Virginia Property Tax
Do disabled veterans pay property taxes in Virginia?
Not on the home they live in, if they qualify.Virginia exempts the main home of a veteran the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rates as having a 100 percent service-connected, permanent and total disability. It is in the state constitution, and Virginia law requires every city, county and town to give it. You apply where the home is, and you can apply before you buy.
This page shows who qualifies, what the exemption covers, and what it changes when you buy a home in Virginia.
Start Here
Who qualifies
The veteran needs a VA rating of 100 percent service-connected, permanent and total disability, and has to live in the home as their main home.
Rated below 100 percent, but rated at 100 percent because of individual unemployability? Virginia's Department of Veterans Services says you qualify, as long as VA also rates you permanent and total.
A 100 percent rating that is not permanent does not qualify. That includes a rating VA plans to review later.
Your city or county cannot set an income or asset limit, or a deadline to apply.
To show your rating, Virginia's rules ask for VA's summary of benefits letter. VA calls it the Benefit Summary Letter, and you can download it from VA.
Sources: Constitution of Virginia, Article X, Section 6-A. Code of Virginia, 58.1-3219.5 and 58.1-3219.6. Virginia Administrative Code, 1VAC80-10-10 and 1VAC80-10-90. Virginia Department of Veterans Services, Tax Exemptions. VA benefit letters. All retrieved 14 October 2026.
What It Covers
The home, and up to one acre
The exemption covers the home you live in and up to one acre of land under it.
- More land, where your city or county allows it. If your city or county exempts more than one acre in its own tax relief program for older or disabled owners, it has to give you the same number of acres.
- A garage or shed. A building on that land is covered too, if it is mainly for your cars or household goods and not for a business.
- A manufactured home. It is covered if you own it, have it titled in Virginia and live in it, even if you do not own the land under it. The land is then not covered.
- A home you own with your spouse. Fully covered.
- A home in a trust. Covered for certain kinds of trust the law names. Ask your city or county which ones.
What it does not cover. The veteran has to be on the deed, unless the home is in one of those trusts. If someone other than your spouse also owns the home and does not qualify, the exemption is reduced, based on who owns it. A home owned through a cooperative is not covered.
Sources: Code of Virginia, 58.1-3219.5 (subsections A, C, D and E). Virginia Administrative Code, 1VAC80-10-20, 1VAC80-10-30 and 1VAC80-10-70. Both retrieved 14 October 2026.
When It Starts
Already own, or buying
When the exemption starts, and how you apply, depends on whether you already own the home.
You already own your home
And live in itOn the date of your rating
If you owned the home and it was your main home on that date.
File with your city or county
Give the Commissioner of the Revenue, or the office your city or county names, its form, your VA letter and proof that you live there.
You may be owed a refund
Virginia law says your city or county does not owe interest on a refund of taxes you paid before you applied.
Apply again
File again where the new home is, and tell your old city or county.
You are buying a home
In VirginiaOn the day you become the owner
It does not start before then, even if you are approved early.
You can apply before you buy
File the same papers, plus your signed purchase agreement, with the city or county where the home is.
A letter within 20 business days
Counted from when they get your papers. It says whether you are approved and, if you are, the amount of the exemption for that home.
May be owed part of the year's taxes back
For the part of the year after the sale.
Your city or county may ask you each year to confirm that you still live in the home.
A stay in a hospital, nursing home or other care facility does not end the exemption, as long as no one else pays to live in the home.
If you live in Virginia and your application is denied, you can appeal in writing to the Commissioner of Virginia's Department of Veterans Services. The appeal covers whether you qualify, not what your home is worth.
Sources: Code of Virginia, 58.1-3219.5 to 58.1-3219.8. Virginia Administrative Code, 1VAC80-10-40, 1VAC80-10-80, 1VAC80-10-90 and 1VAC80-10-100. Both retrieved 14 October 2026.
Surviving Spouses
Two exemptions for a surviving spouse
Virginia has two. Both end if the spouse remarries. Neither one ends if the spouse moves to a new main home.
The spouse of a veteran who qualified. The veteran must have died on or after January 1, 2011, and been eligible when they died, even if they never applied. You must have been married to them then.
The spouse of a service member who died in the line of duty. The Department of Defense must have made a Line of Duty determination, and Virginia law includes a death by suicide. The home is fully exempt if its assessed value is not above the local average for single-family homes. Above that, only the part over the average is taxed.
Changed for 2025: In November 2024, Virginia voters changed the second exemption's words from "killed in action" to "died in the line of duty". The change took effect January 1, 2025.
Sources: Constitution of Virginia, Article X, Section 6-A. Code of Virginia, 58.1-3219.5 (subsection B). Code of Virginia, 58.1-3219.9 and 58.1-3219.10. Virginia Administrative Code, 1VAC80-10-50. Virginia Department of Veterans Services, Tax Exemptions. All retrieved 14 October 2026.
Your Car
One car is a separate exemption
Virginia also exempts one car or pickup truck, registered for personal use, that is owned and used mainly by or for a veteran with a 100 percent service-connected, permanent and total disability.
