CT Disabled Veterans’ Property Tax Exemption: Amounts and Filing

The Connecticut disabled veterans property tax exemption reduces the assessed value of your home if the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has rated you at least 10% disabled. The base reduction runs from $2,000 to $3,500, but two additional layers almost always push the real exemption much higher: a town-specific revaluation multiplier and an income-based addition that can double or triple the adjusted amount. Veterans rated 100% permanently and totally disabled can qualify to pay no property tax at all on their primary residence.

Who Qualifies

Three requirements control eligibility under Connecticut General Statutes § 12-81(20). You need at least 90 days of cumulative service in the U.S. Armed Forces during a recognized wartime period (such as the Vietnam era, the Korean hostilities, World War II, or the Persian Gulf era), an honorable discharge, and a VA disability rating of at least 10%.¹

The disability does not have to be combat-related. Any VA-rated condition of 10% or more qualifies, whatever the cause. You must be a Connecticut resident and own the property (leased property qualifies in some cases).

Base Exemption Amounts by Disability Rating

Connecticut sets a statutory base that climbs with the severity of the rating. These are the starting figures, before any town multiplier or income layer is applied:

10% to 25% disability: $2,000
26% to 50%: $2,500
51% to 75%: $3,000
76% to 100%: $3,500
Any rating of 10% or higher if you are age 65 or older: $3,500

Veterans who lost a limb or suffered certain other severe service-related disabilities receive more on top of those figures. Loss of one arm or leg adds $5,000; loss of both arms, both legs, or both feet adds $10,000.²

How Your Town’s Revaluation Multiplier Works

The base figures above are rarely the exemption you actually get. Under § 12-62g, every time a town revalues property, it must multiply the base veteran exemption by an increase factor equal to the new grand list divided by the pre-revaluation grand list, rounded to the nearest whole number.³

A town where property values have doubled since the statutory base was set applies a factor of 2, turning a $2,000 base into $4,000. Some towns carry factors of 3, 4, 6, or 8. Your local assessor’s office can give you the current factor for your town.²

The Income-Based Additional Exemption

Once the revaluation multiplier is applied, § 12-81g adds a second layer tied to household income. Every disabled veteran receives something at this stage. If your income is above the state-set threshold, you get an additional exemption equal to half of your adjusted base. If your income is below the threshold, the additional exemption equals twice the adjusted base, which effectively triples your total.⁴

For the 2026 assessment year, the Office of Policy and Management set the income limits at $56,500 for married applicants and $46,300 for single applicants.⁵ OPM adjusts the thresholds each year to track Social Security cost-of-living increases.⁶ Income counts all sources, including tax-exempt interest and Social Security benefits. VA disability payments do not count.

A municipality may vote to offer an even larger addition to veterans rated 100% disabled: three times the adjusted base instead of two, bringing the total to four times the base. The income thresholds for that enhanced version are lower, $21,000 married and $18,000 single, and not every town has adopted it. Ask your local assessor whether yours has.²

Full Exemption for 100% Permanently and Totally Disabled Veterans

A veteran with a 100% permanent and total VA rating qualifies under § 12-81(83) for a complete property tax exemption on a primary residence. This wipes out the whole bill on the home, not just part of the assessed value. If you do not own a home, the full exemption applies instead to one motor vehicle you own and keep in Connecticut.⁷

The exemption has edges. Any part of the dwelling used commercially or from which you collect rent is excluded. The exemption can reach a primary residence on leased land if the lease is recorded in the town’s land records and requires you to pay the property taxes on the dwelling.⁷

For assessment years beginning October 1, 2025, municipalities may vote to extend this full exemption to cover up to two acres of the lot the home sits on. Towns are also allowed to cap the total exemption at the median assessed value of residential property in the municipality.⁷

Surviving Spouses and Minor Children

When a veteran who was receiving the exemption dies, a surviving spouse keeps the same exemption as long as he or she does not remarry. A minor child of the veteran also qualifies while under 18. The exemption applies to the same extent the veteran had, or would have been entitled to, at the time of death.⁷

For the full 100% P&T exemption, qualifying property of the spouse or minor child gets the same coverage. If the veteran did not own the home, the exemption can shift to a dwelling or vehicle belonging to the spouse, provided the two were living together. Municipalities may also vote to extend the 100% P&T exemption to unmarried surviving spouses of veterans who would have qualified but died before the program took effect.⁷

How to Apply

Two offices are involved. Miss either step by October 1 and the exemption slips to the next assessment year.

File Your DD-214 With the Town Clerk

Before you can receive any veteran property tax exemption, your DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) must be on file with the Town Clerk in your town of residence. The Clerk records it in the town’s land records. The filing must be in place before October 1 for the exemption to apply to that assessment year’s grand list.⁸ An original or certified copy works. It is a one-time step; once the DD-214 is recorded, you do not need to refile it.

Apply With the Assessor

After the DD-214 is recorded, submit your exemption application to the municipal assessor. Bring your current VA disability rating letter showing the percentage and effective date. The application has to reach the assessor by October 1 for the exemption to appear on the tax bill issued the following July. A later filing pushes the exemption to the next cycle. You can deliver the application in person or by certified mail.¹

If you are also claiming the income-based additional exemption, include proof of household income. For the 2026 assessment year, that means your 2025 income. The additional exemption’s application window runs from February 1 through October 1.

Keeping Your Exemption Active

The base disability exemption stays in place as long as you keep your VA rating and own the property. No annual refiling is required for that piece. The income-based addition is different: after initial approval, you have to refile every two years.⁴

In the off year, the law presumes you still qualify. If your income rises above the threshold during that gap year, though, you have to tell the assessor before the next filing deadline. This is not a harmless oversight to skip. The statute requires you to repay the town for the property tax loss on any exemption you took improperly.⁴

1
Connecticut General Assembly. OLR Report 2016-R-0269 – Veterans Property Tax Exemptions
2
Connecticut General Assembly. Veterans Property Tax Exemptions by Town – State-Mandated Exemptions
3
Justia. Connecticut Code 12-62g – Increase in Certain Property Tax Exemptions and Tax Relief
4
Justia. Connecticut Code 12-81g – Additional Exemption From Property Tax For Veterans
5
Town of Killingworth. Additional Veterans Exemptions 2026
6
Connecticut General Assembly. Municipal-Option Property Tax Exemptions for Veterans
7
Connecticut General Assembly. Property Tax Exemption for Veterans With a 100% P and T Disability Rating
8
State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management. Additional Veterans Tax Relief Program