How to Complete and File Form NCDVA-9: Certification, Filing, and Deadline

Form NCDVA-9 is the North Carolina certification a disabled veteran or unremarried surviving spouse uses to claim the state’s disabled veteran property tax homestead exclusion, which removes up to $45,000 of a home’s appraised value from the tax bill. You complete the top of the form yourself, have a North Carolina Veterans Service Officer certify Section 4, and file it with Form AV-9 at your county tax assessor’s office by June 1 of the tax year you’re claiming.¹

Who Can File Form NCDVA-9

You must be a North Carolina resident, the property must be your permanent residence, and you must have separated from the Armed Forces with an honorable discharge or a discharge under honorable conditions. On top of that, you need to meet one of three disability conditions as of January 1 of the tax year:

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (or another federal agency) has certified you have a service-connected, permanent, and total disability.
You received benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 2101 for specially adapted housing.
You are the unremarried surviving spouse of a veteran whose death the VA has certified as service-connected, or of a veteran who had a permanent and total service-connected disability at the time of death.²

What to Have Ready Before You Fill It Out

Pull these documents together first. Missing any of them will stall certification, and the June 1 deadline doesn’t move.

Your DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), showing character of service.
Your VA file number, which the VA uses to track your benefits and may differ from your Social Security number.
Your Annual Tax Abatement Letter from the VA. The form specifically requires this letter be provided to the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs for processing.¹
The street address of the home you claim as your permanent residence.

You can download Form NCDVA-9 from the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs website or pick one up at your county tax office. You’ll also need Form AV-9, the state’s Application for Property Tax Relief, which is available from the NC Department of Revenue.³

Completing the Form Section by Section

The form has four sections. You fill out one through three. The fourth is for a Veterans Service Officer only.

Section 1: Personal Information

Print or type the disabled veteran’s full name, the surviving spouse’s full name if applicable, your street address or P.O. box, city, county, state, and ZIP code. Enter your VA file number and the veteran’s Social Security number. This section includes language authorizing the Secretary of the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to release disability information for certification purposes.¹

Section 2: Veteran’s Signature

If you’re the disabled veteran, sign and date here. Your signature confirms the accuracy of Section 1 and authorizes release of your information.

Section 3: Surviving Spouse’s Signature

If you’re the unremarried surviving spouse, sign and date here instead. You’re declaring you have not remarried since the veteran’s death and that the veteran met the disability or service-connected death requirements.

Section 4: Official Certification

Leave this blank. A Veterans Service Officer completes it after reviewing your documentation, verifying your discharge, confirming the VA’s disability or service-connected death certification, and signing on behalf of the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Getting Section 4 Certified

Certification does not come from a VA regional office. Take the completed form, with Sections 1 through 3 filled in, to a North Carolina Veterans Service Officer at either a State Veterans Service Center or a County Veterans Service Office. The officer verifies your VA records and completes Section 4.¹

A directory of State Veterans Service Centers and County Veterans Service Offices is available on the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs website under Benefits and Claims.⁴ Start this step well before June 1. The state recommends submitting your NCDVA-9 for certification with enough lead time to get it back and filed with the county by the deadline.⁵

Filing With Your County and the June 1 Deadline

Once the Veterans Service Officer has certified your NCDVA-9, submit two forms together to the tax assessor in the county where your property is located:

The certified Form NCDVA-9.
Form AV-9, with the box checked for the disabled veteran exclusion and your property and personal information filled in.

Both forms go to your county tax assessor, not to the NC Department of Revenue. County assessor contact information is listed on the NCDOR website, and most counties accept mailed or in-person submissions.⁶ If you and a co-owner each own qualifying property separately rather than co-owning one home as spouses, each owner files a separate AV-9.

The filing deadline is June 1 of the tax year. If you miss it, a late application can still be approved under G.S. 105-282.1(a1) if you show good cause for filing late. Approval authority rests with the Department of Revenue, the board of equalization and review, the board of county commissioners, or the municipal governing body, depending on who levies the tax. A late approval only covers taxes levied in the calendar year you actually filed and won’t reach back to earlier years.⁷

What You Get, and When to Reapply

Once approved, the first $45,000 of your home’s appraised value is removed from your tax bill, and you pay taxes only on the value above that threshold.² A home appraised at $200,000, for example, is taxed on $155,000.

The exclusion is a one-time application. Under G.S. 105-282.1(a)(2), you don’t reapply each year unless you acquire new or additional property, add or remove improvements that change your home’s value, or your eligibility or use of the property changes.⁷ If you move to a new primary residence, file again with the new county. If your disability status changes or you stop occupying the home as your permanent residence, notify the tax office promptly to avoid back taxes.

North Carolina House Bill 118, introduced in 2025, would raise the exclusion from $45,000 to $61,000 for taxable years beginning on or after July 1, 2026. As of the 2025 legislative session the bill had been summarized but not signed into law, so confirm the current amount with your county tax office or the NCDOR before you file.

You Can Only Pick One NC Property Tax Relief Program

North Carolina has three property tax relief programs: the elderly or disabled homestead exclusion (G.S. 105-277.1), the circuit breaker tax deferment (G.S. 105-277.1B), and the disabled veteran exclusion (G.S. 105-277.1C). You can only receive one. If you qualify for more than one, choose the one that saves you the most. For most veterans rated 100%, the disabled veteran exclusion is the better deal.⁸

If the County Denies Your Application

Appeal first to the county Board of Equalization and Review. Each county sets its own deadline for accepting appeal requests, so contact your tax office as soon as you receive the denial to find out when the board stops taking cases. If the local board rules against you, you can escalate to the state Property Tax Commission, which functions as a trial court where you carry the burden of proof.⁹

1
North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Form NCDVA-9 – Property Tax Relief for Disabled Veterans
2
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-277.1C – Disabled Veteran Property Tax Homestead Exclusion
3
North Carolina Department of Revenue. AV-9 2026 Application for Property Tax Relief
4
North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Benefits and Claims
5
North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Veterans Property Tax Relief
6
North Carolina Department of Revenue. Form AV-9 2026 Application for Property Tax Relief
7
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-282.1 – Applications for Property Tax Exemption or Exclusion
8
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-277.1 – Elderly or Disabled Property Tax Homestead Exclusion
9
North Carolina Department of Revenue. Property Tax Appeal Process