Housing

How a South Dakota Veteran Finds Out About Property Tax Relief

Every assessment notice in the state has to name the veteran exemptions by March 1. The application deadlines are eight months later, on November 1, and three separate four-year look-backs exist for people who missed them.

Also called: assessment notice, 10-6-154, March 1, November 1, abatement, refund, 10-18, 10-4-26.

For: Veteran or service member, survivor.

Where it applies

Written for the jurisdictions listed here.

South DakotaState

South Dakota does something most states do not: it puts the notice duty in statute and on the assessor. Section 10-6-154 requires the director of equalization to mail or transmit a notice of assessment to every property owner by March 1, and that notice must contain, among other items, a statement that property owned and occupied by a veteran rated permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability, or the veteran's surviving spouse, may be eligible for relief under 10-4-40 and 10-4-41, and a statement that a wheelchair home owned and occupied by a paraplegic veteran, a veteran with loss or loss of use of both lower extremities, or the surviving spouse may be eligible under 10-4-24.10. House Bill 1082 of 2024 added the veteran items in their current form. So the notice arrives in late winter and the application is due the following November 1. That eight-month gap is the whole of the state's outreach, and it is why the look-back provisions matter as much as the exemptions. There are now three of them and they are not equally strong. Under 10-4-40, a veteran who met every requirement except the deadline because a permanent and total claim was still pending at VA gets a mandatory abatement or refund back to the effective date of the claim, up to four years. House Bill 1193 of 2026 wrote "must" into that paragraph. Under the earlier paragraph of the same section, and under 10-4-41 for a surviving spouse, a person who simply missed the deadline may petition the board of county commissioners, which may abate or refund. That is discretion, not entitlement. Under 10-4-24.10, Senate Bill 12 of 2026 added a petition for a refund of taxes paid in any of the previous four years for the paraplegic exemption, again at the board's discretion, and amended 10-18-2 so the abatement chapter carries it. A fourth provision is older and narrower and has nothing to do with disability. Section 10-4-26 exempts a person serving in the armed forces during a state of war, or between August 5, 1964 and a gubernatorial proclamation that hostilities have ceased, from interest and penalty on real property and manufactured home taxes, from entry into service until six months after discharge. It does not forgive the tax, only the interest and penalty, and it does not apply to property the service member transferred of record during the period of service. All of these run through chapter 10-18, so the petition is made to the board of county commissioners of the county where the property sits, not to the Department of Revenue.

Thresholds

Thresholds for How a South Dakota Veteran Finds Out About Property Tax Relief
Gate	Rule
The notice duty is on the assessor, by March 1	Section 10-6-154 requires every annual assessment notice to state that the disabled veteran, surviving spouse, and paraplegic veteran exemptions may be available, with the section numbers.
Applications are due November 1	The disabled veteran exemption, the surviving spouse exemption, the paraplegic exemption and the paraplegic reduction are all filed with the county assessor by November 1.
One mandatory look-back and two discretionary ones	A pending permanent and total claim triggers a mandatory four-year abatement under 10-4-40. A plain missed deadline under 10-4-40, 10-4-41 or 10-4-24.10 gives a petition the county commissioners may grant or refuse.
Interest and penalty relief during wartime service	Section 10-4-26 waives interest and penalty on real property and manufactured home taxes for someone in the armed forces during a state of war or since August 5, 1964, from entry into service until six months after discharge. The tax itself is still owed, and property transferred of record during service is excluded.

Sources

Legislation

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Ch. 40, L. 2026 (House Bill 1193) Made a four-year refund mandatory where a permanent and total claim was still pending at VA

Catalog reconciledEnactedScope changed

Signed 2026-03-30

Introduced Done, 2026-01-29, step 1 of 6
In committee Done, 2026-01-29, step 2 of 6
Passed one chamber Done, 2026-02-12, step 3 of 6
Passed both chambers Done, 2026-03-02, step 4 of 6
Signed by the governor Done, 2026-03-30, step 5 of 6
In effect Done, 2026-03-30, step 6 of 6

Expands benefits Requires a four-year refund where a permanent and total claim was still pending at VA when the deadline passed.

Amended 10-4-40 to provide that where a veteran meets every eligibility requirement for the disabled veteran exemption except the application deadline because a permanent and total disability claim is pending at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the board of county commissioners must abate or refund the difference in taxes accumulated since the effective date of the claim, not exceeding the previous four years. The word is "must", where the neighbouring late-application paragraph says "may". Also amended 10-4-41 for surviving spouses, but without the mandatory limb, so the two sections now differ. Tracked because a veteran whose rating arrives years after the effective date has an entitlement rather than a request, and no summary of the program yet says so.

Ch. 39, L. 2026 (Senate Bill 12) Added a four-year refund petition to the paraplegic veteran dwelling exemption

Catalog reconciledEnactedScope changed

Signed 2026-02-11

Introduced Done, 2026-01-13, step 1 of 6
In committee Done, 2026-01-13, step 2 of 6
Passed one chamber Done, 2026-01-21, step 3 of 6
Passed both chambers Done, 2026-02-04, step 4 of 6
Signed by the governor Done, 2026-02-11, step 5 of 6
In effect Done, 2026-02-11, step 6 of 6

Expands benefits Lets a veteran who missed a deadline petition for four years of refunds under the paraplegic dwelling exemption.

Amended 10-4-24.10 to let a veteran who would otherwise qualify for the paraplegic dwelling exemption, but who missed the owner-occupied classification deadline or the exemption deadline, petition the board of county commissioners to refund the taxes paid in any of the previous four years, with the board free to approve or reject in its discretion, and amended 10-18-2 so the abatement chapter carries the petition. Tracked because the paraplegic exemption is a full exemption with no ceiling and is the larger of the two South Dakota veteran property tax programs on any house worth more than $200,000, so four years of it is a substantial sum, and because the Department of Revenue still tells applicants the exemption must be applied for annually although the statute has continued it automatically since 2019.

Ch. 34, L. 2024 (House Bill 1082) Raised the disabled veteran property tax exemption from $150,000 to $200,000 and dropped the inflation escalator

Catalog reconciledEnactedFigure moved

Signed 2024-03-05

Introduced Done, 2024-01-12, step 1 of 6
In committee Done, 2024-01-12, step 2 of 6
Passed one chamber Done, 2024-01-30, step 3 of 6
Passed both chambers Done, 2024-02-22, step 4 of 6
Signed by the governor Done, 2024-03-05, step 5 of 6
In effect Done, 2024-03-05, step 6 of 6

Expands and restricts Raised the exempt value from $150,000 to $200,000 but dropped the inflation escalator.

Amended 10-4-40 and 10-4-41 to raise the exempt full and true value from one hundred fifty thousand dollars to two hundred thousand, and amended 10-6-154 so the annual assessment notice names the veteran exemptions. Tracked for what did not survive as much as for what did: the bill as introduced said two hundred fifty thousand and added an annual consumer price index escalator beginning January 1, 2025. The House Military and Veterans Affairs committee struck the "fifty" and the Senate Taxation committee struck the escalator, so the figure is a flat $200,000 that does not index. Guidance quoting $250,000, or describing the exemption as inflation-adjusted, is describing the introduced bill rather than the law, and guidance still quoting $150,000 predates the act.

Updated

Last updated 2026-09-29.

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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.