LDVA Form A25 Additional Veteran Exemption: Filing and Appeals

LDVA Form A25 is the application a Louisiana veteran with a 100% service-connected disability rating uses to claim the additional homestead exemption that can wipe out property taxes on a primary residence. You do not download it. You get it from a Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs parish service office, where a service officer pulls your VA records and prepares the form, and then you file it with your parish tax assessor along with supporting documents.

Who Qualifies

Louisiana Constitution Article VII, Section 21(K) sets three conditions, all of which must be met. You have a service-connected disability rating of 100% unemployability or are classified as totally disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. You own the property. And you occupy it as your home.¹ The rating has to come from the VA. A private physician’s opinion or a Social Security disability determination does not count.

The exemption is on top of the standard homestead exemption, which shields the first $7,500 of assessed value (about $75,000 of fair market value). For a qualifying veteran, the additional exemption covers the rest of the assessed value, which under most local millages zeros out the ad valorem tax bill on the home.¹

You must be a Louisiana resident and must own and occupy the home on or before December 31 of the year you claim the exemption.² Your ownership has to show up in the parish’s public records. Property held in a trust may still qualify as provided by law.¹

How to Get the Form

Form A25 is not a blank PDF you fill out yourself. Visit a Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs parish service office, where a veterans service officer will pull your VA disability records and generate the form with your current information.³ LDVA has offices in every parish; locations are listed at vetaffairs.la.gov/locations.⁴

Bring a photo ID and the exact street address of the property. The service officer will confirm your rating and produce a Form A25 reflecting that address. If you later move, you need a fresh Form A25 with the new address before applying at the new parish assessor’s office.⁵

What to Bring to the Assessor

Requirements vary a little by parish, but plan on these three items along with the completed Form A25:

Your VA Benefit Summary Letter (sometimes called an award letter) showing a service-connected 100% unemployability or totally disabled rating. You can download it at va.gov/records/download-va-letters.⁶
A Louisiana driver’s license or state ID that shows the property address.⁷
The recorded act of sale for the home, showing ownership in the parish records.⁷

Check that the address on Form A25 matches the deed and your ID. Mismatched addresses are one of the most common reasons applications sit or get bounced back.

Where to File and By When

Take the Form A25 and your supporting documents to your parish tax assessor. Most parishes want you to file in person so staff can verify your ID and review originals. Some accept email or mail submissions. Livingston Parish, for example, lets veterans email the form to its exemptions office.⁸ Call before you go and ask what your assessor accepts and whether an appointment is needed.

To claim the exemption for the current tax year, you must own and occupy the home on or before December 31 of that year.² File earlier if you can. The assessor needs time to process the application before tax bills go out. The exemption is not automatic even if the assessor already knows you are a disabled veteran; a signed application has to be on file.⁵

After You File

Once the assessor records the exemption, the adjusted amount should appear on your next property tax statement. You do not need to refile every year. The exemption stays in place as long as you own and occupy the property and keep your VA rating. If you move, you need a new Form A25 with the new address and have to file again in the new parish.

If you have a mortgage with an escrow account, the servicer has been paying the full tax bill out of escrow. When the bill drops, sometimes to zero, the escrow account will run a surplus. Most servicers catch this at their annual escrow analysis, but you can move it along by sending them a copy of the updated tax assessment. The servicer should lower your monthly payment or refund the surplus. Doing nothing works too; you just pay an inflated escrow amount until the next review.

If Your Application Is Denied

You can challenge a denial through the parish Board of Review. After the Board issues a written determination by certified mail, you have 10 business days to file a written appeal with the Louisiana Tax Commission on LTC Form 3103.A.⁹ Most denials come down to paperwork problems: an outdated Form A25, a VA letter that doesn’t clearly show the 100% rating, or addresses that don’t match across documents. Correcting the documents and refiling is often faster than a formal appeal.

Surviving Spouse

If a qualifying veteran dies, the surviving spouse can continue to receive the full exemption as long as they remain the owner and occupant of the home. This is true even if the exemption was never claimed while the veteran was alive.¹ The Louisiana constitution’s text does not tie the surviving spouse’s eligibility to remaining unmarried. To claim it, contact an LDVA parish service office for a Form A25 and file it with the assessor along with documentation of the veteran’s disability rating and proof of death.

1
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Constitution Article 7 21 – Other Property Exemptions
2
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 RS 47-1703 – Exemptions
3
MyArmyBenefits. Louisiana Military and Veterans Benefits
4
Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs. Locations Archive
5
Ascension Parish Assessor. Veteran Exemption
6
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Download VA Benefit Letters
7
Jefferson Parish Assessor’s Office. Homestead Exemption
8
Livingston Parish Assessor. Veteran’s Exemption
9
New Orleans City Council. Property Tax Assessments and Appeals