Texas Veteran Benefits: Property Tax, Hazlewood, and Land Loans

Texas veteran benefits include a tiered property tax exemption that becomes a full homestead exemption at a 100% VA disability rating, up to 150 credit hours of tuition-free study at public colleges through the Hazlewood Act, below-market land and home loans from the Texas Veterans Land Board, a hiring preference at state agencies, and fee waivers on driver’s licenses and hunting and fishing licenses for qualifying disabled veterans. These are state programs separate from federal VA benefits, and in most cases you can use both. Eligibility usually requires an honorable or general-under-honorable discharge and Texas residency, with specific rules that vary by program.

Property Tax Exemptions

If you have a VA disability rating, Texas reduces the taxable value of one property you own. The exemption follows your rating:

10% to 29%: up to $5,000 off the assessed value
30% to 49%: up to $7,500 off
50% to 69%: up to $10,000 off
70% or higher: up to $12,000 off

The tiers are inclusive at the bottom. A veteran rated at exactly 30% gets the $7,500 exemption, not $5,000. A separate $12,000 exemption is available to any veteran who is 65 or older with at least a 10% rating, is blind in one or both eyes, or has lost the use of a limb, regardless of overall rating.¹ This partial exemption does not have to go on your homestead. You can apply it to any property you own.

Full Homestead Exemption at 100%

Veterans who receive 100% disability compensation from the VA, or who are rated individually unemployable, qualify for a complete exemption on their residence homestead.² Property tax on the primary home drops to zero. In a high-tax county the annual savings can reach $10,000 or more. File with your local appraisal district and bring a VA disability award letter showing your rating and effective date.

Individual Unemployability matters here because a veteran paid at the 100% rate under IU qualifies for the same full homestead exemption as a veteran with a 100% schedular rating.²

Surviving Spouses

When a 100% disabled veteran dies, the surviving spouse keeps the full homestead exemption on the same property as long as they do not remarry and continue to live there.³ If the surviving spouse moves, an exemption still travels to the new home, but the dollar amount is capped at what the old exemption was worth. A pricier new home may not come out fully exempt.² Surviving spouses of service members killed in the line of duty may qualify for a full homestead exemption under a separate Tax Code provision.

Hazlewood Act: Tuition-Free Public College

The Hazlewood Act exempts qualifying Texas veterans from tuition and most fees at any public college or university in the state for up to 150 semester credit hours.⁴ It covers undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs. General deposit fees, student service fees, and room and board are not included. It is not a competitive scholarship. Every qualifying veteran who applies receives it.

To qualify, you must currently live in Texas and must have entered the service in Texas, declared Texas as your home of record, or otherwise would have been considered a Texas resident at the time you entered.⁴ You cannot be in default on a state-guaranteed student loan.

How Hazlewood Interacts With the GI Bill

This is where veterans most often misread the rule. Hazlewood does not require you to burn through federal education benefits first. The actual limit is semester-by-semester: if you receive a federal benefit that pays tuition and fees, such as the Post-9/11 GI Bill, you cannot use Hazlewood during a term in which that federal payment equals or exceeds what Hazlewood would have saved you. If your federal tuition benefit is smaller than Hazlewood’s value, you can stack them. Federal benefits that go to housing or books rather than tuition do not block Hazlewood at all.⁵ Expect to provide your VA Certificate of Eligibility.

Legacy Transfer to a Child

Unused Hazlewood hours can be transferred to a child under the Hazlewood Legacy Act. Eligible children include biological, step-, and adopted children, as well as anyone claimed as a dependent on your taxes in the current or previous year. The child must be a Texas resident for tuition purposes, be 25 or younger on the first day of the semester, maintain the school’s required GPA, and have no federal veterans education benefit that would exceed the Hazlewood value for that term.⁵ A transfer assigns specific hours away from the veteran, so plan before giving them up.

