Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption in Arizona (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.

If you are a veteran with a 100 percent service-connected disability rating, Arizona fully exempts your primary residence from property tax starting with tax year 2026, with no cap on the home’s value. If your rating is lower, or your 100 percent rating is not service-connected, you get a smaller exemption: $4,873 of assessed value for 2026, multiplied by your VA disability percentage. Both versions come from the same statute, A.R.S. 42-11111, and both are still income tested. You file annually with your county assessor, form 82514, between the first Monday in January and March 1.

You will see $4,188 quoted for the partial exemption in the statute’s own online text. That number is out of date. Further down I show you exactly where it comes from and what the Department of Revenue is actually applying for 2026.

How much is the Arizona exemption worth?

Who you are	What is exempt
Veteran, service-connected disability rated 100 percent, or surviving spouse who has not remarried	Full exemption of the primary residence, no value cap
Veteran, service-connected disability rated below 100 percent, or non service-connected disability rated 100 percent or less	$4,873 of assessed value for 2026, multiplied by VA disability percentage
Widow, widower, or resident 18+ with a medically certified total and permanent disability	$4,873 of assessed value for 2026, capped at $36,454 total statewide assessed value and subject to the income limit

Arizona works off assessed limited property value (LPV), not market value. The exemption reduces the LPV your tax bill is calculated from. For the partial exemption, run the math yourself: a veteran rated 70 percent gets 70 percent of $4,873, or $3,411, off assessed value, worth a real but modest amount depending on your local tax rate. For the full 100 percent service-connected exemption, the whole primary residence assessment drops to zero, which is a materially bigger benefit than the capped version.

Why the exemption size keeps changing

A.R.S. 42-11111(F) has the Department of Revenue index the dollar exemption, the assessed value cap and the income limits upward every year, tied to the GDP price deflator and, starting in 2026, the federal house price index for the assessed value cap. The Department’s own Annual Abstract of Published Rates and Amounts shows the exemption moving from $4,375 in 2023 to $4,476 in 2024, $4,748 in 2025 and $4,873 in 2026. The assessed value cap moved to $36,454 and the income limits to $39,865 and $47,826 over the same period.

Why almost everyone still quotes $4,188

The version of A.R.S. 42-11111 published on the legislature’s own site still prints $4,188 as the exemption amount and $28,459 as the old assessed value limit. That is the codified statute text, and it has not caught up with the Department’s current-year indexed numbers. Blogs and veteran benefit sites that quote the statute directly, instead of the Department’s published table, repeat the stale figure. County assessors, who actually administer the exemption, are using $4,873 for 2026.

The 2025 to 2026 law change that matters most

House Bill 2792 (57th Legislature) rewrote A.R.S. 42-11111 for tax years starting January 1, 2026. Before that, every category, including 100 percent service-connected veterans, was capped by the same assessed value limit as widows, widowers and disabled residents. The Department of Revenue’s own property tax FAQ now states plainly: the assessed property value limitation has been eliminated for the veteran exemptions in subsections C and D, and now applies only to widows, widowers and people with a total and permanent disability. The household income limit was not touched. It still applies to every individual exemption category, veterans included.

Rollout has been uneven. Cochise County’s assessor initially misapplied the new law and pulled the exemption from some already-approved disabled veterans before correcting course, and Cochise’s own published exemption page still shows an assessed value cap for 100 percent veterans as of this check, which conflicts with the Department’s statewide answer. Confirm your own county’s current treatment before you count on it.

Who qualifies in Arizona?

To claim the full, uncapped exemption under A.R.S. 42-11111(C) you need all of these:

• Honorable discharge from the uniformed services of the United States.
• A service-connected disability rating of 100 percent from the VA.
• Arizona residency and the property is your primary residence.
• Your household income for the prior calendar year is under the limit: $39,865 with no minor children in the home, or $47,826 with minor or medically or physically disabled children in the home. VA disability compensation, Social Security and Railroad Retirement income do not count toward this limit.

