Delaware Disabled Veterans Property Tax Exemption: Rules and Filing

Delaware’s disabled veterans property tax exemption lets qualifying veterans eliminate 100% of the non-vocational school district property tax on their primary residence. To qualify, you need a 100% service-connected disability rating from the VA and at least three consecutive years of legal domicile in Delaware. The credit is not automatic. You have to apply through your county’s receiver of taxes or treasurer by April 30 of the year before the tax year you want it to cover.¹

Who Qualifies

Delaware Code Title 14, Section 1917 sets two conditions, and you have to meet both.

The first is the disability rating. You must receive 100% disability compensation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for a service-connected disability that is permanent and total. Veterans rated at 100% based on individual unemployability count, not only those with a schedular 100% rating.¹

The second is residency. You must be legally domiciled in Delaware for at least three consecutive years. Seasonal or temporary residence doesn’t count. Leaving the state for 12 months or more is treated as presumptive evidence that you abandoned your domicile, which would disqualify you.¹

The statute does not require an honorable discharge. The two qualifying conditions are the VA rating and the three-year domicile, and the burden of proving both is on you.¹

What the Credit Actually Covers

The credit wipes out 100% of the non-vocational school district property tax assessed on your home. There is no partial reduction and no fixed-dollar cap. If your school tax bill is $1,200, the credit zeroes it out.²

It applies only to school district property taxes. Municipal taxes, ditch taxes, sewer charges, and other special assessments are not covered.

The property must be owned and occupied as your principal residence. Investment properties, second homes, and vacation homes do not qualify.¹²

One procedural point that catches people out: the credit is technically allowed “if authorized by majority vote of the whole school board of the local school district.” School boards across Delaware have authorized it, but approval flows from the local board rather than from a single statewide switch.¹

And you have to stay current. If you fall behind on your property tax bill in a given year, you can lose the credit for the following year even if you still qualify on the merits.²

How and When to Apply

Applications must be received by the receiver of taxes or county treasurer no later than April 30 immediately before the beginning of the tax year. Miss that date and you wait a full year.¹

Contact your county assessment office for the form and any county-specific procedures:

New Castle County: Office of Assessment, 87 Reads Way, New Castle, DE 19720, (302) 395-5520³
Kent County: (302) 744-2401²
Sussex County: (302) 855-7871²

Once approved, the credit comes off the school tax line of your property tax bill. You do not need to reapply every year, provided you continue to meet the eligibility conditions and keep your tax bill paid in full.

Documents You’ll Need

The central document is your VA Benefit Summary Letter proving a 100% service-connected permanent and total disability rating. You can download it from VA.gov by signing in and going to the disability section.⁴ If you need the full decision letter showing your rating history, the VA makes closed claim decision letters available as PDFs through the claim status tool.⁵

You will also need your DD-214 as proof of veteran status. If you don’t have a copy, request one through the National Personnel Records Center.

The application form itself is prescribed by the Delaware Secretary of Finance in consultation with the county receiver of taxes and treasurer. Have your property parcel number, your VA file number, and the legal name and address exactly as they appear on your deed. Matching those details to official records avoids processing delays.¹

County Credits That Stack on Top

The school tax credit is the headline benefit, but some counties have adopted their own property tax credits for the same disabled veterans. Kent County, for example, provides a credit against county value-based property tax for any resident who qualifies under the state school tax credit program. No separate application is required: the state application doubles as the county application, and the county credit continues as long as the veteran or surviving spouse keeps meeting the state program’s conditions.⁶

Ask your county assessment office whether an additional county credit applies. The combined savings can be meaningfully larger than the school credit on its own.

Surviving Spouse Eligibility

If the qualifying veteran dies, the surviving spouse can keep receiving the school tax credit, but only if every one of these conditions holds:

The veteran was actively receiving the credit at the time of death and had not had the right to claim it withdrawn.
The surviving spouse was already a titled owner of the property before the veteran’s death.
The surviving spouse has not remarried.
The surviving spouse continues to own and occupy the home as their principal residence.

Eligibility ends the moment the surviving spouse remarries, sells or transfers the property, or stops using it as a primary residence. There is no fixed time limit as long as all the conditions continue to be met.¹

If You Also Qualify as a Senior

Delaware offers a separate Senior School Property Tax Credit for homeowners age 65 and older, worth 50% of regular school property taxes up to $500. You cannot claim both the disabled veteran credit and the senior credit on the same property. Since the disabled veteran credit covers 100% of school tax with no dollar cap, it is almost always the better choice when you qualify for both.²

What Happens to Your Mortgage Escrow

If your mortgage includes an escrow account for property taxes, approval of the credit will change your monthly payment. Your servicer collects estimated tax payments each month, so when the school tax portion drops to zero, the escrow account ends up with a surplus. Federal regulations require your mortgage servicer to perform an annual escrow analysis that recalculates your monthly payment based on your updated tax obligations.⁷

Once your credit is approved, send your servicer a copy of the confirmation and ask them to run the escrow analysis rather than wait for the next routine cycle. You should receive a revised escrow statement, and if the surplus is large enough, a refund.

1
Justia Law. Delaware Code Title 14 Chapter 19 Subchapter I Section 1917
2
Department of Finance. Disabled Veterans School Tax Credit
3
New Castle County, DE. Tax Exemptions
4
Veterans Affairs. Download VA Benefit Letters
5
VA News. View and Download Your VA Decision Letters Online
6
eCode360. Article IX: Real Property Tax Credit for Disabled Veterans
7
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 1024.17 Escrow Accounts