Maricopa County Assessor: Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption

The exemption is the State's, under ARS 42-11111, and the Arizona entry explains which text governs which tax year. The Maricopa County Assessor's Valuation Relief Programs Division decides every claim in the county, and its rules for 2026 are these. Amounts for 2026. The Assessor publishes the indexed figures: an exemption of up to $4,873 of assessed limited property value for a veteran rated 1% to 99% service-connected, or 1% to 100% nonservice-connected, multiplied by the rating, so 60% gives $2,924. That partial exemption goes first against real property, then an unsecured mobile home or the vehicle license tax, and on a home with two names on the deed it is applied to the veteran's half. A veteran rated 100% service-connected has the primary residence fully exempt, whatever the ownership share. Income. For 2026 the Assessor applies the income limit to every veteran, the 100% veteran included: total household income of everyone living in the home must not exceed $39,865, or $47,826 with a child under 18 or a disabled child at home. Social Security, military pensions and VA disability payments are not counted. The Assessor reads the 2026 statute that way, and it does say the limit applies to qualify for "an exemption under this section". Proof is the Arizona Form 140; a part-year or nonresident filer sends the federal 1040 and any DFAS or Coast Guard 1099-R instead. Unemployability. For 2026 the Assessor uses the combined schedular rating on the VA letter, not the rate VA pays, so a veteran paid at the 100% rate on individual unemployability gets only the partial amount. That matches the 2026 text, which names only a 100 percent rating. Discharge. The Assessor's page says twice that an honorable discharge is required. ARS 42-11111 defines a veteran as one discharged, separated or released "under honorable conditions", which includes a general discharge under honorable conditions. A veteran with a general discharge who is refused should cite the definition. Deadline. The Assessor takes applications from the first Monday in January through February 28, and from March 1 through September 1 only with an Exemption Deadline Waiver. ARS 42-11153(A) sets the window as the first Monday in January to March 1, a day later than the Assessor's page. Under 42-11153(B) a late claimant asks the Board of Supervisors to redeem the waiver at any regular meeting, and taxes that fell due before the petition are not refunded; the September 1 cut-off is the county's. What to send. The application, proof of residency, the income documents, and the VA letter showing the percentage. The application can be filed online, by mail or by email. Renewal. The Assessor calls the exemption permanent but says it may require reapplication to verify eligibility, and the claimant must report a disqualifying event, such as a sale, death, remarriage of a surviving spouse, or a change in income or residency. Send a new VA letter when the rating changes. Surviving spouse. For 2026 the Assessor continues the full exemption for an unremarried surviving spouse only where the veteran's home was already receiving it, and will not grant it retroactively. That follows the 2026 text, which says "receiving". Income documents are not required for this continuation. From tax year 2027. The Assessor has announced the changes House Bill 4168 makes: no income limit for disabled veterans or surviving spouses, the full exemption at 100% or on individual unemployability, a surviving spouse of a 100% or unemployable veteran eligible on the spouse's own primary residence even if the veteran never had the exemption, a partial exemption for the spouse of a veteran rated below 100%, and a transfer form filed within 60 days of a move. Contact the Valuation Relief Programs Division at 602-506-3406, 301 W. Jefferson Street, Phoenix.