Montana Disabled Veteran Property Tax Assistance (MDV)

Montana does not exempt a fixed dollar amount of value the way most states do. Section 15-6-311 reduces the tax rate itself, by 100, 80, 70 or 50 percent, on a sliding income scale. The statute writes it the other way round, as a percentage multiplier of 0, 20, 30 or 50 percent applied to the rate in 15-6-134, which is the same arithmetic stated backwards. The Department of Revenue publishes it as a reduction, and that is the number a veteran will be quoted. The gate is a 100 percent rating, and the statute is explicit that being paid at the total rate is the same thing. Section 15-6-301(10)(b)(ii) defines a qualified veteran as one who "is currently rated 100% disabled or is paid at the 100% disabled rate by the U.S. department of veterans affairs for a service-connected disability". A veteran rated 70 percent schedular and paid at the total rate through individual unemployability meets that on the face of the definition, so VetTOC treats unemployability as an alternative path here rather than hiding the entry. The discharge test is honorable. Section 15-6-301(10)(b)(i) says "was honorably discharged from active service in any branch of the armed services", which is narrower than the employment preference chapter next door, where a general discharge counts. The income test is federal adjusted gross income excluding capital and income losses. The figures move every year with the PCE inflation factor defined in 15-6-301, so the table printed in the statute is a base rather than a current number. The Department's published table for tax year 2027 puts the full 100 percent reduction at $49,654 or less for a single filer and $59,584 or less for a married filer or head of household, and the benefit runs out above $64,551 single and $74,482 married. The Department's own instruction is that a married applicant counts the spouse's income whether or not the spouse is on the deed. The thing that makes this materially better than the general Property Tax Assistance Program is what is missing from it. PTAP reduces the rate only on the first $418,000 of market value. The disabled veteran program has no value ceiling at all, which is why the Revenue Interim Committee describes it as offering "larger exemptions, higher income limits, and does not limit the value of the primary residence". A veteran in an expensive house gets the reduction on the whole of it. Section 15-6-302(11) is worth knowing before applying. The Department must award assistance "under the property tax assistance program that provides the greatest benefit to the taxpayer", so a veteran who applies is considered for both programs and given the better one rather than the one they named. Section 15-6-302(9) is the provision no summary carries. For the disabled veteran program specifically, the Department may address "unusual circumstances" of income, and the statute names three: living expenses and income above the normal annual figure used for funeral or medical expenses, including major medical expenses of an immediate family member; unusual expenditures for major home repairs, vehicle replacement, or education and career training; and any other unusual factual circumstance. A one-year spike in income that pushed a veteran over the line is a thing to write to the Department about rather than a disqualification. Practical rules. The home must be owned or under contract for deed, and lived in for at least seven months of the year, though 15-6-301(8)(b) allows two dwellings to be added together to reach seven months. On agricultural or forest land the benefit reaches the home and a one-acre homesite. A temporary stay in a nursing home does not change the primary residence. The application is due April 15 of the first year claimed, and once approved it renews itself through the Department's annual verification without reapplying, subject to a duty to report a change in eligibility. Filing carries the false swearing penalties in 45-7-202. One thing that has moved recently and is not a mistake in the law. The 2025 property tax rewrite in House Bill 231 and Senate Bill 542 cut residential rates, and because this benefit is a percentage of the rate, cutting the rate cuts the benefit. Department data shows the average benefit falling from $2,335 in 2024 to $1,913 in 2025 even though the number of participants rose to 3,612.