State benefits
Ohio veteran benefits, and the number that is not in the statute
Ohio shields $58,000 of true value from property tax for tax year 2025 on one homestead owned and occupied by a disabled veteran. The statute's $50,000 is an indexed floor, not the current figure. No income limit applies to this category. The application goes to the county auditor by December 31.
Ohio Department of Veterans Services
Published 2026-08-21. Ohio rules last checked against that state's own government sources on 2026-08-21. Every line below carries the page it came from and the date it was read.
What is different about Ohio
Ohio runs two homestead exemptions and the difference between them is the point. The general one is means tested and worth less. The disabled veteran one is worth $50,000 of true value, is not subject to the income limit that applies to the age and disability category, and is indexed upward each September by the tax commissioner using the gross domestic product deflator, rounded to the nearest hundred dollars. The figure in the statute is therefore a floor rather than the current number, and the county auditor holds the current one.
Two homestead exemptions, and why the veteran one is the better one
Ohio runs a general homestead exemption for people aged 65 and over and for the permanently and totally disabled, and a separate one for disabled veterans. They look similar on an application form and they are not similar at all.
The general one is means tested. The disabled veteran one is not: the income limit in the age and disability division of the statute applies only there, and the disabled veteran division carries no income test at all, which the Department of Taxation states in terms.
The statutory $50,000 in section 323.152(A)(2)(a) is a floor rather than the current number, and the current number is meaningfully higher. The tax commissioner adjusts the reduction amounts each September using the gross domestic product deflator, rounded to the nearest hundred dollars, and certifies them to county auditors by December 1. The Department of Taxation publishes the result: for tax year 2025 real property the disabled veteran reduction is $58,000, against $29,000 for the general category. For tax year 2024 it was $56,000 against $28,000. A page that prints $50,000 as this year's figure understates the benefit by about a sixth.
No figure for tax year 2026 is stated here. The statute requires the commissioner to certify one by December 1, so one should exist, but the Department's published table stops at tax year 2025 and no tax year 2026 amount was found on an Ohio government source. The county auditor holds it.
The definition matters as much as the amount. The Revised Code describes the qualifying disabled veteran here as a person holding a total disability rating, or a total disability rating for compensation based on individual unemployability, for a service connected disability or combination of them. Unemployability is named, not implied. The reduction applies to only one homestead, and the application is filed with the county auditor on or before December 31 of the year for which the reduction is sought.
The county auditor then mails a continuing application every January to everyone already receiving the reduction. It does not have to be returned unless something has changed that affects eligibility or the amount, which is a smaller annual burden than the states that require a full refiling.
The $50,000 that is not the number, and the licenses that stack
Ohio does not tax true value. It taxes a percentage of it, and the statute caps that percentage at 35 percent. Work it on the published figure rather than on the statutory floor: $58,000 of true value for tax year 2025 is $20,300 of taxable value removed, and at an illustrative 50 mills, which is $50 per $1,000 of taxable value, that is $1,160 a year. The same math on the $50,000 floor gives $875, and that is the number most pages print. The gap is the reason to ask the county auditor for the year's certified figure rather than reading it off a statute.
The free hunting and fishing licenses are worth more in Ohio than the equivalent in most states, because the permits stack. For the 2026 to 2027 license year the resident hunting license is $19.00 and the resident fishing license $25.00. On top of the hunting license, an adult resident either sex deer permit is $31.20, a spring turkey permit $31.20, a fur taker permit $15.00 and the wetlands habitat stamp $15.00. A permanently and totally disabled veteran who hunts deer and turkey and fishes avoids roughly $146 a year.
The eligibility standard for those licenses is not a percentage and this is where Ohio is most often described wrongly. Section 1533.12(B)(1) names two paths and attaches the discharge condition to only one of them: a resident whom VA has determined permanently and totally disabled, who receives a VA pension or compensation AND who received an honorable discharge; and, separately, every veteran to whom the registrar of motor vehicles has issued plates under section 4503.41, with no discharge condition on the face of that limb. Section 1533.12(B)(5) is the former prisoner of war path, and it does require an honorable discharge.
