Disabled Veteran Registration Fee Exemption — First Plate, Any Rating
A service-connected disabled veteran's first plate is exempt from registration and plate-issuance fees at any compensable rating. At 51% and above the vehicle may be any weight and additional plates cost $5 a year — and a vehicle the federal VA helped pay for is exempt from ad valorem tax as well.
Verified August 22, 2026
What this benefit is
A service-connected disabled veteran's first plate is exempt from registration and plate-issuance fees at any compensable rating. At 51% and above the vehicle may be any weight and additional plates cost $5 a year — and a vehicle the federal VA helped pay for is exempt from ad valorem tax as well.
What it's worth: First plate exempt from registration and issuance fees; $5 a year for additional plates at 51%+; full ad valorem exemption on a VA-financed vehicle
- Below 51% the vehicle must be a private passenger automobile, pickup truck, motorcycle or pleasure vehicle of 12,000 lbs gross weight or less; at 51%+ any weight class qualifies.
Who is entitled to it
- You have a compensable service-connected disability rating.
- You live in Alabama.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
How to claim it
- 1Bring the VA disability rating certification plus a military ID, DD214 or veterans-affairs affidavit to the county plate office — the first plate is exempt from registration fees and plate-issuance fees at ratings from 10% up.
- 2At a 51% or higher rating the vehicle may be any weight class, and each additional Disabled Veteran plate runs $5 a year; below 51%, additional plates pay standard fees.
- 3Ad valorem tax still applies to the vehicle — except where the federal VA paid for the vehicle in whole or in part, in which case every plate on it is exempt from both registration fees and ad valorem taxes.
- 4You do not have to display the Disabled Veteran distinctive plate to claim the fee exemption — the revenue department's own guidance says the exemption stands on the veteran's status, whatever plate the vehicle carries.
- Form
- Registration with VA disability rating certification
- File with
- Your county licence plate issuing office
- Documents you will need
- va benefit summary letter · dd214
- Annual
- Claimed once a year.
Sources
- authority · published policyDepartment of Revenue — Disabled Veteran plate page (Ala. Code §§32-6-130, 40-12-244, 40-12-254)
- operating · published policyDepartment of Revenue — Disabled Veteran branch-emblem plate page, identical fee treatment
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