State benefits
Virginia veteran benefits, and the clause that follows a spouse
Virginia exempts the principal residence and up to one acre from real property tax where VA has rated the veteran 100 percent service connected, permanent and total. There is no income test and no value ceiling. The surviving spouse clause is unusually wide: the spouse can move to a different house and keep it.
Virginia Department of Veterans Services
Published 2026-08-21. Virginia 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 Virginia
Virginia's exemption is constitutional in origin and unusually clean: no income test, no assessed value ceiling, and one acre of land included. The surviving spouse clause is the part worth reading twice. Most states that continue an exemption to a spouse require the spouse to stay in the same house. Virginia does not. A spouse can move and keep it, provided the veteran died on or after January 1, 2011 and the spouse has not remarried.
Four thresholds, four offices, one state
Virginia does not use one number. Real property tax is 100 percent service connected, permanent and total, at the local commissioner of the revenue, and so is the local personal property tax exemption on one vehicle under section 58.1-3668, at the same office. Motor vehicle sales and use tax is the same 100 percent permanent and total standard, at the Department of Motor Vehicles, on one vehicle, using Form SUT3 at titling or SUT2 for a refund afterwards. The park passport is a certified 100 percent rating, at the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Lifetime hunting and freshwater fishing licenses start at 30 percent, at the Department of Wildlife Resources, and the price falls as the rating rises.
Dependent education is the one that sits at a threshold nobody else uses. The Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program waives tuition and mandatory fees at Virginia public institutions for a spouse, or a child aged 16 to 29, of a veteran rated totally and permanently disabled or at least 90 percent permanently disabled. A 90 percent rating reaches it. An 80 percent rating does not, and there is no partial version. There is also a condition on the service member that has nothing to do with the rating and is the most common disqualifier: section 23.1-608(C) requires domicile in the Commonwealth, or physical presence in it, for at least five years immediately prior to the date the admission application was submitted, or at the time of entry into service, or at the time of death.
The section as currently in force carries no semester cap, no household income test and no requirement to exhaust federal benefits first. Restrictions along those lines were enacted in the 2024 appropriation act, and the point worth stating plainly is that they are not in the act currently in force. Item 4-5.01 b of HB 30, 2026 Special Session I, Chapter 1 runs from b.1 to b.6 and contains no provision about this program, about section 23.1-608, or about offsetting federal gift aid. What the 2024 language did, while it stood, was require a FAFSA and offset a proportion of Pell and expected family contribution against the waiver. It was never a dollar income cutoff, which is worth saying because that is how it is usually described second hand.
There is a stipend as well as the waiver, and it is set in the budget rather than in the statute, which is why it is often left out. The current figure is knowable: Item 131 E.1 of the same act designates $16,780,000 the first year and $19,250,000 the second year from the general fund to support the program and to provide up to a $2,200 annual stipend to offset the costs of room, board, books and supplies.
The whole bill, three vehicle exemptions, and how fast a license pays back
Property tax is the largest line and it is the whole bill. The dwelling and up to one acre come off the roll, so the worth is assessed value multiplied by the local rate per $100. At an illustrative $1.00 per $100 on a home assessed at $300,000, that is $3,000 a year.
The vehicle side has three parts, not two, and the third is the largest and the one most often left out. One personally owned and used vehicle is exempt from the annual registration fee. Separately, one vehicle is exempt from motor vehicle sales and use tax at purchase, and that exemption can be used again on a replacement if the first is sold. And separately again, section 58.1-3668 exempts one motor vehicle owned and used primarily by or for a veteran rated 100 percent service connected, permanent and total from the LOCAL PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX, the annual bill the city or county sends. That one runs from the date the vehicle is acquired or January 1, 2021, whichever is later, and it is the only recurring one of the three. It expires on the date of the veteran's death and is not available to the surviving spouse, which is unusually narrow for Virginia and worth knowing in advance.
The lifetime licenses are priced by band and pay for themselves at different speeds. At a totally and permanently disabled rating both the hunting and the freshwater fishing license are free. At 70 percent or more they are $50 each, at 50 to less than 70 percent $75 each, and at 30 to less than 50 percent $100 each. Section 29.1-302(A) covers a license to hunt and freshwater fish, to hunt only, or to freshwater fish only. Trapping is not on that schedule: 4VAC15-20-65 prices a lifetime trapping license at $15.00 for a service connected totally and permanently disabled veteran and offers none at the three lower bands, so a veteran at 30 percent reading a combined table is reading a license that does not exist at that band.
The payback math depends on a counter price this page does not assert. 4VAC15-20-65 sets the one year resident hunting license and the one year resident freshwater fishing license at $22.00 each. License agents may add a transaction fee under sections 29.1-327 and 29.1-332, so the price actually paid may be higher, and the department's own license page could not be read in this check. On the regulation's $22.00, a $50 lifetime hunting license covers itself in a little over two years and a $100 one in about four and a half. Allow 45 days for processing.
