Michigan offers disabled veterans a stack of benefits worth thousands of dollars a year: a full property tax exemption on a primary home, free vehicle registration with a disabled veteran plate, no-cost resident hunting and fishing licenses, emergency grants through the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund, tuition help for your children, and hiring preference for state jobs. Most of these programs key off the same three VA determinations, so once you qualify for one, you usually qualify for several.
Who Qualifies as a Disabled Veteran in Michigan
Michigan’s biggest benefits use a narrow definition. You generally need to fall into one of three categories:
- The VA rates you as permanently and totally disabled from military service at the 100% rate.
- The VA rates you as individually unemployable because service-connected disabilities prevent you from holding substantial employment.
- You hold a VA certificate showing you received financial assistance for specially adapted housing due to a service-connected disability.
That third path matters. If a VA grant helped you modify your home for wheelchair access or similar needs, you qualify for the property tax exemption even when your combined rating is below 100%.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.7b – Exemption of Real Property Used and Owned as Homestead by Disabled Veteran or Surviving Spouse
An honorable discharge is required across the board. The unmarried surviving spouse of a qualifying veteran inherits many of these benefits, including the property tax exemption, and keeps them as long as they do not remarry.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.7b – Exemption of Real Property Used and Owned as Homestead by Disabled Veteran or Surviving Spouse
Full Property Tax Exemption on Your Home
Under MCL 211.7b, a qualifying disabled veteran pays no property tax on their homestead. This is not a credit or a reduction. The bill goes to zero.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.7b – Exemption of Real Property Used and Owned as Homestead by Disabled Veteran or Surviving Spouse
A surviving spouse who owns and occupies a homestead keeps the exemption, and it follows them if they move to a new home purchased after the veteran’s death.
How to File
File State Tax Commission Form 5107, the Affidavit for Disabled Veterans Exemption, with the assessor for the city or township where your home is located.2Michigan Department of Treasury. Disabled Veterans Exemption Information Include your DD-214 and a current VA Benefit Summary Letter that confirms your disability rating and its effective date. Without that letter, the assessor has no basis to approve the exemption.
The affidavit must be filed after January 1 and before December 31 of the tax year you are claiming.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.7b – Exemption of Real Property Used and Owned as Homestead by Disabled Veteran or Surviving Spouse File early in the year, before summer tax bills are cut, so you get a clean zero rather than a refund headache later. The local Board of Review reviews your packet and mails you a written decision.
No More Annual Reapplication
For taxes levied on or after January 1, 2025, once your exemption is granted it stays in place indefinitely. The old annual refiling requirement is gone under MCL 211.7c.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.7c – Continuation of Exemption Granted Under MCL 211.7b
The exemption ends only if you rescind it or an audit denies it. You must notify your local assessing unit within 45 days if you sell the home, move out, or otherwise stop qualifying. Assessors may audit no more than once every three years unless they have reason to believe you are ineligible. An audit that finds you were not eligible can reach back up to three prior calendar years and add 1% monthly interest to the corrected bill.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.7c – Continuation of Exemption Granted Under MCL 211.7b
Free Vehicle Registration and Disabled Veteran Plate
Totally disabled veterans can apply through the Secretary of State for a special DV registration plate, inscribed with “disabled veteran” below the number. There is no service fee, and the plate is exempt from the annual registration tax. Renewal is also free of service fees, and a disability parking tab, if you need one, comes at no charge and is replaced automatically at renewal.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 257.803f – Special Registration Plates for Disabled Veterans and Surviving Spouses
To qualify, you need an honorable discharge and VA proof of a service-connected total or permanent total disability rating for compensation, or a total or permanent total rating carrying disability retirement pay from a branch of the armed forces. Surviving spouses of eligible veterans can also receive the plate under certain conditions.
While at the Secretary of State office, you can have a veteran designation added to your driver’s license or state ID by presenting your DD-214. It makes proving your status easier when you claim other benefits.
Free Hunting and Fishing Licenses
Michigan waives the cost of any resident hunting or fishing license that does not require a lottery draw for disabled veterans. That includes small game, archery, firearm, and muzzleloader deer tags, turkey, fishing, and other resident permits.5Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 324.43537 – Hunting and Fishing Licenses for Disabled Veterans
The definition matches the property tax rule: a Michigan resident rated permanently and totally disabled at 100% for a condition other than blindness, or rated individually unemployable by the VA. Bring proof when you buy the license and carry it when you use it.5Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 324.43537 – Hunting and Fishing Licenses for Disabled Veterans
Emergency Grants Through the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund
If a veteran or their dependents hit a short-term financial crisis, such as a utility shutoff, an eviction threat, or an emergency medical bill, the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund can issue a grant. It is not a loan. You do not repay it.6Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency. Emergency Assistance
Eligibility requires an honorable discharge and at least 180 days of service during a recognized wartime period (90 days for World War I veterans). If your service was cut short by a service-connected disability, the day count is waived. Recognized wartime periods include World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf era, which runs from August 2, 1990 through the present.6Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency. Emergency Assistance
To apply, contact the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund county committee in your county of residence, submit a Resource Assistance Form through the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency website, or call 800-MICH-VET (800-642-4838). The Resource Assistance Form starts the conversation; it is not itself a Trust Fund application, and someone will follow up if your situation fits.