The prisoner of war set is narrower than a permanently and totally disabled veteran's, but not in the way it is usually reported. Subsection (B)(5) covers a fishing license, hunting license, fur taker permit or wetlands habitat stamp, or any combination. The fishing license is included. What (B)(5) omits, and (B)(1) includes, is the deer or wild turkey permit, which at $31.20 each is the most valuable single item on the list.
None of these is necessarily an annual credential. Both subsections provide that the licenses and permits are issued free of charge on an annual, multi-year or lifetime basis as the chief determines appropriate, so it is worth asking for the longest term rather than reapplying every year by default.
The plate exemption is worth the registration fee, the service fee and local motor vehicle taxes on the first registered vehicle. For each additional registration after the first, all applicable fees and local taxes are collected, so it is one vehicle rather than a fleet.
The War Orphans scholarship shows the difference between what a statute authorizes and what a budget funds. The statute authorizes an exemption from 100 percent of general and instructional fees at a state supported institution, reducible by the board when appropriations are short. For the 2025 to 2026 year the board set coverage at 77 percent at public institutions and $6,330 a year at private ones.
Every Ohio entitlement checked so far
Each entry states the rule as the statute or the administering agency states it, with the rating threshold that rule uses. Whether any particular file meets a threshold is a question for the office that grants it.
The state's own page
Everything below is a reading of published Ohio rules. Ohio Department of Veterans Services is the office that administers them, and its own page is the place to check anything here.
The ones with a filing window
- Homestead exemption for disabled veteransDecember 31 of the year for which the reduction is sought
- War Orphans and Severely Disabled Veterans' Children ScholarshipPostmarked by May 15 of the year before the award year
Filing windows are set by the office that administers each one, and several of them run on the county assessment calendar rather than the tax year.
Property tax
Homestead exemption for disabled veterans
Has to be applied for onceOhio reduces the taxable value of one homestead owned and occupied by a disabled veteran by $50,000 of the true value of the property in money, as adjusted annually by the tax commissioner.
- The Revised Code defines a disabled veteran here as a person holding a total disability rating, or a total disability rating for compensation based on individual unemployability, for a service connected disability or combination of them.
- The income limit that applies to the age and disability category does not apply to this one.
- The reduction applies to only one homestead owned and occupied by a disabled veteran.
- What it is worth
- The tax on $50,000 of true value, indexed Ohio taxes a percentage of true value rather than true value itself, and the commissioner sets that percentage at no more than 35 percent. At 35 percent, $50,000 of true value is $17,500 of taxable value removed. At an illustrative 50 mills, which is $50 per $1,000 of taxable value, that is $875 a year. The statutory $50,000 is adjusted upward each September, so the current figure is higher.
- Filing window
- December 31 of the year for which the reduction is sought
- Administered by
- The county auditor
- How it is claimed
- Application to the county auditor by December 31. The auditor mails a continuing application each January to everyone already receiving the reduction, which does not have to be returned unless something has changed that affects eligibility or the amount.
- Rule
- Ohio Revised Code 323.152(A)(2) and 323.153
Ohio Revised Code 323.152, reductions in taxable value (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules). Checked 2026-08-21.
Vehicles and plates
Veterans with Disabilities plate
Has to be applied for onceOhio issues a Veterans with Disabilities plate to a veteran with a service connected disability rated or compensated at 100 percent, or who received a VA monetary allowance toward the purchase of a motor vehicle, and exempts the first registered vehicle from the registration fee, the service fee and local motor vehicle taxes.
- The exemption reaches the first registered vehicle. For each additional registration after the first, all applicable fees and local taxes are collected.
- There is no special plate surcharge on this plate type.
- An eligible veteran may instead apply for one or two military plates of any variety they qualify for, in place of this one.