The Disabled Veteran's Passport removes parking and admission at state parks and halves camping and swimming fees, picnic shelter rentals and equipment rentals. The paid equivalent for parking and admission alone is the Naturally Yours Passport at $85.00 for twelve months.
The military benefits subtraction reached $40,000 for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2025, and the age 55 condition that applied in 2022 and 2023 no longer applies from tax year 2024 forward. That is a change worth acting on rather than reading about, because a veteran under 55 who checked this in 2023 was told no.
Every Virginia 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 Virginia rules. Virginia Department of Veterans Services is the office that administers them, and its own page is the place to check anything here.
What we could not confirm
These are printed rather than left out. A gap that is stated can be closed with one phone call. A gap that is silently omitted reads like a rule that does not exist.
Whether the survivors and dependents education program is split into a combat related tier and a non combat related tier, with the stipend attached only to the combat related one.
Section 23.1-608 draws no such distinction, and neither does the appropriation act: Item 131 E.1 funds the stipend without conditioning it on a combat related disability. The split appears to be an administrative one and it could not be confirmed on a primary source, so it is not stated as a rule. The Virginia Department of Veterans Services, which determines eligibility for the program.
Property tax
Real property tax exemption
Has to be applied for onceVirginia exempts from real property tax the principal residence of a veteran whom the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has rated to have a 100 percent service connected, permanent and total disability, together with the land it sits on up to one acre.
- The statute reads 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability, and the veteran must occupy the property as a principal place of residence.
- A surviving spouse keeps it where the veteran died on or after January 1, 2011 and the spouse has not remarried, with no requirement to stay in the same residence.
- Localities granting broader exemptions elsewhere in the article apply the same acreage here.
- What it is worth
- The whole real estate tax bill on the residence The dwelling and up to one acre leave the tax base, so the annual worth is the bill that would otherwise be issued. Assessed value multiplied by the local rate per $100 is the math. At an illustrative $1.00 per $100 on a home assessed at $300,000 that is $3,000 a year.
- Administered by
- The local commissioner of the revenue or equivalent assessing officer
- How it is claimed
- Application to the local commissioner of the revenue with the VA rating decision. A county or city veteran service officer files these at no cost.
- Rule
- Code of Virginia 58.1-3219.5
Code of Virginia 58.1-3219.5, exemption from taxes on property for disabled veterans (Virginia General Assembly). Checked 2026-08-21.
Vehicles and plates
Free plates and the annual registration fee exemption
Has to be applied for onceVirginia issues one set of disabled veteran or standard passenger plates at no plate cost to a veteran certified by VA as having lost, or lost the use of, a leg, arm or hand, being blind, or being permanently and totally disabled, and exempts one personally owned and used vehicle from the annual registration fee.
- The registration fee exemption in the vehicle code reaches any one motor vehicle owned and used personally by a disabled veteran with the service related certification, or by the unremarried surviving spouse, while it displays these plates or standard passenger plates.
- A veteran with any VA certified service connected rating may buy the disabled veteran plates instead, paying all applicable registration fees plus a special plate fee of $10.00 a year.
- Personalisation fees, and emissions fees where they apply, are still payable.
- What it is worth
- $30.75 to $35.75 a year on one vehicle The registration fee avoided is $30.75 for a passenger vehicle of 4,000 pounds or less and $35.75 from 4,001 to 6,500 pounds, on top of the plate cost itself.
- Administered by
- Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles
- How it is claimed
- Form VSA 54, the veteran certification of disability, or a VA benefit letter, signed by a veteran service officer and filed with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
- Rule
- Code of Virginia 46.2-739
Code of Virginia 46.2-739, license plates for disabled veterans (Virginia General Assembly). Checked 2026-08-21.
Local personal property tax exemption on one vehicle
Has to be applied for onceCode of Virginia 58.1-3668 exempts from local personal property taxation one motor vehicle owned and used primarily by or for a veteran whom VA has rated with a 100 percent service connected, permanent and total disability.
- One vehicle only. Where a veteran and spouse hold the vehicle jointly, the exemption applies if either of them holds the qualifying rating.
- It runs from the date the vehicle is acquired or January 1, 2021, whichever is later.
- The exemption expires on the date of the veteran's death and is not available to the surviving spouse. That is narrower than most Virginia survivor clauses and it is the part worth planning around.
- This is the annual local personal property tax, which is a different tax from the one-off motor vehicle sales and use tax exemption and from the registration fee exemption. All three can apply to the same veteran.
- What it is worth
- The whole annual local personal property tax bill on one vehicle Virginia localities levy personal property tax on vehicles every year at their own rate, so this is a recurring exemption rather than a one-off, and on a newer vehicle in a high rate locality it is the largest of the three Virginia vehicle benefits.
