Veterans Exemptions

Are you a disabled veteran or survivor? You may qualify for a property tax exemption if you are either (1) a veteran who was disabled while serving with the U.S. armed forces or (2) the surviving spouse or child (under 18 years of age and unmarried) of a disabled veteran or of a member of the armed forces who was killed while on active duty. You must be a Texas resident.

An Application for Disabled Veteran's or Survivor's Exemption can be found at the Forms Page under the Residential Exemption Section (11-22). Click Here

To establish eligibility, you must have documents from either the Veterans' Administration or the branch of the armed forces that shows the percentage of your service-related disability. Your disability rating must be at least 10 percent.

If you are a surviving spouse or child, you must have the veteran's disability records. You may need other documents such as proof of marriage or age.

Currently, the exemption ranges from $5,000 to $12,000, depending on the extent of the disability. This exemption is not only for a home -- you can apply it to any property you own on January 1, such as to a truck used for business purposes. However, you may pick only one property to receive this exemption. The appropriate exemption amount will be deducted from the appraised value of the property to which you want the exemption applied.

The disabled veterans' exemption is different from a disabled homeowner's exemption, and disabled veterans do not necessarily qualify for the latter type exemption.

This chart outlines disabled veterans' exemptions effective January 1, 2008:

If you have a disability rating of 100% or individual unemployability, you should also consider the 100% disabled veterans' homestead  exemption. You can find information about it here.