Who Is Exempt From Paying Property Taxes in Arizona?

In Arizona, four groups of homeowners can be exempt from paying property taxes: widows, widowers, people with a total and permanent disability, and veterans with a disability. Most claimants have to fit under an income ceiling and a property-assessment ceiling to receive the benefit, but veterans rated 100 percent disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs get a full exemption with no cap and no income test. You must be an Arizona resident, and the property must be in your name.¹

The Four Qualifying Categories

Arizona ties the exemption to status, not age. If you are a widow or widower who is an Arizona resident, you can apply regardless of how old you are. The same is true for a person certified as having a total and permanent disability, and for a veteran with a service-connected or nonservice-connected disability rating.

The exemption applies to your ownership share of real property first. If exemption value remains after that, it can then be applied to an unsecured mobile home or a vehicle registration in your name.

100-Percent Disabled Veterans and Their Surviving Spouses

One group stands apart from the rest. A veteran whose service-connected disability is rated at 100 percent by the VA receives a full exemption from property taxation, with no cap on assessed value and no income limit. A surviving spouse of a 100-percent-rated veteran can continue claiming that full exemption as long as the property remains their primary residence and they do not remarry.¹

Everyone else in the four categories, including veterans with a rating below 100 percent, has to meet the income and assessment limits below.

Income Limits

Your total household income from the prior year determines eligibility. Arizona counts the combined income of you, your spouse, and any children who lived with you during that year. For the most recent application cycle, the ceiling is $39,865 if no children under eighteen live with you, and $47,826 if you have children under eighteen or children with a total and permanent disability in your household.²

These figures are adjusted each year by the Arizona Department of Revenue, so confirm the current amounts with your county assessor before you file.

What Counts as Income

The income calculation is broader than what you report on your federal return. Arizona includes your adjusted gross income, capital gains excluded from AGI, nontaxable strike benefits, nontaxable interest from federal sources, retirement payments from the state or federal government, and the gross amount of any pension or annuity not otherwise excluded.¹

What Does Not Count

Several common income streams are left out of the calculation entirely. You can disregard cash public assistance, railroad retirement benefits, Social Security payments, unemployment insurance, veterans disability pensions, workers’ compensation, and loss-of-time insurance.¹

The Social Security exclusion is the one that changes outcomes most often. Many widowed and disabled homeowners live primarily on Social Security, and taking those payments off the ledger frequently brings a household under the threshold that would otherwise look too high.

The Property Assessment Ceiling

Income alone is not enough. Your total property assessment also has to sit at or below a separate ceiling. For tax year 2025, that ceiling is $31,347 in total assessed value, and the maximum exemption amount is $4,476. If your assessment goes over $31,347, you get no exemption at all. There is no partial benefit for coming close.³

The total assessment does not include the value of any vehicle taxed under Arizona’s vehicle registration statutes, so a car in the driveway will not push you over the line.¹

Both the exemption amount and the assessment ceiling are recalculated each December by the Department of Revenue, tracking the average annual change in the GDP price deflator over the two most recent state fiscal years. Check with your county assessor for the figures in effect for the current tax year.

How the Amount Is Calculated for Partial-Disability Veterans

Veterans rated below 100 percent do not receive the full exemption. Arizona multiplies the base exemption by your VA disability percentage. A veteran rated at 60 percent, for example, would receive 60 percent of the $4,476 maximum, or roughly $2,686 in exempted assessed value.¹

The exemption is also limited to your ownership share. If you own half of a property with someone else, the percentage-adjusted amount applies to your half only. Disability percentage, ownership percentage, and exemption cap all stack on top of each other, and that layered math is where most calculation errors show up. Compare it against the notice from your county assessor.²

How and When to Apply

You file an affidavit with the county assessor in the county where your property is located. The window opens the first Monday in January and closes on March 1. Miss March 1 and you waive the exemption for that entire year. There is no late-filing grace period.⁴

Bring documentation of your qualifying status when you file: proof of widowhood, a disability certification, or a VA rating letter, depending on which category you fall under. You will also need income records from the prior year. Affidavit forms are typically posted on each county assessor’s website and available at their offices.

The first filing establishes eligibility. After that, you still have to review your income against the prior year’s limits each year to confirm you still qualify, and you are responsible for reporting any change in circumstances to the assessor.

What Ends Your Exemption

Several life changes end eligibility right away:

Death of the claimant. The exemption terminates and the property becomes fully taxable.
Remarriage, if you qualified as a widow or widower.
Household income rising above the applicable limit, which disqualifies you for the following year.
Selling or transferring the property to someone else.
Moving out of Arizona. Residency is required.

You have to report these changes to the county assessor. If you don’t, the property can be made subject to taxation retroactive to the date you lost eligibility, and back taxes with interest and penalties can follow.²

A Separate Program: The Senior Freeze

Arizona also runs a Senior Property Valuation Protection program, often called the senior freeze, that is frequently confused with the exemption but is not the same thing. The senior freeze does not remove property from taxation. It locks in the limited property value so it does not climb from year to year. Tax rates can still rise, but the valuation used to calculate your bill stays flat.

At least one owner must be 65 or older to qualify. The income limits are higher than for the exemption: $47,712 for a single owner and $59,640 for two or more owners. The application window runs from March 1 through September 1.⁵

You can use both programs at once if you qualify. The exemption reduces the taxable amount, and the freeze keeps the assessed value from climbing.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 42-11111 – Exemption for Property; Widows and Widowers; Persons With a Total and Permanent Disability; Veterans With a Disability; Definitions
2
Maricopa County Assessor’s Office. Personal Exemptions
3
LegiScan. Arizona State Senate – SB1268 Fact Sheet
4
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 42-11153 – Deadline for Filing Affidavit
5
Pinal County, AZ. Senior Freeze