If your service-connected rating is below 100 percent, or your disability is not service-connected, you qualify instead for the smaller exemption under subsection D: $4,873 for 2026, multiplied by your VA disability percentage, still subject to the same income limit. That version has no assessed value cap either, as of tax year 2026.

Arizona’s other individual exemption category, for widows, widowers and residents with a medically certified total and permanent disability, is separate from the veteran categories and carries its own assessed value cap of $36,454 for 2026. You cannot claim more than one category even if you qualify for several.

Co-owned property

If a 100 percent service-connected veteran co-owns the primary residence with a spouse, the Department of Revenue treats it as if the veteran owned the whole property for purposes of the full exemption. Every other individual exemption applies only to the qualifying applicant’s ownership share, so a home co-owned with adult children or held in an LLC only gets exempted on the veteran’s or disabled owner’s percentage of it.

Surviving spouses

Only the full 100 percent service-connected veteran exemption carries a surviving spouse benefit. The spouse must not remarry, and the continued exemption runs with the property, not the person, so it ends if the property is sold. The partial veteran exemption and the widow/widower/disability category do not have a matching survivorship provision written into A.R.S. 42-11111 for a veteran’s spouse who was not already a widow or widower in her or his own right.

Can the exemption be used before closing?

In practice, no, not on your closing date. Arizona’s exemption runs on an annual application cycle, not on when you sign. The window to file is the first Monday in January through March 1 each year, and you must own and be applying on the property during that window. Buy a home in June 2026, and the earliest realistic window to apply is January through March 2027, for the tax year 2027 bill. Some counties, Maricopa among them, will accept a late application through September 1 with an approved deadline waiver, but that is a county accommodation, not a right to apply whenever you close.

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

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

How to apply in Arizona, step by step

1. Get form 82514, the Affidavit of Individual Tax Exemption, from your county assessor. Arizona’s 15 counties administer this program locally, so the assessor’s office, not the Department of Revenue, is who you file with and who has the current form.
2. If you are claiming as a veteran, attach a copy of your VA Summary of Benefits Letter showing your disability rating and whether it is service-connected. If you are claiming under the widow/widower or total-and-permanent-disability category instead, you also need form 82514B, Certification of Disability (PDF download), signed by a licensed physician or psychiatrist, or a death certificate if you are a widow or widower filing for the first time.
3. Prove your income for the prior calendar year with a copy of your Arizona income tax return, form 140, or the documentation your assessor asks for if you did not file one.
4. File with your county assessor during the window, the first Monday in January through March 1. The Department of Revenue’s statewide directory, county assessor contacts (PDF download), has the address, phone number and office hours for all 15 counties. Some counties, including Maricopa, will accept a late application through September 1 with an approved deadline waiver; that is a county-by-county accommodation, so ask before you assume it applies to you.
5. Refile every year. Unlike some states, Arizona requires a new affidavit each year, not a one-time application. Missing the window means losing the exemption for that tax year.

Because this is an annual filing, not a one-time enrollment, mark your calendar. A veteran who is approved and then misses a later year’s window has to start the paperwork over, not just wait for a renewal notice.

Can you get a refund of prior year taxes?

Arizona’s individual property tax exemptions are not designed as a retroactive refund program the way some states’ late-application rules work. You apply during the current year’s January-through-March window for that same tax year’s bill. If you miss the window, some counties allow a late filing with an approved deadline waiver, generally through September 1, but that is still an application for the current tax year, not a claim for a prior one.

If you believe you qualified in a past year and never applied, or your county denied a claim you think was valid, the avenue is an appeal or a conversation with your county assessor, not a standing statutory refund window like Ohio’s or Texas’s. Ask your assessor directly what, if anything, they can do for a year you missed. Policies on this vary county to county because the exemption program itself is county-administered.

Other Arizona programs for disabled veterans

The property tax exemption is the biggest homeownership benefit, but Arizona has other programs worth knowing about. All of these are state or federal programs unless labeled otherwise.

