DeKalb County Tax Commissioner: Disabled Veteran Homestead Exemptions (H5 and H10)

The exemption is the State's, under Code section 48-5-48; see the Georgia entry. In DeKalb the Tax Commissioner takes homestead applications by post, in person, by drop box or online (404-298-4000). A basic homestead exemption must already be in place. The office's information sheet sets July 13 as the deadline for the current year, and its exemptions page ties the online deadline to the assessment appeal deadline, as Senate Bill 566 of 2026 does; later applications count for the next year. H5, the disabled veteran exemption. No age or income test. The information sheet gives "$129,026 for school levies and $126,526 for all other levies"; the web page prints the second figure as "$126,52". The State amount for 2026 is $126,526. The office applies it to the unremarried surviving spouse of a disabled veteran and the unremarried spouse of a service member killed in action. What the office asks for, and where it is narrower than the law. Rating. The Veterans page asks for a veteran the VA "considers ... to be a permanently and totally, service-connected disabled veteran receiving 100 percent benefits, or compensated as such", and the exemptions page says the applicant "must be 100% permanently and totally disabled, or compensated as such". Section 48-5-48(a)(1) asks for a 100% totally disabling rating, or 100% compensation for unemployability, with no permanence test; the information sheet, which names a 100% rating or unemployability, matches the statute. A veteran rated 100% but not permanent should apply with the rating letter. Discharge. The office asks for an "Honorably Discharged Veteran" and, on the statutory award route, the veteran's "Honorable Discharge (DD214)". The statute takes a discharge under honorable conditions, which includes a general discharge. Other routes. The office lists the statutory awards for loss of use of a foot or hand, loss of sight and the defined vision loss, but not the wartime limb-loss routes of section 48-5-48(a)(2) and (4) or adapted housing eligibility under (a)(5), and it does not mention the three-year refund for a retroactive VA decision in section 48-5-48(g). H10, for disabled veterans 65 and older. A veteran who meets H5 and is 65 on January 1, with household Georgia net income of $10,000 or less, is exempt from all school taxes and gets $126,526 off other levies; the office's Georgia net income formula excludes, for 2026, up to $49,824 for one person or $99,648 for a couple in Social Security and retirement benefits. It passes to the unremarried spouse on the same terms as H5. DeKalb's disability exemptions. A homeowner "100 percent permanently disabled" on January 1, shown by a Social Security letter or a doctor's certificate of inability to work, can claim the county's income-tested exemptions instead: H4 (all school taxes and $14,000 off county levies, Georgia net income up to $10,000), H6 ($16,500 off school and $14,000 off county, up to $37,500) or H8 ($22,500 off school and $14,000 off county, gross income up to $40,000), or, under 62, H3D or H6D.