- Administered by
- The commissioner of the revenue for the locality
- How it is claimed
- Application to the commissioner of the revenue for the city or county, with the VA rating documentation.
- Rule
- Code of Virginia 58.1-3668, enacted 2021 Sp. Sess. I, c. 156
Code of Virginia 58.1-3668, motor vehicle of a disabled veteran (Virginia General Assembly). Checked 2026-08-21.
Motor vehicle sales and use tax exemption
Has to be applied for onceVirginia exempts one vehicle from motor vehicle sales and use tax where VA has determined the veteran to have a 100 percent service connected, permanent and total disability.
- It covers passenger vehicles and pickups of 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight or under, bought by the veteran or the spouse.
- Motorcycles, trailers, mopeds, autocycles, recreational vehicles, motorhomes, all terrain vehicles, trucks over 10,000 pounds and all leased vehicles are excluded.
- The exemption can be used again on a replacement vehicle if the first is sold.
- Administered by
- Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles
- How it is claimed
- Form SUT3, the purchaser's statement of exemption, at titling, or Form SUT2 for a refund afterwards, with a VA benefit summary letter stating 100 percent permanent and total.
Disabled veteran sales and use tax exemption (Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles). Checked 2026-08-21.
Licenses and parks
Lifetime hunting and freshwater fishing licenses
Has to be applied for onceVirginia sells lifetime hunting and freshwater fishing licenses to resident veterans with a VA service connected rating, at a price that steps down as the rating rises. The minimum eligible rating is 30 percent. Section 29.1-302(A) covers a license to hunt and freshwater fish, to hunt only, or to freshwater fish only, and nothing else.
- TRAPPING IS NOT ON THAT BAND SCHEDULE. The lifetime trapping license is set by regulation rather than by section 29.1-302: 4VAC15-20-65 prices a Service-Connected Totally and Permanently Disabled Veteran Resident Lifetime License to Trap at $15.00, and the department's own price grid offers no trapping license at the 70 percent, 50 to less than 70, or 30 to less than 50 bands. A veteran at 30 percent reading a combined hunting, fishing and trapping band table is reading a license that is not offered at that band.
- The lifetime hunting license is described as equivalent to the annual small game license and includes archery, muzzleloader, bear and deer or turkey privileges.
- The lifetime freshwater fishing license does not include trout, national forest or state forest permits.
- Processing takes about 45 days, so this is not a license to apply for the week before a season opens.
| Rating band | Amount |
|---|---|
| 30 to 40 percent | $100 each, once |
| 50 to 60 percent | $75 each, once |
| 70 to 90 percent | $50 each, once |
| 100 percent | $0, where totally and permanently disabled |
- What it is worth
- $46 a year avoided once it pays for itself A resident annual hunting license is $23.00 and a resident annual freshwater fishing license is $23.00. At the 70 percent band the $50 lifetime hunting license covers itself in a little over two years. At totally and permanently disabled both are free from the start.
- Administered by
- Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
- How it is claimed
- Form OUT-010 to Wildlife Resources lifetime license sales, with the VA rating documentation.
- Rule
- Code of Virginia 29.1-302
Lifetime hunting and fishing license for resident disabled veterans (Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources). Checked 2026-08-21.
Disabled Veteran's Passport
Has to be applied for onceVirginia issues a free passport to a veteran with a letter certifying a service connected disability rating of 100 percent, giving entry to state parks without a parking or admission fee and half off camping and swimming fees, picnic shelter rentals and department equipment rentals.
- It covers vehicle parking and admission for the holder and any necessary assistance personnel, boat launch and horse trailer parking.
- It also carries 25 percent off a single night standard yurt reservation.
- What it is worth
- $85 a year on parking and admission, plus half off camping The paid equivalent for parking and admission across all state parks is the Naturally Yours Passport at $85.00 for twelve months. The camping discount is on top of that and scales with use.
- Administered by
- Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
- How it is claimed
- Form DCR199-036 emailed to the reservation centre with the VA disability paperwork.
- Rule
- Code of Virginia 10.1-202.2
Code of Virginia 10.1-202.2, disabled veteran's passport (Virginia General Assembly). Checked 2026-08-21.
Education
Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program
Has to be applied for onceVirginia waives tuition and mandatory fees at Virginia public institutions of higher education for the spouse, or a child aged between 16 and 29, of a veteran rated by VA as totally and permanently disabled or at least 90 percent permanently disabled.
- The statutory threshold is 90 percent permanent disability or total and permanent disability, so a 90 percent rating reaches it and an 80 percent rating does not.
