The Ohio property tax exemption for disabled veterans removes up to $58,000 of your home’s market value from the property tax calculation, and unlike the standard homestead exemption, it carries no income limit. You qualify if you served in the U.S. armed forces, received an honorable discharge, and hold a total service-connected disability rating from the VA. Surviving spouses can often keep the benefit after the veteran dies.
Who Qualifies
Ohio Revised Code 323.151 sets three conditions, and you have to meet all of them: service in the U.S. armed forces (including reserve components or the National Guard), an honorable discharge, and a total disability rating from the VA for a service-connected condition.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.151 – Valuation of Homestead Property Definitions
That rating can arrive two ways. One is a schedular 100 percent rating, where your service-connected conditions add up to 100 percent under the VA’s rating schedule. The other is Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU), where your schedular ratings fall short of 100 percent but the VA pays you at the 100 percent rate because your service-connected conditions prevent substantially gainful employment. Ohio accepts either.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.151 – Valuation of Homestead Property Definitions
You also have to own the home and live in it as your primary residence as of January 1 of the tax year you’re applying for.2Ohio Department of Taxation. Real Property Tax – Homestead Means Testing The exemption covers the dwelling and up to one acre around it.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.151 – Valuation of Homestead Property Definitions Rentals, vacation homes, and investment properties are out.
What the Exemption Is Worth
The statute starts at $50,000 of exempted market value for disabled veterans and adjusts periodically; the most recently published figure is $58,000.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.152 – Reduction in Taxes on Homestead of Eligible Owner Ohio assesses property at 35 percent of market value, so $58,000 of market value removes about $20,300 of assessed value. In a district with a 2 percent effective rate, that lands near $400 a year. Higher-rate districts save more. The credit shows up on your property tax statement.
The other feature that matters: no income cap. The standard homestead exemption for Ohioans 65 and older or permanently disabled shields $29,000 of market value for 2026 and limits applicants to $41,000 in Ohio adjusted gross income.2Ohio Department of Taxation. Real Property Tax – Homestead Means Testing The disabled veteran version nearly doubles the exempt amount and drops the income test entirely. A veteran with a six-figure income still qualifies if the disability and residency conditions are met.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.152 – Reduction in Taxes on Homestead of Eligible Owner
Surviving Spouses
The exemption can carry over to a surviving spouse in two situations. In the first, the veteran was already rated, the spouse was living in the home when the veteran died, and the spouse takes ownership afterward. In the second, the veteran would have qualified but died before the VA finalized the total disability rating; again, the spouse must have been living there at the time of death and must acquire the property afterward.
The exemption ends in the tax year the surviving spouse remarries or dies.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.152 – Reduction in Taxes on Homestead of Eligible Owner The spouse also has to keep the home as their primary residence.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.151 – Valuation of Homestead Property Definitions
How to Apply
You apply through the county auditor in the county where the home sits.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.153 – Application for Reduction in Real Property Taxes Most auditors accept applications in person, by mail, or online.
Three documents do the work:
- DTE Form 105I, the Homestead Exemption Application for Disabled Veterans and Surviving Spouses. It asks for your contact information, Social Security number, and parcel number, which you can pull from a recent tax bill or the auditor’s online property search.5Ohio Department of Taxation. DTE 105I – Homestead Exemption Application for Disabled Veterans and Surviving Spouses
- Your DD-214, the Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, showing your service and honorable discharge.
- A VA benefit verification letter showing either a 100 percent schedular rating or compensation at the 100 percent rate under individual unemployability. TDIU applicants should also include documentation of the individual unemployability determination.5Ohio Department of Taxation. DTE 105I – Homestead Exemption Application for Disabled Veterans and Surviving Spouses
Surviving spouses submit the same package plus proof that the veteran met the disability standard before death. The auditor’s office can tell you what else it wants in that situation.
Deadlines
For real property, the deadline is December 31 of the tax year you want the exemption to apply to.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.153 – Application for Reduction in Real Property Taxes File by then and the credit appears on your next bill. Late applications may still be reviewed, but the reduction can slip a full cycle.
Manufactured and mobile homes qualify too, on the same terms, but the filing deadline runs earlier: December 31 of the year before the tax year you want covered.2Ohio Department of Taxation. Real Property Tax – Homestead Means Testing Miss that and you wait an extra year.
After You’re Approved
Once approved, you don’t reapply every year. The auditor mails a continuing application, DTE Form 105B, each January, and you only return it if something has changed: you no longer own the home, you’ve moved, or your disability rating has been revised.2Ohio Department of Taxation. Real Property Tax – Homestead Means Testing Nothing changed, nothing to send.
Sell the house and buy a new primary residence in Ohio, and you file a fresh application with the auditor in the new county. The exemption does not follow you automatically.
Homes Held in Trust
Putting your home in a revocable or irrevocable trust does not disqualify you, as long as the trust gives you complete possession of the property.2Ohio Department of Taxation. Real Property Tax – Homestead Means Testing Some states shut trust-held property out. Ohio doesn’t.
If You’re Denied
Appeal to your county Board of Revision using DTE Form 106B. The typical deadline for real property appeals is the second Wednesday in February, and for manufactured or mobile homes it is January 31.6Geauga County Auditor. Homestead Exemption Most denials come down to missing paperwork or a VA letter that doesn’t plainly state a total disability rating. If that’s the problem, getting an updated letter from the VA and resubmitting is often faster than a formal appeal.
A Note on Your Federal Return
If you itemize, you can only deduct the property tax you actually pay. The exemption reduces your bill, and it reduces the amount you can claim as a real estate tax deduction on Schedule A; the IRS treats state exemptions as lowering deductible taxes rather than as separate income.7Internal Revenue Service. Publication 530, Tax Information for Homeowners For nearly everyone the direct savings dwarf any change to the federal deduction, but it’s worth knowing if you’re on the edge between itemizing and taking the standard deduction.