- The plate displays the international wheelchair symbol and permits use of parking spaces marked with it. No removable windshield placard is issued with it.
- Administered by
- Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles
- How it is claimed
- Form BMV 4507, the registration application for gratis and free military license plates, with a VA letter documenting the 100 percent rating or the vehicle allowance, dated within the past year. Trucks and vans need affidavit BMV 5712 as well.
- Rule
- Ohio Revised Code 4503.41
Ohio Revised Code 4503.41, veterans with disabilities license plates (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules). Checked 2026-08-21.
Licenses and parks
Free hunting and fishing licenses
Has to be claimed again each yearOhio provides free licenses and permits to a resident veteran who is permanently and totally disabled by VA determination while receiving a VA pension or compensation, or who holds Ohio disabled veteran plates, or who is a former prisoner of war, in each case honorably discharged.
- The standard is permanent and total, or the disabled veteran plate, or former prisoner of war status. It is not a percentage threshold, and a page that prints one for Ohio is wrong.
- For a permanently and totally disabled veteran the free set is a hunting license, a fur taker permit, an either sex deer permit, a turkey permit, the wetlands habitat stamp and a fishing license.
- For a former prisoner of war the set is narrower: hunting license, fur taker permit and wetlands habitat stamp only. All other licenses and permits have to be bought.
- The applicant must have lived in Ohio for the last six consecutive months. Approval runs for five years but the licenses have to be re-obtained every year, and the license year ends on the last day of February.
- What it is worth
- About $146 a year for a hunter who also fishes For the 2026 to 2027 license year the resident hunting license is $19.00 and the resident fishing license $25.00. On top of the hunting license, an adult resident either sex deer permit is $31.20, a spring turkey permit $31.20, a fur taker permit $15.00 and the wetlands habitat stamp $15.00.
- Administered by
- The Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife, on a certification by the Ohio Department of Veterans Services
- How it is claimed
- Form DNR 9032-B, certified by the Ohio Department of Veterans Services. Processing takes four to twelve weeks.
- Rule
- Ohio Revised Code 1533.12
Ohio Revised Code 1533.12, free licenses and permits (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules). Checked 2026-08-21.
Camping fee exemption
Has to be applied for onceOhio established a camping fee exemption credential, effective April 21, 2025, for a resident who is either an honorably discharged former prisoner of war or a permanently and totally disabled veteran receiving a VA pension or compensation with an honorable discharge.
- The exemption applies only to reservations on the credential holder's own customer account and is not transferable.
- Ohio state parks are free to visit, so this is about camping rather than entry.
- Presentation of Ohio state identification may be required while camping, and non compliance can result in account suspension or rental restrictions.
- Administered by
- The Department of Natural Resources Division of Parks and Watercraft
- How it is claimed
- Application for the credential through the division.
- Rule
- Ohio Administrative Code 1501:46-2-40
Ohio Administrative Code 1501:46-2-40, camping fee exemption (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules). Checked 2026-08-21.
Education
War Orphans and Severely Disabled Veterans' Children Scholarship
Has to be claimed again each yearOhio provides a scholarship for the child of a veteran who is deceased, disabled, missing in action or a prisoner of war, where disabled means a 60 percent or greater service connected disability, or benefits for permanent and total non service connected disability, as VA determines it.
- The statutory threshold is 60 percent or greater, which the 70 to 90 band reaches, and a veteran rated exactly 60 percent also meets it.
- The student must have reached the sixteenth but not the twenty fifth birthday at application, meet Ohio residency requirements, and be in financial need as the board determines it.
- The veteran parent must have entered the armed services as an Ohio resident, with a residency exception path.
- The cap is 15 quarters or 10 semesters of full time undergraduate study, and the application form states that no person receives a scholarship for more than five academic years.
