Jefferson Central Appraisal District: Disabled Veteran Exemptions

The exemptions are the State's; the Texas entries explain them. The Jefferson Central Appraisal District grants them for property in Jefferson County, from 4610 S. 4th Street, Beaumont, Texas 77705 (P.O. Box 21337, Beaumont, Texas 77720); 409-840-9944 or, in Mid County, 409-727-4611; [email protected]; weekdays 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The chief appraiser is Angela Bellard, RPA, RES, AAS. 100% homestead (Tax Code 11.131). "If you are a disabled veteran who receives from the US Department of Veteran Affairs (1) 100% disability compensation due to a service-connected disability; and (2) a rating of 100% disabled or of individual unemployability, you are entitled to an exemption from taxation of the total appraised value of your residence homestead. Beginning in 2012, this benefit has been extended to the surviving spouse upon the veteran's death with certain restrictions." Partial exemption (Tax Code 11.22). A veteran "disabled while serving with the US armed forces", or the surviving spouse or child under 18 and unmarried of a disabled veteran or of a member killed while on active duty, must be a Texas resident; the exemption applies to "any one property", which "does not need to be your homestead", and covers homesteads donated by charitable organizations at no cost or for no more than half the market value. The district's chart: $5,000 at 10 to 29 percent; $7,500 at 30 to 49; $10,000 at 50 to 69; $12,000 above 70; $12,000 for a veteran 10 percent or more disabled who is also over 65; $12,000 for loss of use of one or more limbs, total blindness in one or both eyes, or paraplegia; and a total exemption at 100 percent disabled or unemployable. The district also describes the total residence exemption for the surviving spouse of a service member killed in action who has not remarried. Filing. "You must use the District's application form"; applications other than the over-65 homestead "must be filed between January 1 and May 1 of each tax year", and a granted exemption need not be refiled unless the district asks. Every application needs "a copy of your driver's license or state-issued personal identification card". The district's page also carries the late windows: "You may file late for a homestead exemption up to two years after the date the taxes would become delinquent and a disabled veteran's exemption up to five years after the date taxes would become delinquent", with a new tax statement or a refund if taxes were already paid. Its Forms page lists the Disabled Veteran's or Survivor's Exemption, the Comptroller's 50-135. Ceilings. The district's exemption page adds that on the over-65 and disability homesteads "a tax ceiling is also offered... by the school districts, Jefferson County, and the City of Port Arthur, and it is transferable" - the county and the city have adopted the local-option tax ceiling, so a qualifying homestead's taxes to those two entities are frozen like the school taxes.