The older exemption, worth up to $7,500 where a home was bought with pension, bonus, insurance, or prisoner of war money. Its far more valuable clause fully exempts the primary residence of a seriously disabled veteran eligible for a VA specially adapted housing grant.
Also called: property tax, 458, eligible funds, RP-458, specially adapted housing, SAH grant, full exemption, pension money.
Real Property Tax Law section 458 is the oldest of the three New York veterans exemptions and has two very different halves.
The first half is the eligible funds exemption proper. Where a veteran bought property using eligible funds, the assessed value attributable to those funds comes off the roll. Eligible funds are pension, bonus, insurance, dividends or insurance refunds, and prisoner of war compensation granted by the United States or by New York for military or naval service. The exemption on account of eligible funds paid for one individual's service may not exceed $7,500, and the amount is rounded to the nearest $50. Because that ceiling has not moved in a very long time, this half of the section is worth far less than the alternative exemption for almost everyone, and a veteran who qualifies for both should normally take section 458-a instead.
The second half is the reason to read this entry. The primary residence of a seriously disabled veteran who is eligible for pecuniary assistance from the United States government toward acquiring or adapting a suitable housing unit is fully exempt from taxation and from special district charges and assessments. That is a total exemption, not a capped one, and it reaches the special district charges that sections 458-a and 458-b explicitly do not. The trigger is eligibility for the federal Specially Adapted Housing or Special Home Adaptation grant, which VA awards for a narrow set of severe service-connected disabilities such as loss of use of both lower extremities, blindness with loss of use of a lower extremity, or certain severe burns. The statute keys to eligibility for that assistance rather than to a rating percentage, so the rating filter cannot test it.
That full exemption passes to the unremarried surviving spouse, and the surviving spouse may carry it to a new primary residence.
File form RP-458 with the assessor by the taxable status date. A veteran holding the eligible funds exemption may switch to the alternative exemption under section 458-a, but the change is generally not reversible, so run both numbers with the assessor first.
Thresholds
Thresholds for New York Eligible Funds Property Tax Exemption
Gate
Rule
Eligibility for a VA specially adapted housing grant, for the full exemption
The total exemption keys to eligibility for federal pecuniary assistance toward acquiring or adapting a housing unit, which is the Specially Adapted Housing or Special Home Adaptation grant. That is a VA determination about specific severe disabilities, not a rating percentage, so the rating filter cannot test it and never hides this benefit.
Purchase with eligible funds, for the capped exemption
The $7,500 half requires that the property was bought with pension, bonus, insurance, dividend, insurance refund, or prisoner of war money granted for military or naval service. No rating is involved.
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Disclaimer
VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.