- THERE IS A DOMICILE CONDITION ON THE SERVICE MEMBER, and it is the most common disqualifier. Section 23.1-608(C) requires the service member to have established domicile in the Commonwealth, or to have had a physical presence in the Commonwealth, for at least five years immediately prior to the date the admission application was submitted, or at the time of entry into service, or at the time of death.
- The Commissioner may certify a dependent over 29 where extenuating circumstances prevented use before 30.
- There is a stipend as well as the waiver, and its amount is set in the budget rather than in the statute. Item 131 E.1 of the appropriation act currently in force designates $16,780,000 the first year and $19,250,000 the second year from the general fund to support the program and to provide up to a $2,200 annual stipend to offset the costs of room, board, books and supplies.
- The section as currently in force carries no semester cap, no household income test and no requirement to exhaust federal benefits first. Restrictions along those lines were enacted in the 2024 appropriation act, and they are not in the act currently in force: Item 4-5.01 b of HB 30, 2026 Special Session I, Chapter 1 runs from b.1 to b.6 and contains no provision about this program, section 23.1-608, or a federal aid offset.
- What it is worth
- Full tuition and mandatory fees at a Virginia public institution The waiver is of the institution's own tuition and mandatory fees rather than a fixed grant, so its worth is whatever that institution charges for the program.
- Administered by
- The Department of Veterans Services determines eligibility; the public institution confirms enrolment and applies the waiver
- How it is claimed
- Application to the Department of Veterans Services, then to the institution's veterans certifying official.
- Rule
- Code of Virginia 23.1-608, with the stipend at Item 131 E.1 of HB 30, 2026 Sp. Sess. I, ch. 1
Code of Virginia 23.1-608, Virginia military survivors and dependents education program (Virginia General Assembly). Checked 2026-08-21.
State income tax
Military benefits subtraction
Applies without a filingVirginia allows a subtraction from Virginia taxable income for military benefits, rising to $40,000 for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2025.
- The schedule was $10,000 for 2022, $20,000 for 2023, $30,000 for 2024 and $40,000 from 2025 onward.
- The age 55 condition applied to 2022 and 2023 only. From tax year 2024 the subtraction applies at any age.
- Military benefits here means military retirement income, qualified military benefits under section 134 of the Internal Revenue Code, Survivor Benefit Plan payments to a surviving spouse, and military benefits paid to a surviving spouse. Thrift Savings Plan distributions and civil service retirement benefits are excluded even where military service was credited.
- Administered by
- Virginia Department of Taxation
- How it is claimed
- Claimed as a subtraction on the Virginia return.
- Rule
- Code of Virginia 58.1-322.02(18)
Code of Virginia 58.1-322.02, Virginia taxable income, subtractions (Virginia General Assembly). Checked 2026-08-21.
Filter this by rating band
The finder takes a rating band and lists only the Virginia entitlements whose published threshold that band reaches, with a version laid out for printing and carrying to a county office.
Questions
Does a Virginia surviving spouse have to stay in the same house?
No. The statute applies the exemption without any restriction on the spouse moving to a different principal place of residence, provided the veteran died on or after January 1, 2011 and the spouse has not remarried. That is wider than most states.
Does a 90 percent rating qualify for VMSDEP?
Yes. The statute names a veteran rated totally and permanently disabled or at least 90 percent permanently disabled. An 80 percent rating does not reach it.
How much land does the Virginia property exemption cover?
The qualifying dwelling and the land it is situated on, not exceeding one acre. Localities that grant broader exemptions elsewhere in the same article apply the same acreage here.
Is the military benefits subtraction still limited to people over 55?
No. The age condition applied to taxable years 2022 and 2023. From tax year 2024 the subtraction applies at any age, and it is $40,000 for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2025.
Sources
- Code of Virginia 58.1-3219.5, exemption for disabled veterans, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Virginia General Assembly)
- Code of Virginia 46.2-739, license plates for disabled veterans, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Virginia General Assembly)
- Code of Virginia 58.1-3668, motor vehicle of a disabled veteran, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Virginia General Assembly)
- 4VAC15-20-65, hunting, trapping and fishing license fees, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Virginia Administrative Code)
- Disabled veteran sales and use tax exemption, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles)
- Lifetime hunting and fishing license for resident disabled veterans, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources)
- Code of Virginia 10.1-202.2, disabled veteran's passport, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Virginia General Assembly)
- State park passes, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation)
- Code of Virginia 23.1-608, military survivors and dependents education program, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Virginia General Assembly)
- Item 131 E.1, appropriation act in force, the program's funding and stipend, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Virginia Department of Planning and Budget)
- Item 4-5.01, appropriation act in force, carrying no condition on the program, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Virginia Department of Planning and Budget)
- Code of Virginia 58.1-322.02, subtractions from Virginia taxable income, retrieved 2026-08-21 (Virginia General Assembly)
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.