Massachusetts Academic Credit for Military Training and Protection for Students Called to Duty
Every public institution must have a written policy for evaluating military training for academic credit and a single named point of contact.
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleII/Chapter15A/Section42
Massachusetts Chapter 115 Veterans’ Benefits
A needs-based cash and medical benefit paid by the city or town where the veteran lives, reimbursed 75 per cent by the commonwealth.
- Maximum assets, a single recipient: $8,400 (read 2026-10-14)
- Maximum assets, a recipient and dependents: $16,600 (read 2026-10-14)
- Income above which only medical benefits are paid, 108 CMR 5.02(13): 200% of the current federal poverty level, with a spend-down above it (read 2026-10-14)
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVII/Chapter115/Section5
Massachusetts Civil Service Veterans Preference
Not points. Disabled veterans go at the top of the eligible list, then veterans, then the spouse or single parent of a servicemember killed in action, then everyone else.
Gate: Ten per cent based on wartime service for the top tier
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIV/Chapter31/Section26
Massachusetts Employer Duty to Post and Distribute a Veterans’ Benefits Notice
Every Massachusetts employer with more than 50 full-time employees must post a veterans’ benefits notice and hand it to every employee at hire and once a year.
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVII/Chapter115/Section2E
Massachusetts Free Vehicle Registration and Driver’s License
No registration fee for any vehicle owned by a veteran at 100 per cent or rated individually unemployable, and no fee for that veteran’s driver’s licence either.
Gate: A combined service-connected rating of 100 per cent; Or individually unemployable due to a service-connected disability
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter90/Section33
Massachusetts Full Property Tax Exemption for a Surviving Spouse or Parent
The entire taxable valuation of the home is exempt for the surviving spouse of a service-connected death or a missing-in-action presumption, and for the surviving parents or…
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter59/Section5
Massachusetts Lien on a Dependent Parent’s Home for Chapter 115 Benefits
A dependent parent who takes chapter 115 benefits gives the town a lien on any real estate interest worth over $1,500.
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVII/Chapter115/Section5A
Massachusetts Local Options That Change What a Veteran’s Abatement Is Worth
A town may double the veteran abatements, index them to inflation, extend them to property held in trust, and run a work-off programme worth up to $1,500 a year.
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter59/Section5
Massachusetts Military Retirement and Survivor Annuity Income Exclusion
Military retired pay is deducted from Massachusetts gross income whether or not the retiree contributed, and so are Survivor Benefit Plan annuities.
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter62/Section2
Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Excise Exemption
One vehicle is free of the annual motor vehicle excise for a veteran at 100 per cent or rated individually unemployable, or with specified losses of limb or sight.
Gate: A combined service-connected rating of 100 per cent; Or individually unemployable due to a service-connected disability
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter60A/Section1
Massachusetts Municipal Duty to Bury a Veteran and Care for the Grave
The town must bury a veteran who dies without sufficient means, and may not do it in a pauper cemetery.
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVII/Chapter115/Section7
Massachusetts National Guard Tuition and Fee Waiver
The one Massachusetts education waiver the statute makes mandatory and the commonwealth pays for.
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleII/Chapter15A/Section19
Massachusetts Property Tax at Total Disability: $1,000 or the Whole Bill
A veteran rated 100 per cent gets a $1,000 abatement and has to recertify every year. A paraplegic or blind veteran gets the entire domicile exempted and never recertifies.
Gate: A disability rating of one hundred per cent
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter59/Section5
Massachusetts Public Higher Education Tuition Waiver for Veterans
Veterans are one of the categories the Board of Higher Education must cover in the state tuition waiver programme, but the statute sets no amount and no eligibility rules.
www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/3679
Massachusetts State-Operated Veterans’ Homes
Chelsea and Holyoke, admitting on the broad chapter 115 definition of veteran but behind the strictest residency bar in this catalog: five continuous years, with the burden of…
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVII/Chapter115A/Section1
Massachusetts Veteran Property Tax Abatement, Clause Twenty-second
A $400 abatement at a ten per cent rating or for a Purple Heart, rising to $750 and $1,250 for specific losses of limb or sight.
Gate: Ten per cent for the base $400 abatement
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter59/Section5
Massachusetts Veteran and Decoration License Plates
The plain VETERAN plate costs an extra $20 a year. The decoration plates, from the Purple Heart to the Medal of Liberty, are free, and a surviving spouse may keep or newly apply…
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter90/Section2
Massachusetts Veterans Equality Review Board
A veteran discharged other than honorably because of who they are can have Massachusetts benefits restored without waiting for the federal record to be corrected.
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVII/Chapter115/Section16
Massachusetts Veterans Hiring Tax Credit
A $2,500 credit per qualified veteran hired, for a small Massachusetts employer certified by the Secretary of Veterans’ Services.
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter62/Section6
Massachusetts Veterans’ Annuity
A $2,500 annual payment on August 1 for a blind or paraplegic veteran, one who lost both legs or is 100 per cent disabled from enemy action or a service-connected accident, and…
Gate: Or loss of both legs, or 100 per cent disability from enemy action or a service-connected accident
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVII/Chapter115/Section6B
Massachusetts Veterans’ Memorial Cemeteries
Two state cemeteries, at Agawam and Winchendon, operated by the Executive Office of Veterans Services with authority to add more.
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVII/Chapter115/Section9A
Massachusetts Welcome Home Bonus
A $1,000 bonus for service in the Iraq or Afghanistan area and $500 for six months elsewhere, paid by the State Treasurer out of the treasury without appropriation.
malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2005/Chapter130
Which Massachusetts Benefit Uses Which Test
Massachusetts has two general definitions of veteran and they disagree.
Gate: Ten per cent based on wartime service for the civil service top tier
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleI/Chapter4/Section7