Lake County Auditor: Disabled Veteran Deductions

The deduction and credits are the State's; see the Indiana entries on the 100 percent deduction for totally disabled veterans and on the $350 and $250 credits. The Lake County Auditor administers them at Building A, 2nd floor, 2293 N. Main Street, Crown Point (219-755-3120), Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; only the homestead deduction can be filed online. What the Auditor's guide says. Its "Tax Deductions" sheet, updated December 14, 2023, lists a "Disabled Veteran" deduction of "Up to $14,000 and/or $24,960": $14,000 for a veteran with 90 days of service and an honorable discharge who is 100% disabled, or 62 with a 10% disability, whose property is assessed at no more than $200,000; and $24,960 for a wartime veteran with an honorable discharge and a service-connected disability of 10% or more, both on an Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs certificate of eligibility. It says applications are due by December 31 and that "Taxpayers do not need to reapply for deductions annually." What the law is now. House Enrolled Act 1210 of 2026 replaced the $14,000 deduction with a deduction of 100% of the assessed value of the home of a veteran with a total disability, 90 days of service, an honorable discharge and a year of Indiana residence, with no value cap. The partial deductions became the $350 and $250 credits under IC 6-1.1-51.3, and a veteran who takes the 100% deduction cannot also take a credit. For taxes payable in 2027, anyone who had the old deduction gets only the $250 credit unless he or she files State Form 12662 (revision 20, June 2026) with the Auditor by January 15, 2027. The deadline for this deduction is January 15 of the year the taxes are due, not December 31. A totally disabled Lake County veteran should therefore file again now, with the VA award letter or pension certificate and the DD-214, or with the county service officer's certificate in Section VIII of the form, whatever the guide says about reapplying.