A car owned by the veteran's spouse can qualify too. The exemption ends when the veteran dies, and a surviving spouse cannot claim it. Apply to your city or county.
Sources: Code of Virginia, 58.1-3668. Virginia Department of Veterans Services, Tax Exemptions. Both retrieved 14 October 2026.
Before You Buy
What to ask before you make an offer
Ask these before you sign, so the exemption is part of the plan.
- Does my VA letter show 100 percent, permanent and total?
- Whose names will be on the deed?
- How many acres does this city or county exempt?
- Can I file with my purchase agreement now, so I know the amount before closing?
- If my property taxes are paid through my mortgage, how will my payment change once I am approved?
- For a manufactured home: do I own the land under it?
This page is not legal or tax advice. Your city or county decides your application and sets the tax. Ask the office where the home is about your own case.
Sources: Code of Virginia, 58.1-3219.5 and 58.1-3219.6. Virginia Administrative Code, 1VAC80-10-10, 1VAC80-10-20 and 1VAC80-10-30. Both retrieved 14 October 2026.
A page can explain the exemption.An agent who works where you are buying can help you plan the purchase around it.
John Y. Ford is a Mission Ready Operator who helps active duty service members and defense professionals buy and sell homes in Prince William County, Quantico and the Fort Belvoir corridor, on a timeline built from the report date or the day they start work.
Last reviewed October 2026 · Maintained by My Military HQ
Common Questions
Questions veterans ask about Virginia property tax
Do disabled veterans pay property taxes in Virginia?
Not on the home they live in, if they qualify. Virginia exempts the main home, and up to one acre of land, of a veteran the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rates as having a 100 percent service-connected, permanent and total disability. It is in the Constitution of Virginia, and Virginia law requires every city, county and town to give it. The veteran applies to the city or county where the home is.
Does individual unemployability qualify for the Virginia property tax exemption?
Virginia's Department of Veterans Services says yes, if VA rates you at 100 percent because of individual unemployability and also rates you permanent and total. A 100 percent rating that is not permanent does not qualify in Virginia.
Can I apply for the Virginia disabled veteran exemption before I buy a home?
Yes. Virginia law lets you file the city or county's form, your VA letter and your signed purchase agreement with the city or county where the home is. Within 20 business days of getting your papers, it has to send a letter saying whether you are approved and, if you are, the amount of the exemption for that home. The exemption starts only once you own the home.
How much land does the Virginia disabled veteran exemption cover?
Virginia law exempts the home and up to one acre of land under it. If the city or county exempts more than one acre in its own tax relief program for older or disabled owners, it has to exempt the same number of acres for a qualifying veteran.
Does a surviving spouse keep the Virginia property tax exemption?
Yes, in Virginia, if the veteran qualified, died on or after January 1, 2011, the spouse was married to the veteran when they died, and the spouse does not remarry. The spouse can move to a new main home and keep it. A separate Virginia exemption covers the surviving spouse of a service member who died in the line of duty.
Do 100 percent disabled veterans pay car tax in Virginia?
Virginia exempts one car or pickup truck, registered for personal use, that is owned and used mainly by or for a veteran with a 100 percent service-connected, permanent and total disability. It is separate from the home exemption. It ends when the veteran dies, and a surviving spouse cannot claim it. Apply to your city or county.
Sources
Where every fact came from
Everything on this page comes from Virginia law, Virginia's Department of Veterans Services, or VA. Where they do not say something, we left it out.
- The exemption itself, and the line of duty change. Constitution of Virginia, Article X, Section 6-A, Virginia General Assembly. Retrieved 14 October 2026.
- Who qualifies, what it covers, when it starts, applying before you buy, and appeals. Code of Virginia, Title 58.1, Chapter 32, Article 2.3 (58.1-3219.5 to 58.1-3219.8), Virginia General Assembly. Retrieved 14 October 2026.
- The surviving spouse of a service member who died in the line of duty. Code of Virginia, Title 58.1, Chapter 32, Article 2.4, Virginia General Assembly. Retrieved 14 October 2026.
- The rules for applying, no income limit or deadline, trusts, cooperatives and surviving spouses. Virginia Administrative Code, 1VAC80-10, 100% Disabled Veteran Real Property Tax Exemption, Virginia Department of Veterans Services. Retrieved 14 October 2026.
- Individual unemployability, and the car exemption. Tax Exemptions, Virginia Department of Veterans Services. Retrieved 14 October 2026.
- The car exemption in law. Code of Virginia, 58.1-3668, Virginia General Assembly. Retrieved 14 October 2026.
- Your VA letter. Download VA benefit letters, VA. Retrieved 14 October 2026.
What we left out on purpose. We give no tax rates or dollar amounts, because each city or county sets its own and they change. The letter you can get before you buy gives you yours. We do not say how far back a refund can go, so ask your city or county. And we do not cover the local options a city or county may offer, like a lower car tax rate, or an exemption for the spouses of certain public safety workers and Virginia National Guard members who died on duty.
Also In This Series