Montgomery County: Applying for the State's Disabled Veterans Real Estate Tax Exemption

The exemption is the State's; see the Pennsylvania entry. It removes the county, municipal and school district real estate tax on the home, and the State Veterans' Commission decides need. How it works here. Applications go only through the Office of Veteran Services (610-213-4022, [email protected]); the county says you cannot file one yourself. You can pre-apply online, and most applications are finished in person by appointment. Bring the VA award letter, the DD-214 and the whole of last year's tax return with every 1099 and the Social Security statement; a veteran who files no return brings the Social Security and VA award letters. The deed must be in the veteran's name, alone or with a spouse, and you cannot apply before the deed is recorded. The State takes up to 90 days, and you keep paying tax until its letter arrives. The Board of Assessment Appeals (One Montgomery Plaza, Suite 301, 610-278-3761) then updates the property record; it does not decide eligibility. The exemption is reviewed every five years, mainly on income. What the county gets right. Its FAQ says a veteran paid at the 100% rate for individual unemployability is eligible, that a surviving spouse is eligible on the same need test even in a home the veteran never lived in, that a stay in a nursing home or rehabilitation does not end the exemption, and that VA compensation is not counted as income. Where its pages narrow the statute. The disability test. The State Benefits page asks for "a permanent and total 100% service-connected disability rating" and a "100% disabled (permanent and total) VA award letter". 51 Pa.C.S. 8902(a)(2) also opens the exemption to a wartime veteran who is blind, paraplegic or has lost two or more limbs because of service, at any combined rating. The State's own form asks about those conditions. A veteran in that group should apply and bring the VA decision showing the condition. The income figure. The FAQ says an applicant over the threshold is "not eligible". Section 8904 makes $114,637 (from January 1, 2025) a rebuttable presumption of need: an applicant above it can still show need from household expenses, and the State's form provides for it. One FAQ answer also still mentions a "$95K threshold". Appeals. The FAQ points every refusal to the county Board of Assessment Appeals. The Board can hear a dispute over what it decides, such as residence or ownership, and charges no fee for this appeal; but a refusal by the State Veterans' Commission, including one on need, is appealed to the Adjutant General under section 8905, so read the refusal letter for where to send it. The surviving spouse. The statute's route is for the unmarried surviving spouse, a word the FAQ drops, and only where the veteran would have qualified in life; the county is right that a veteran killed in action who was never rated does not open it.