District of Columbia Veteran Spouse Homestead Deduction

D.C. Law 26-83, the Veteran Spouse Homestead Deduction Amendment Act of 2025, extended the disabled veterans homestead deduction to an "eligible spouse". It took effect on February 3, 2026 after Congressional review and applies as of October 1, 2025, so it covers the whole of tax year 2026. Who is an eligible spouse. D.C. Code 47-850(a-2)(4): "the surviving spouse or domestic partner of a deceased veteran whose real property was validly receiving the deduction provided under this subsection at the time of the veteran's death or whose real property would have been eligible for such deduction at the time of the veteran's death had the veteran applied for such deduction." The second half matters. A spouse whose husband or wife was rated permanent and total, or paid for unemployability, but never applied is still covered. The veteran's status is tested at death. Subparagraph (A) was rewritten so the classification is the one the veteran "had been classified" with, or was "paid" at, "at the time of the veteran's death". The Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs certifies that to the Office of Tax and Revenue under paragraph (3)(B). Bring the veteran's last VA benefit summary letter, or ask VA for a letter stating the rating in effect at death. What does not change. The spouse's own household must meet the same income limit, $163,500 for tax year 2026 on 2024 adjusted gross income, and the home must be a house or condominium owned at least half by the spouse and lived in as a principal residence. Cooperatives are still excluded, and the deduction still replaces the ordinary homestead deduction, senior and disabled relief and the assessment cap credit. No remarriage rule. Neither the act nor the section says the deduction ends if the spouse remarries or enters a new domestic partnership. Most states' surviving spouse exemptions end on remarriage; this one does not on its words. It is less clear whether the deduction follows a spouse who moves, since the definition is tied to the real property that was receiving, or would have received, the deduction at death. Ask the Office of Tax and Revenue before selling. Where to apply, and a gap. The Office of Tax and Revenue's reliefs page has a short paragraph on the "Disabled Veterans' Spouse Homestead Deduction" and sends spouses to the Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs. The Office's own deduction page and application, which are where the statute says applications go, describe only a veteran applicant and say nothing about spouses. Call the Office at (202) 724-5454 or write to [email protected] and cite section 47-850(a-2)(4). What is not covered. The spouse of a service member who died on active duty, or of a veteran who was not rated permanent and total or paid for unemployability, is not an eligible spouse. B26-0476, pending before the Council, would add a spouse of a veteran who died in the line of duty; it is not law.