Southampton County Disabled Veteran Vehicle Tax Exemption

Southampton taxes tangible personal property at $5.00 per $100 on NADA loan values with a $130 minimum, and its code section 15-79.1 separately exempts one vehicle of a service-connected veteran who lost a limb or is blind or permanently and totally disabled as certified by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Also called: car tax, personal property, vehicle tax, Southampton car tax, 58.1-3506, file by exception.

For: Veteran or service member.

Where it applies

Written for the jurisdictions listed here.

Southampton County, VACounty

The 2026 tangible personal property rate is $5.00 per $100 (the FY2026-2027 tax ordinance; the Commissioner's page records the same $5.00 for FY 2025 and the TY 2025 state table the same 5.000). Vehicles are assessed on the NADA loan value with a $130 minimum, and the county has been a "file by exception" locality since January 2021 - purchases and sales flow from DMV records weekly, so a veteran's exempt vehicle drops off the rolls through the DMV data rather than an annual return. Section 15-79.1 of the county code exempts "One motor vehicles owned and regularly used by a veteran who has either lost, or lost the use of, one or both legs, or an arm or a hand, or who is blind, or who is permanently and totally disabled as certified by the Department of Veterans' Affairs", on "a written statement to the Commissioner of the Revenue or other assessing officer from the Department of Veterans' Affairs" showing the designation and that "his disability is service-connected"; blindness follows the section 46.2-739 test. That is the section 58.1-3506(A)(19) class - a veteran in it qualifies at any rating - and it sits alongside the statewide one-vehicle exemption for veterans rated 100% service-connected, permanent and total (section 58.1-3668), which the Commissioner administers. The state's car-tax relief applies to the first $20,000 of a qualifying vehicle's value. Taxes fall due December 5.

Thresholds

Thresholds for Southampton County Disabled Veteran Vehicle Tax Exemption
Gate	Rule
100% permanent and total	One owned motor vehicle used mainly by or for the veteran. Southampton accepts a disability compensated at the 100% rate; a veteran in the limb-loss, blindness or VA-certified P&T class of section 15-79.1 qualifies at any rating. One path is a VA rating of 100% that is service-connected, permanent, and total.
Permanent and total on the 100% path	The 100% rating has to be permanent and total. A 100% rating VA has not made permanent does not meet this path.
Individual unemployability	The other path is a total disability rating based on individual unemployability that VA has also rated permanent and total.
Permanent and total on the unemployability path	Individual unemployability qualifies on this path only when VA has rated the disability permanent and total.

Sources

Updated

Last updated 2026-10-10.

What changed then:

First published.

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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.