- What it is worth
- 77 percent of tuition and general fees at a public institution, or $6,330 a year at a private one, for the 2025 to 2026 year The statute authorises an exemption from 100 percent of general and instructional fees, reducible by the board when appropriations are short. For 2025 to 2026 the board set coverage at 77 percent at public institutions and an annual award of $6,330 at private institutions, so the statutory figure and the funded figure are not the same number.
- Filing window
- Postmarked by May 15 of the year before the award year
- Administered by
- The Ohio War Orphans Scholarship Board through the Ohio Department of Higher Education
- How it is claimed
- Application to the Ohio Department of Higher Education office of financial aid, by post or fax only, with the federal student aid application completed.
- Rule
- Ohio Revised Code chapter 5910
Ohio Revised Code 5910.01, war orphans scholarship definitions (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules). Checked 2026-08-21.
State income tax
Uniformed services retirement income deduction
Applies without a filingOhio directs the taxpayer to deduct amounts received as retired personnel pay for service in the uniformed services, to the extent not otherwise deducted or excluded in computing federal or Ohio adjusted gross income.
- Uniformed services here includes the armed forces, the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Public Health Service.
- Survivor Benefit Plan amounts collected by a surviving or former spouse are deductible on the same line.
- Amounts deducted here cannot also be used for the retirement credit or the lump sum retirement credit.
- A military retiree who also draws a federal civil service pension gets a pro rated deduction, military years divided by total federal service years, applied to the pension included in federal adjusted gross income.
- Administered by
- Ohio Department of Taxation
- How it is claimed
- Line 34 of the Ohio Schedule of Adjustments, uniformed services retirement income.
- Rule
- Ohio Revised Code 5747.01(A)(23)
Ohio Revised Code 5747.01, income tax definitions (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules). Checked 2026-08-21.
Filter this by rating band
The finder takes a rating band and lists only the Ohio entitlements whose published threshold that band reaches, with a version laid out for printing and carrying to a county office.
Questions
Is there an income limit on the Ohio disabled veteran homestead exemption?
No. The income limit in the statute applies to the age 65 and permanent disability category. It does not apply to the disabled veteran category.
Is $50,000 the current Ohio reduction amount?
No. It is the statutory floor in section 323.152(A)(2)(a). The tax commissioner adjusts it upward each September using the gross domestic product deflator, rounded to the nearest hundred dollars, and certifies the result to county auditors by December 1. The Department of Taxation publishes $58,000 for tax year 2025 real property and $56,000 for tax year 2024. No tax year 2026 figure was published when this was read; the county auditor holds it.
Does the Ohio homestead exemption have to be refiled every year?
No. The county auditor mails a continuing application each January to everyone already receiving the reduction, and it does not have to be returned unless something has changed that affects eligibility or the amount.
What rating is needed for free Ohio hunting and fishing licenses?
Not a percentage. Section 1533.12(B)(1) names a VA determination of permanent and total disability while receiving a pension or compensation and with an honorable discharge, and separately every veteran issued plates under section 4503.41, which carries no discharge condition on its face. Section 1533.12(B)(5) covers a former prisoner of war and does require an honorable discharge. The prisoner of war set includes the fishing license; what it leaves out is the deer or wild turkey permit.
Sources
- Ohio Revised Code 323.152, reductions in taxable value, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules)
- Homestead exemption reduction amounts certified for tax years 2024 and 2025, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Ohio Department of Taxation)
- Ohio Revised Code 323.153, application for reduction, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules)
- Ohio Revised Code 5715.01, taxable value percentage, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules)
- Ohio Revised Code 4503.41, veterans with disabilities license plates, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules)
- Ohio Revised Code 1533.12, free licenses and permits, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules)
- Ohio Administrative Code 1501:46-2-40, camping fee exemption, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules)
- Ohio Revised Code 5910.01, war orphans scholarship definitions, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules)
- Ohio Revised Code 5747.01, income tax definitions, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules)
Accuracy owner Brayden Marley. State entitlement thresholds move on state fiscal calendars, so this page is re-read against its sources every quarter and the date beside each line is the date that line was last read.