Spouses and Children of Deceased or Totally Disabled Veterans

Spouses and children of veterans who died from service-connected causes or who are rated 100% permanently and totally disabled have their own 150-hour Hazlewood eligibility. This allotment does not come out of the veteran’s own hours and does not require a Legacy transfer.⁵

Texas Veterans Land Board Loans

The Veterans Land Board, part of the General Land Office, runs three loan programs with interest rates below what commercial lenders typically offer. Veterans with a VA disability rating of 30% or higher get an additional discount, currently a half-percentage-point rate reduction.⁶

Land Loans

Texas is the only state with a dedicated veterans loan program for raw land. You can borrow up to $200,000 at a fixed rate for 30 years with as little as 5% down.⁷ The tract must be at least one acre, lie entirely within Texas, and have legal access to a public road, either by fronting one directly or through a recorded easement at least 60 feet wide. Expect to work with a surveyor early.

Home Purchase Loans

The Veterans Housing Assistance Program finances single-family homes, townhomes, and condominiums up to a maximum loan amount of $832,750.⁸ Combined with federal VA-backed financing, the loan may require no down payment and no private mortgage insurance. You can use the program more than once.⁹

Home Improvement Loans

If you already own a home in Texas, the VLB lends up to $50,000 for repairs and renovations with repayment terms from 2 to 20 years.¹⁰ You will need a legal description of the property and a bid from a qualified contractor.

VA Funding Fee Waiver

If you use federal VA-backed financing with a VLB program, the VA funding fee, often more than 2% of the loan, is waived entirely when you receive VA disability compensation or are eligible to receive it.¹¹ On a $400,000 loan that is roughly $8,600 saved at closing. If your disability compensation is later awarded retroactive to before closing, you may be able to recover a fee you already paid.

State Employment Preference

Texas law requires state agencies to hire a qualifying veteran over an equally qualified non-veteran applicant. The preference runs in a set order: veterans with disabilities first, then other veterans, qualifying military spouses, unremarried surviving spouses, and orphans of veterans killed on active duty.¹²

For state jobs that use competitive exams, a qualifying veteran who passes gets 10 points added to the score. A veteran with a disability gets 5 more, for 15 total.¹² This is a Texas state system only. Federal agency hiring uses a separate five- and ten-point federal preference.

Driver’s License, Hunting, and Fishing

Veterans with a service-connected disability of at least 60% who receive VA compensation and received an honorable discharge are exempt from fees for a Texas driver’s license or personal ID.¹³ The waiver is applied automatically once DPS confirms eligibility. Bringing your VA award letter to the office saves time.

Texas Parks and Wildlife issues a Disabled Veteran Super Combo license, which bundles hunting and all-water fishing, to veterans with a VA rating of 50% or higher or loss of use of a foot or leg, who are receiving compensation. Both Texas residents and nonresidents who meet the disability threshold qualify.¹⁴

State Veterans Homes and Cemeteries

Texas runs 10 state veterans homes across the state, providing skilled nursing care to veterans, their spouses, and Gold Star parents who need long-term assistance. Admission requires Texas residency and a documented medical need for that level of care.¹⁵

The state also operates veterans cemeteries, with a West Texas location expected to open in 2026.¹⁶ Burial is at no cost to the veteran, their spouse, or eligible dependents, and includes the gravesite, headstone, and perpetual grounds maintenance, matching the benefits at VA national cemeteries.¹⁷

1
State of Texas. Texas Code Tax 11.22 – Disabled Veterans
2
State of Texas. Texas Code Tax 11.131 – Residence Homestead of 100 Percent or Totally Disabled Veteran
3
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. 100 Percent Disabled Veteran and Surviving Spouse Frequently Asked Questions
4
State of Texas. Texas Code Education 54.341 – Veterans and Other Military Personnel
5
Texas Veterans Commission. Hazlewood Act
6
Texas General Land Office. Home Loans
7
Texas General Land Office. Land Loans
8
Texas General Land Office. Commissioner Buckingham Announces Veterans Land Board’s Increase Home Loan Maximum
9
Texas General Land Office. Loans for Veterans
10
Texas General Land Office. Veterans Home Improvement Loans
11
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Funding Fee and Loan Closing Costs
12
State of Texas. Texas Code Government 657.003 – Military Employment Preference
13
State of Texas. Texas Code Transportation 521.426 – Disabled Veteran Exemption
14
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Disabled Veteran Super Combo Hunting and All-Water Fishing Package
15
Texas General Land Office. Locations
16
Texas General Land Office. Cemetery Locations
17
Texas General Land Office. Texas State Veterans Cemeteries