Guam Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption

11 GCA § 24401.1 exempts from all property taxes real property owned and occupied as a residence by a person whom the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs rates one hundred percent disabled or individually unemployable because of injuries received while on duty with the Armed Forces of the United States. The exemption also runs to a surviving spouse, as defined in 10 GCA § 67101(e), and to a legal guardian, as defined in § 67101(g). It was added in its current form by Public Law 34-106 on June 5, 2018. The two routes are alternatives on the face of the statute. One hundred percent and individual unemployability each qualify on their own, so a veteran rated at seventy percent who is paid at the total rate through unemployability reaches this exemption. In VetTOC's filter those are separate gates: set a rating below one hundred and answer no to unemployability and the entry drops off, leave unemployability unanswered and it stays. The conditions in subsection (a) are the things that end it. The exemption is granted only as long as the veteran remains one hundred percent disabled or individually unemployable, the surviving spouse has not remarried, and the legal guardian is still lawfully vested with the power. It is allowed on no more than one residence for any one person. And where part of the premises is used for commercial purposes, the exemption is lost for that portion and kept for the portion used exclusively as a residence; it does not apply to any structure, including the land under it, used commercially. Subsection (b) is the useful part and it is more generous than the usual reading of "residence." The word covers the entire homestead when occupied by a qualified veteran, surviving spouse or legal guardian as a residence. It covers a residence where that owner sublets not more than one room to a tenant, so taking in a single lodger does not cost you the exemption. And it covers premises held under an agreement to purchase for a home, where the agreement was duly entered into and recorded before January 1 of the tax year preceding the one claimed and the purchaser agrees to pay all taxes while buying. A veteran buying on contract rather than holding title can still claim. The Gold Star exemption at 11 GCA § 24401.2 is a separate and parallel benefit with its own entry here; it does not require any rating. The Department of Revenue and Taxation form asks applicants to file with the assessor by March 15 and to obtain a benefit-information letter from VA. Certification of status runs through the Guam Office of Veterans Affairs.