• Senior Valuation Protection (state, not veteran-specific). Freezes the assessed value of a primary residence for qualifying owners 65 and older within an income limit, under Arizona Constitution Article IX, Section 18. It is not a veteran benefit and does not stack with the disabled veteran exemption for the same category rules, but an older disabled veteran who does not qualify for the 100 percent VA rating exemption may still qualify here.
• Arizona income tax treatment. Arizona does not tax military retirement pay, and VA disability compensation is not taxable income at the federal or state level to begin with.
• Veterans’ Organization property exemption (state). A separate exemption exists for property owned by an actual veterans’ organization, filed on its own annual affidavit, form 82132-V. That is not a personal homeowner benefit and does not apply to an individual veteran’s house.
• County Veteran Service Offices (county, statewide network). Every Arizona county has a veteran service office that helps file VA disability claims, connects veterans to emergency assistance, and can often help you sort out which property tax category actually fits your situation before you file with the assessor.
• Adapting a home for a service-connected disability (federal). 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 Arizona programs, and they can be used alongside a VA loan.

Arizona disabled veteran property tax FAQs

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

If your VA rating is 100 percent and it is service-connected, your primary residence is fully exempt from Arizona property tax, with no cap on the home’s value, starting with tax year 2026. If your rating is less than 100 percent, or your 100 percent rating is non service-connected, the exemption is $4,873 of assessed value for tax year 2026, multiplied by your VA disability percentage.

Why do some sources say $4,188?

Because that is the dollar figure printed in the current online text of A.R.S. 42-11111 itself. The statute sets a base exemption and has the Department of Revenue index it upward every year for inflation. The indexed figure counties are actually applying for tax year 2026, published in the Department’s own Annual Abstract of Published Rates and Amounts, is $4,873. The codified statute text simply has not caught up to the current year’s indexed number.

Is Arizona’s exemption means tested?

Yes, for everyone. The Department of Revenue’s own property tax FAQ says the household income limit applies to every individual exemption category under A.R.S. 42-11111, including the full exemption for 100 percent service-connected veterans. For 2026 that limit is $39,865 with no minor children in the home, or $47,826 with minor or disabled children. VA disability pay and Social Security do not count as income for this test.

Do I need a 100 percent rating to get any exemption in Arizona?

No. A veteran with a service-connected disability rated below 100 percent, or a non service-connected disability rated 100 percent or less, still gets the $4,873 exemption prorated by disability percentage. Only the full, uncapped exemption on the whole primary residence requires a 100 percent service-connected rating.

What is the Arizona filing deadline?

The annual application window runs from the first Monday in January through March 1. You have to file a new affidavit, form 82514, with your county assessor every year, not just once.

Can I get the exemption on a house I am buying right now?

Not for the current tax year in most cases. Arizona’s exemption is tied to the annual application window and to owning and occupying the property when you apply. Buy mid-year and you generally apply during the next January-to-March window, for the following tax year’s bill.

Can a surviving spouse keep the Arizona exemption?

Yes, but only the full 100 percent veteran exemption carries over, and only if the veteran was already receiving it under A.R.S. 42-11111(C). The surviving spouse must not remarry, and the exemption stays with the property, so it ends if the spouse sells the home.

Did every Arizona county apply the 2026 changes the same way?

No. Cochise County’s assessor initially misapplied the updated law and pulled exemptions from some disabled veterans, and as of this writing that county’s own published exemption page still lists an assessed value cap for 100 percent veterans that conflicts with the Department of Revenue’s statewide answer. Call your own county assessor and get the current-year treatment in writing before you rely on it.

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 Arizona
• 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
• Arizona Department of Revenue, property tax FAQs, the statewide answer on veteran exemptions
• Arizona Revised Statutes 42-11111, the exemption statute, and Arizona Constitution Article IX, Section 2, the constitutional authority behind it
• Directory of all 15 Arizona county assessors (PDF download)