Virginia veteran taxes

Military retired pay in Virginia

Partly exempttax year 2025Sources 1, 2

Virginia lets each recipient subtract up to $40,000 of military benefits, including military retirement income, for tax years beginning on and after January 1, 2025, at any age (Va. Code § 58.1-322.02, subdivision 18 c). Each spouse may subtract up to the maximum on benefits that spouse receives. Military retirement income of a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient is fully subtracted.

Survivor Benefit Plan annuities

Partly exemptSources 1, 2

Benefits paid to the surviving spouse of a veteran under the Survivor Benefit Plan count as military benefits, so they share the same subtraction of up to $40,000 for tax years beginning on and after January 1, 2025 (Va. Code § 58.1-322.02, subdivision 18 d).

Property tax relief for disabled veterans

Exemption or creditSources 3, 4

Virginia exempts from real property tax the principal residence of a veteran rated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as having a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability (Va. Code § 58.1-3219.5, under Va. Const. art. X, § 6-A). The exemption covers the dwelling and up to one acre of land, or more acres if the locality exempts more for its elderly and disabled program.

• A house or manufactured home the veteran owns is exempt even if the veteran does not own the land under it; the land is then not exempt. Garages and similar non-business improvements on the exempt acreage are exempt too.
• The veteran files an affidavit or written statement with the local commissioner of the revenue, with VA documentation of the 100 percent permanent and total rating, and refiles only after moving (Va. Code § 58.1-3219.6). A claim may be filed before buying the home with a purchase agreement.
• If co-owners who do not qualify also own the home, the exemption is prorated.

Vehicle registration for disabled veterans

Fee waiver or discountSources 5, 6, 7, 8

No annual registration fee and no special plate fee is charged for one personal motor vehicle of a disabled veteran with a service-connected disability who has lost, or lost the use of, a leg, arm, or hand, is blind, or is permanently and totally disabled as the VA certifies, with Disabled Veteran (DV) or standard passenger plates (Va. Code §§ 46.2-739, 46.2-100). Other veterans with any VA-certified service-connected disability may buy DV plates for a $10 special plate fee plus registration fees.

• The unremarried surviving spouse of such a veteran also gets one free set of plates; personalization and emissions fees still apply.
• One passenger car or pickup or panel truck owned and used primarily by or for a veteran rated 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total is exempt from local personal property tax from January 1, 2021; this exemption ends at the veteran’s death and is not available to the surviving spouse (Va. Code § 58.1-3668).