portion of their primary residence’s assessed value, separate from and not conditioned on the disability rating this page covers.
• County Veteran Service Offices (county). Every Oregon county has a Veteran Service Office that helps file VA claims, connects veterans to emergency assistance, and can point you to county-specific programs. Start there if you’re not sure which exemption or deferral applies to your file.
• Charitable checkoff (state). Oregon lets you direct part of your state income tax refund to the Oregon Veterans’ Homes or veteran suicide prevention programs, unrelated to property tax but worth knowing about if you file Oregon returns.

Oregon disabled veteran property tax FAQs

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

For claims filed for the 2026 tax year, Oregon exempts either $27,092 or $32,512 of your home’s assessed value from property tax, not its market value. Which figure you get depends on how your disability rating was certified, covered below. Both amounts rise 3 percent every year under ORS 307.250(4), so the number changes annually.

What is the difference between the $27,092 and $32,512 exemptions?

The larger amount, $32,512, goes to veterans the VA or a branch of the armed forces certifies as having service-connected disabilities of 40 percent or more, and to their qualifying surviving spouse or partner. The smaller amount, $27,092, covers veterans certified at 40 percent or more by the VA or armed forces without the service-connected finding, and veterans certified by a licensed physician who also meet an income limit.

Does Oregon require a 100 percent rating?

No. Oregon’s threshold is 40 percent or more, not 100 percent. There is no partial exemption below 40 percent, so a veteran rated at 30 percent does not qualify under this statute.

Is the Oregon exemption income tested?

Only if your disability is certified by a licensed physician rather than the VA or a branch of the armed forces. In that path your total gross income for the prior calendar year can’t exceed 185 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, and you have to refile every year. Veterans certified by the VA or the military face no income limit and generally file once.

What is Oregon’s filing deadline?

File the Disabled Veteran or Surviving Spouse Exemption Claim, form 150-303-086, with your county assessor on or before April 1 of the assessment year. Buy the home between March 1 and July 1 and you get 30 days from the purchase date instead. Miss it and a licensed-physician claimant can still file by May 1 with a $10 late fee.

Can I use the exemption on a home I’m buying right now?

Only if you already qualify and you close and start living there before the assessment date that controls Oregon’s tax year, and then file by April 1. Oregon doesn’t prorate the exemption onto a purchase after that filing window closes for the current tax year. See the closing timing section below for how this plays into your loan file.

Can a surviving spouse keep the Oregon exemption?

Yes, as long as the spouse or registered domestic partner has not remarried or entered a new partnership. The spouse gets the larger $32,512 exemption if the veteran died of a service-connected cause or had already received at least one year of that larger exemption.

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
• Bad credit VA loans in Oregon
• Property tax discounts for veterans on VA disability, the national overview
• 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
• VA Loan Pathfinder, see how a lower tax payment or funding fee exemption changes what you qualify for
• Oregon Dept. of Revenue, Disabled Veteran or Surviving Spouse Property Tax Exemption (PDF download), current dollar figures and rules
• ORS 307.250, the statute that sets the exemption, and ORS 307.260, which covers claims and deadlines
• Directory of Oregon county assessor offices