Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption in South Dakota (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.

South Dakota’s disabled veteran property tax exemption is a full exemption from property tax, not a partial one, but it is much narrower than most guides describe. Under SDCL 10-4-24.10, it covers a paraplegic veteran, a veteran with the loss or loss of use of both lower extremities, or that veteran’s unremarried surviving spouse. There is no income test and no dollar cap. You apply with form PT46A through your county treasurer by November 1.

You will see South Dakota listed on national sites as a state that exempts “100 percent disabled veterans” from property tax. That is not accurate. The 100 percent rating by itself does not qualify you here. The exemption is tied to a specific condition, loss or loss of use of both legs, not to your combined disability rating. Further down I show you exactly why that confusion happens.

How much is the South Dakota exemption worth?

Program	Who it is for	Amount
Paraplegic veteran exemption, SDCL 10-4-24.10	Paraplegic veteran, veteran with loss or loss of use of both lower extremities, or unremarried surviving spouse	100 percent exempt from property tax, no income limit
Paraplegic property tax reduction (not veteran-specific), SDCL 10-4-24.11 to 10-4-24.13	Any paraplegic or person with loss of use of both lower extremities, income tested	Scaled 0 to 100 percent by household income, see table below
Assessment Freeze for the Elderly and Disabled, SDCL 10-6A	Age 65+ or disabled as defined by Social Security, income and residency tested, not veteran-specific	Freezes the assessed value, does not reduce the tax rate

Only the first row is a veteran benefit, and it is the one this page is about. There is no partial tier for veterans in South Dakota. Your rating percentage from the VA is not what controls eligibility. The qualifying condition is loss, or loss of use, of both legs. A veteran who is rated 100 percent for PTSD, a cardiac condition, hearing loss, or almost anything other than paraplegia or bilateral leg loss does not get this exemption from that rating alone.

Why so many sites get this wrong

Most 50-state disabled veteran property tax roundups compress every state into one line, something like “100% disabled veterans are fully exempt.” That line is accurate for states like Texas and Florida, where the exemption is tied to your combined VA disability percentage. South Dakota’s statute does not use a percentage rating at all. It names a physical condition, paraplegia or the loss of use of both lower extremities, the same standard the state uses for its wheelchair-accessible housing classification in SDCL 10-4-24.9. National aggregators drop South Dakota into the generic “100% = exempt” bucket anyway, and the mistake spreads from list to list.

If you are a 100 percent rated veteran in South Dakota for a condition other than bilateral leg loss, this exemption is not available to you. The income-tested paraplegic reduction below is also closed to you unless you meet the same physical standard. Your remaining state-level relief option is the Assessment Freeze for the Elderly and Disabled, which is open to any qualifying disabled or senior South Dakota homeowner regardless of veteran status, and which freezes your assessed value rather than exempting it.

The income-tested paraplegic reduction, if you do not qualify for the full exemption

SDCL 10-4-24.11 sets up a separate, smaller program for a paraplegic or a person with loss of use of both lower extremities who does not otherwise qualify for the full veteran exemption, for example a non-veteran with the same condition. It is scaled by household income for a single-member household as follows.

Household income at least	But less than	Tax reduction
$0	$14,000	100%
$14,000	$15,000	75%
$15,000	$17,000	50%
$17,000	$18,000	25%
$18,000	—	0%

This table applies to single-member households; the statute sets a separate schedule for multiple-member households. It exists mainly for context here. A qualifying veteran should use the full exemption in SDCL 10-4-24.10 instead, since it has no income limit at all.

Who qualifies in South Dakota?

To claim South Dakota’s full veteran exemption you need all of these:

• You are a veteran who is paraplegic, or who has the loss or loss of use of both lower extremities, or you are that veteran’s unremarried surviving spouse.
• You own and occupy the dwelling for the full calendar year in which the tax is levied. Partial-year ownership does not qualify that year.
• The exemption covers the dwelling and up to one acre of the land it sits on, under the same classification South Dakota uses for wheelchair-accessible homes in SDCL 10-4-24.9.

There is no income test and no minimum VA combined disability percentage written into the statute. What matters is the specific condition. Your county director of equalization decides whether your VA documentation, typically your rating decision and award letter showing loss of use of both lower extremities or a paraplegia-related special monthly compensation, meets the standard. Bring your DD214 and VA award letter when you apply.

Once you are approved

The statute lets the exemption continue year to year without a fresh application, as long as you keep owning and occupying the home. It ends if you transfer the property, stop occupying it, or the property has a change in use. If the property’s legal description changes but you still live there, the exemption stays in place.

Surviving spouses

An unremarried surviving spouse of a veteran who qualified keeps the exemption. Nothing in the statute requires the spouse to reapply from scratch if the veteran was already approved and the spouse continues to own and occupy the home, but confirm the paperwork your county wants when the transfer happens.

Can the exemption be used before closing?

In South Dakota, no. Not for the tax year you buy in, unless you already owned and occupied the home before the start of that calendar year. SDCL 10-4-24.10 requires the home to be “owned and occupied for the full calendar year in which a tax is to be levied.” Property is valued as of November 1 of the year before the assessment under SDCL 10-6-105, and the tax on that assessment is what you pay the following year. Buy the home anytime after January 1, 2026, and 2026 is not a full calendar year of ownership for you, so the earliest levy year you can qualify for is 2027. You would apply by November 1, 2027, and see the exemption reflected on the taxes you pay in 2028.

