How to Fill Out and Submit Georgia Form MV-9W: Disabled Veteran Plate

Georgia Form MV-9W is the Motor Vehicle Division’s one-page application for a special veteran or military license plate. You complete it, attach your discharge paperwork (and a VA disability letter if you’re applying for the Disabled Veteran plate), and file the packet at your county tag office.¹ The form is only for the plate itself. If you’re a 100% service-connected disabled veteran, the plate unlocks a full exemption from annual vehicle ad valorem taxes and the Title Ad Valorem Tax on one vehicle, but that tax break is claimed on a separate form.

Which Plates the MV-9W Covers

The MV-9W is the single gateway form for every military and veteran specialty plate Georgia issues. You indicate the plate you want by checking the appropriate boxes.² The categories include:

Veteran and Woman Veteran plates, for any Georgia veteran discharged under honorable conditions.
Retired Military, for veterans who retired from active duty.
Commemorative Service plates for World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, the Global War on Terrorism, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Military Medal Award plates, from the Medal of Honor and Silver Star down to the Air Medal and Soldier’s Medal.
Reserve Component plates for active or retired members of reserve or National Guard units.
Disabled Veteran, for veterans rated 100% by the VA or paid at the 100% rate for individual unemployability.
Gold Star Family plates for immediate family members of service members who died in the line of duty.
Prisoner of War and Pearl Harbor Survivor plates, both issued with no fees.

Each plate has its own eligibility rules and supporting-document requirements, but the MV-9W is the form for all of them.

Who Qualifies for the Disabled Veteran Plate

The DV plate has the highest eligibility bar because it carries the tax benefits. You qualify if you’re a Georgia resident discharged under honorable conditions and you meet one of these criteria:³

The VA has rated your service-connected disability at 100%.
You’re rated below 100% but compensated at the 100% level for individual unemployability.
You’re entitled to a VA statutory award for loss or permanent loss of use of one or both feet, one or both hands, sight in one or both eyes, or permanent impairment of vision in both eyes.

Unremarried surviving spouses and minor children of veterans who met these criteria also qualify.⁴

Documents to Gather Before You Go

County tag offices cannot process an incomplete packet, so assemble everything first.

Every applicant needs a legible copy of a service discharge document. The form accepts the DD-214, DD-215, or, for World War II veterans, the older WD separation forms. The discharge must show honorable or general conditions, branch and dates of service, and any commendations or awards tied to the plate you’re requesting.¹ Active-duty members of reserve or National Guard units bring an annual letter from their commanding officer instead. Veterans of allied countries supply documents equivalent to a DD-214, translated into English if necessary.

For the DV plate, you also need a letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs confirming your disability percentage and service connection. That’s the VA’s Summary of Benefits letter, which you can request by calling 1-800-827-1000 or through your eBenefits or VA.gov account.⁵ If you don’t have a VA entitlement letter, a certified statement from an authorized physician, submitted along with your discharge paperwork and proof of residency to a Georgia Department of Veterans Service field office, lets the field office help verify your eligibility.⁴

How to Fill Out the Form

Download the current PDF from the Georgia Department of Revenue’s website.⁶ The form is one page with four working sections.

Registrant and owner information: your full legal name, Social Security number, and physical home address. Not a P.O. box. The mailing address block should contain your physical street address.
Vehicle information: year, make, model, and VIN of the vehicle the plate will go on. The vehicle must be titled in Georgia; a Georgia veteran plate cannot go on an out-of-state titled car.
Plate category: check the broad category (Disabled Veteran, Commemorative Service, Medal Award, and so on).
Plate type: check the specific plate design. Some types call for additional documentation, which the form notes next to the box.

An affidavit section runs at the bottom. You sign under penalty of perjury that the information is accurate. The form does not specify a notarization requirement.

Where to File and What It Costs

Take the completed MV-9W and all supporting documents to your local county tag office, the same office that handles vehicle registration and renewals.² Not the tax assessor’s office. GDVS field offices can help you verify eligibility and gather documents beforehand, but they don’t issue the plate.

The Disabled Veteran plate costs nothing: no manufacturing fee, no annual registration fee, no annual special tag fee.⁷ Most other veteran specialty plates follow the same $0 pattern for the first plate. A second specialty plate of the same type typically costs a $25 manufacturing fee plus a $25 annual registration fee.⁸

Veteran plates are manufactured to order rather than pulled from inventory, so plan ahead rather than waiting until your current registration is about to expire.

Tax Benefits That Come With the DV Plate

The DV plate carries a full exemption from both annual ad valorem vehicle taxes and the one-time Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) owed when titling a vehicle in Georgia. The exemption applies to one vehicle.⁷ The statutory authority is O.C.G.A. § 48-5-478.⁹

To claim the TAVT exemption when you purchase or title a vehicle, file a separate form: the MV-30, the Georgia Veterans Affidavit for Relief of State and Local Title Ad Valorem Tax Fees, at the same county tag office where you register the vehicle.¹⁰ Attach your VA letter confirming 100% disability. The MV-9W gets the plate; the MV-30 gets the tax break. You’ll typically file both at the same visit when registering a vehicle.

Current Georgia law lets a qualified veteran choose a veteran license plate of their preference and still receive the TAVT exemption, so you no longer have to display the DV plate specifically to get the tax benefit.⁵ Purple Heart and Medal of Honor plate holders also qualify for the TAVT exemption. Once your eligibility as a 100% disabled veteran is established, the vehicle ad valorem exemption renews automatically in later years without refiling.⁹ If the veteran dies, the unremarried surviving spouse or minor child can continue the exemption on that vehicle.

Surviving Spouse and Minor Child Applicants

Georgia extends the DV plate and its tax benefits to the unremarried surviving spouse or minor children of a qualifying deceased veteran. The MV-9W is still the form. The surviving spouse applies at the county tag office with the veteran’s DD-214, the VA disability letter, a death certificate, and a marriage certificate (or a birth certificate for a minor child). Eligibility ends if a surviving spouse remarries.³

Not the Homestead Exemption Form

The MV-9W is often confused with the disabled veteran homestead property tax exemption, but they’re separate benefits handled by different offices. The MV-9W goes to your county tag office for a license plate. The homestead exemption is a property tax reduction on your home, filed with your county tax assessor using a different application available from that office or from the Georgia Department of Veterans Service.¹¹ If you want both benefits, you’ll file with both offices.

1
Georgia Department of Revenue. MV-9W Request for Manufacture of a Special Veteran License Plate
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Georgia Department of Veterans Service. License Plates
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Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-48 – Homestead Exemption for Qualified Disabled Veterans
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Georgia Department of Veterans Service. License Plates – Disabled Veteran
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Georgia Department of Veterans Service. Tax Exemptions
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Georgia Department of Revenue. MV-9W Request for Manufacture of a Special Veteran License Plate
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Georgia Department of Revenue. Disabled Veteran – License Plate Details
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Georgia Department of Revenue. Military Veteran License Plates
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FindLaw. Georgia Code Title 48 Revenue and Taxation 48-5-478
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Georgia Department of Revenue. MV-30 Georgia Veterans Affidavit for Relief of State and Local TAVT Fees
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Georgia Department of Veterans Service. Disabled Veteran Homestead Tax Exemption