Tuition Grant for Children of Disabled Veterans
The Children of Veterans Tuition Grant helps pay for undergraduate study at approved Michigan community colleges, public universities, and private degree-granting institutions.7Michigan Department of Treasury. Children of Veterans Tuition Grant Fact Sheet
The student must be the natural or adopted child of a Michigan veteran, between 16 and 26, and a Michigan resident for at least 12 months before applying. The veteran must have been a Michigan resident immediately before entering service (or established Michigan residency afterward) and must have died or become totally and permanently disabled from a service-connected condition as determined by the VA.7Michigan Department of Treasury. Children of Veterans Tuition Grant Fact Sheet
Awards depend on enrollment:
- Full-time: up to $2,800 per academic year
- Three-quarter time: up to $2,100 per academic year
- Half-time: up to $1,400 per academic year
The lifetime cap is $11,200 across up to four academic years. If actual tuition is lower than the award amount for the enrollment level, the student receives the lower figure. This grant can be used alongside federal Chapter 35 Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance.7Michigan Department of Treasury. Children of Veterans Tuition Grant Fact Sheet
State Job Hiring Preference
Michigan Civil Service Commission rules give disabled veterans an edge in state government hiring. When a written examination is used, a disabled veteran gets 10 points added to their final passing score; non-disabled veterans get 5. When an agency uses a preliminary screening score instead, the preference is a percentage: 10% of the highest screening score for disabled veterans and 5% for non-disabled veterans.8Michigan Civil Service Commission. Civil Service Rules
The 10-point or 10% preference also extends to spouses of veterans with greater than 50% service-connected disability, surviving spouses with children under 18, and surviving spouses with continuing parental care of a disabled child. The preference applies only within Michigan’s classified civil service system, and it does not guarantee a job offer. In a tight applicant pool, though, those points move candidates onto the interview list.
Long-Term Care at Michigan Veteran Homes
Michigan runs two state veteran homes offering nursing-level care or assisted living: Michigan Veteran Homes at Grand Rapids and D.J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans in Marquette.9Michigan Veteran Homes. Apply for Admission
Admission packets require a DD-214, copies of Medicare and health insurance cards, a physical exam completed within the past 90 days, up to three years of federal tax returns, and documentation of all income and assets, including bank statements, pension benefits, and life insurance. If a guardianship, power of attorney, or patient advocate designation is in place, include copies.9Michigan Veteran Homes. Apply for Admission
Federal Benefits That Stack With Michigan Programs
A few federal benefits change what a Michigan disabled veteran actually keeps each year.
VA disability compensation is excluded from federal gross income. It is not reported on your tax return and does not count toward adjusted gross income. The exclusion also covers disability pension payments, grants for wheelchair-accessible housing, and grants for motor vehicles due to loss of sight or limb use.10Internal Revenue Service. Veterans Tax Information and Services Paired with Michigan’s property tax exemption, a 100% disabled veteran can wipe out two of the largest recurring household costs.
The VA’s Specially Adapted Housing grant helps qualifying veterans buy, build, or modify a home. For fiscal year 2026, the maximum is $126,526, usable across up to six separate projects over a lifetime. Qualifying conditions include loss of use of more than one limb, blindness in both eyes, certain severe burns, and loss of use of a lower extremity after September 11, 2001 that prevents walking without assistive devices.11Veterans Affairs. Disability Housing Grants for Veterans Receiving this grant also opens the Michigan property tax exemption even if your combined rating is below 100%.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.7b – Exemption of Real Property Used and Owned as Homestead by Disabled Veteran or Surviving Spouse
Veterans rated 100% disabled, or receiving compensation at the 100% rate due to individual unemployability, qualify for any needed dental care through the VA at no cost as Class IV patients. A temporary 100% rating based on extended hospitalization or rehabilitation does not open this level of dental coverage.12Veterans Affairs. VA Dental Care
Start With Your DD-214 and a County Veteran Service Officer
Nearly every Michigan benefit above starts with a DD-214. If yours is missing, the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis handles replacements. The fastest route is the online eVetRecs system at vetrecs.archives.gov; you can also mail or fax Standard Form 180 to the center at 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138. Processing takes time, and follow-up requests are not accepted within the first 90 days.13National Archives. Request Military Personnel Records Using Standard Form 180
From there, your county Veteran Service Officer is the single most useful contact you have. Every Michigan county has at least one, and the service is free. A VSO can file the property tax affidavit for you, help with VA rating increases, walk a Trust Fund request through, and flag benefits you did not know about. Find your county’s officer through the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency directory or by calling 800-MICH-VET.14Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency. Find a Veteran Service Officer If the officer you are assigned is not a good fit, contact another counselor listed for your county.