WV DV-1 Disabled Veteran Real Property Tax Credit: Filing and Refund

West Virginia’s DV-1 is the one-page form a 100% permanently and totally disabled veteran uses to get a full refund of the real property tax paid on a West Virginia homestead. You file it with your state income tax return (Form IT-140), attach your VA disability rating letter and your property tax receipts, and the state issues a refundable credit equal to every dollar of property tax you paid that year. For tax year 2025, the return and DV-1 are due April 15, 2026.¹

Who Can Claim It

Three things must be true at the same time. Your VA disability rating has to be 100% permanent and total, and service-connected. A rating that is temporary, or scheduled for future review, does not qualify. You have to be a permanent West Virginia resident. And the property has to be your primary homestead, classified as residential on the county assessor’s records. Investment properties, vacation homes, and commercial buildings are out.

The rating letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is the only accepted proof of disability.

Surviving Spouses

An unremarried widow or widower can continue the credit if the veteran already claimed it in a prior tax year, the spouse has not remarried, the home has not been sold, and the property is still classified as residential.² A surviving spouse cannot start a first-time claim after the veteran’s death.

What to Have in Front of You

Missing an attachment is the most common reason returns get held up. Pull these together before you sit down.

VA disability rating letter. Download it from the VA at va.gov/records/download-va-letters/, where it appears as the Benefit Summary Letter. The DV-1 instructions call it a “disability rating letter.”³⁴ It has to confirm the disability is 100%, permanent and total, and service-connected.

Property tax receipts. Your county sheriff’s office issues these after each payment. West Virginia property tax is paid in two halves: the first is due before October 1 and the second before April 1. Both halves must have been paid on time for that year’s credit to apply. If you missed either deadline, the credit is not available for that year.²

If your taxes are paid through a mortgage escrow account, you still need the sheriff’s receipt showing the actual payment. A monthly mortgage statement is not enough. Ask your servicer or the sheriff’s office for a copy.

Your IT-140. The DV-1 cannot be filed on its own. It has to travel with your West Virginia Personal Income Tax Return.⁴

Filling Out the Form

The DV-1 is a single page. Download the current version from the Tax Department’s filing season page.⁵ Enter your name, Social Security number, and the physical address of the homestead. Match that address to the county assessor’s records exactly. Small discrepancies slow processing.

The credit equals the full amount of property tax you actually paid during the year. There is no dollar cap.² Complete Part II of the DV-1 with the total property tax paid, then carry that number to Line 21(B) of your IT-140. That line applies the credit against your income tax liability and generates a refund for anything left over.

How to Submit It

You can file online or by mail. Through the state’s MyTaxes portal, you file electronically and submit or upload the rating letter and tax receipts alongside the return.⁵ By mail, attach the DV-1 to your IT-140 with copies of your rating letter and receipts. Because the credit almost always produces a refund, use the refund address: West Virginia Tax Division, PO Box 1071, Charleston, WV 25324-1071.⁶

File every year you want the credit. There is no permanent enrollment. Each annual filing reconfirms your eligibility, homestead ownership, and timely property tax payments.

Credits You Cannot Also Claim

The DV-1 must be taken alone. In the year you claim it, you are ineligible for the Senior Citizen Tax Credit even if you otherwise meet the age and income tests,⁷ and you cannot combine it with the Homestead Excess Property Tax Credit. The DV-1 takes precedence over both.²

If you qualify for the disabled veteran credit, claim it first. It refunds 100% of your property tax, which is almost always the most generous option.

Getting the Refund

The credit is fully refundable, so most veterans receive the whole amount of property tax they paid even when their state income tax liability is zero. If you owe $200 in state income tax and paid $1,500 in property tax, you get a $1,300 refund.

Check status at mytaxes.wvtax.gov using the “Where’s My Refund?” tool.⁸ If ten weeks have passed without a refund, call Taxpayer Services at 304-558-3333 or 1-800-982-8297.⁹

If You Missed the Credit in a Prior Year

You can recover it with an amended return. Use the IT-140 for the tax year you missed, mark the amended return box on page one, complete it as if filing new, and attach the DV-1 along with the Tax Credit Recap Schedule.⁹ Include copies of the rating letter and the property tax receipts for that year.

Amended returns go to a different address: West Virginia Tax Division, Attn: Tax Account Administration Division, PO Box 3694, Charleston, WV 25336-3694. Expect roughly 10 to 12 weeks for processing.⁹

1
West Virginia Tax Division. 2025 West Virginia Personal Income Tax Forms and Instructions
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West Virginia State Tax Department. TSD 455 Disabled Veteran Real Property Tax Credit
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Veterans Affairs. Download VA Benefit Letters
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West Virginia State Tax Department. DV-1 Disabled Veteran Real Property Tax Credit
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West Virginia Tax Division. West Virginia Income Tax Filing Season 2025
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West Virginia Tax Division. Individuals
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West Virginia Tax Division. Senior Citizens Tax Credit
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West Virginia Tax Division. West Virginia Tax Division
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West Virginia Tax Division. Frequently Asked Questions – Individual Income Tax