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

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

How to apply in South Dakota, step by step

1. Get form PT46A, the application for paraplegic veteran property tax reduction, from the South Dakota Department of Revenue or your county treasurer’s office. This is the full-exemption form for veterans. Do not use PT46B, which is the separate, income-tested form for non-veteran paraplegics.
2. Attach your supporting documents. Bring your DD214 and your VA rating decision or award letter documenting paraplegia or the loss or loss of use of both lower extremities. Your county director of equalization reviews the file and determines whether the property qualifies for the classification described in SDCL 10-4-24.9 and 10-4-24.10.
3. File it with your county treasurer, the office that collects the tax and processes this application. Use the South Dakota Department of Revenue’s county treasurer directory for contact information for all 66 counties, and the county director of equalization directory for the office that reviews the qualifying condition.
4. Watch the deadline. File on or before November 1 of the current year, and file it every year; unlike some other South Dakota programs, check with your county on whether a continuing application is accepted once you are approved, since practice can vary by county.
5. Missed the deadline? SDCL 10-4-24.10 lets you petition the board of county commissioners for a refund of taxes paid in any of the previous four years on property that would otherwise have qualified. The board decides case by case, so file the current year’s application on time going forward regardless.

Can you get a refund of prior year taxes?

Up to four years back, at the county’s discretion. SDCL 10-4-24.10 lets a veteran who would otherwise have qualified, but missed the application deadline, petition the board of county commissioners for a refund of taxes paid on the property in any of the previous four years. The board can accept or reject the petition, and the refund process itself runs through South Dakota’s general tax refund chapter, SDCL 10-18.

This is a meaningful backstop if you did not know the exemption existed or missed a November 1 deadline, but it is discretionary, not automatic. Bring the same VA documentation you would use for a current-year application, and be ready to show you owned and occupied the home for the full calendar year each year you are claiming.

The separate, income-tested paraplegic reduction under SDCL 10-4-24.11 does not carry this same four-year county-commission remedy in the statute text; it is filed annually by January 1 for the current year.

Other South Dakota programs for disabled veterans

The paraplegic veteran exemption is the only property tax program written specifically for veterans in South Dakota. A few other South Dakota programs are worth knowing, though none of them are veteran-specific.

• Assessment Freeze for the Elderly and Disabled (state/county). Available to owners who are 65 or older, or disabled as defined by Social Security, with a household income under limits set in SDCL 10-6A-2 and residency and ownership requirements. It freezes your assessed value at a base year rather than exempting it, so it slows down future increases rather than cutting the current bill. Apply through your county director of equalization or treasurer by April 1. See the Department of Revenue’s Assessment Freeze brochure (PDF download).
• Income-tested paraplegic reduction (state/county). Covered above, open to any paraplegic or person with loss of use of both lower extremities, veteran or not, scaled by household income under SDCL 10-4-24.11 to 10-4-24.13, filed on form PT46B by January 1.
• State income tax (state). South Dakota has no state individual income tax, so VA disability compensation, military retirement pay, and any property tax relief you get here are not touched by a state income tax return either way.
• County veterans service officers (county). Every South Dakota county has a veterans service officer who can help file VA claims and point you to local benefits. Start there if you are unsure whether your condition meets the loss-of-use-of-both-legs standard for this exemption; they work with the director of equalization’s office regularly.

South Dakota disabled veteran property tax FAQs

Does South Dakota give every 100 percent disabled veteran a property tax break?

No. This is the mistake almost every national list makes. South Dakota’s full exemption under SDCL 10-4-24.10 is for a paraplegic veteran, or a veteran with the loss or loss of use of both lower extremities, or that veteran’s unremarried surviving spouse. A 100 percent rating for something else, PTSD, a heart condition, hearing loss, does not qualify you for this exemption on its own.

What does ‘paraplegic veteran’ mean for this exemption?

It means a veteran whose qualifying condition is paraplegia or the loss, or loss of use, of both legs. In practice this is usually documented by your VA rating decision and award letter showing special monthly compensation or a rating tied to loss of use of both lower extremities. Your county director of equalization makes the final call on the paperwork.

Is there a South Dakota property tax break for other disabled veterans?

Not a veteran-specific one. South Dakota also runs an income-based property tax reduction for paraplegics generally, veteran or not, under SDCL 10-4-24.11 through 10-4-24.12, and a separate Assessment Freeze for the Elderly and Disabled that is not veteran-specific and is capped by household income. Neither requires military service, and the freeze does not require paraplegia.

How much of my property tax does the veteran exemption remove?

All of it, on the dwelling and up to one acre of land it sits on. SDCL 10-4-24.10 exempts the qualifying home from taxation entirely for as long as you own and occupy it. There is no income test and no dollar cap to index.

What is the deadline to apply in South Dakota?

For the paraplegic veteran exemption, file form PT46A with your county treasurer on or before November 1 of the current year. The separate income-based paraplegic reduction, form PT46B, is due by January 1.

Can I use this exemption on a house I am buying this year?

Not for the tax year you close in, unless you already owned and occupied it as of the start of that same calendar year. South Dakota requires the home to be owned and occupied for the full calendar year the tax is levied for. Buy partway through the year and the earliest levy year you can qualify for is the next full calendar year you own and occupy it.

Can a surviving spouse keep the exemption?

Yes. The unremarried widow or widower of a veteran who qualified keeps the same full exemption under SDCL 10-4-24.10, as long as they continue to own and occupy the home.

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
• VA loan closing costs, what lenders can and cannot charge
• South Dakota Codified Laws § 10-4-24.10, the statute that sets the veteran exemption, and § 10-4-24.11, which covers the separate income-tested paraplegic reduction
• South Dakota Department of Revenue, property tax exemptions and forms
• Directory of all South Dakota county treasurers