File within 90 days of qualifying

Do not wait for the next January.

California measures everything from the January 1 lien date, but the Disabled Veterans' Exemption does not make you wait for one. File within 90 days of qualifying, or by the January 1 after it, and you receive 100% of the exemption. File later than that and it is not refused — it is granted at a reduced percentage, which is still worth having.

Why this matters right now

The exemption is worth about $1,807 a year, or about $2,710 on the low-income version, and it compounds with inflation every year you hold it. A veteran who waits for the next filing season loses a year of it for no reason, because California does not require you to wait.

What to do

1
Get the VA letter that establishes one of the four conditions
A 100% rating, a determination of individual unemployability, blindness in both eyes, or loss of the use of two or more limbs. The unemployability box on the Benefit Summary Letter is the one people miss. Download VA letters
2
File form BOE-261-G with your county assessor
The Board of Equalization prescribes it statewide, so it is the same form in all 58 counties.
3
Ask about the low-income version at the same time
If your household income is under $81,131 you get $271,009 instead of $180,671 — roughly $900 a year more. It is the same form.
4
Diary next February
If you claimed the low-income exemption, it must be re-filed between January 1 and February 15 every year. The basic one does not. Nothing will remind you about the difference.

The records with an early or late filing route

Disabled Veterans’ Property Tax Exemption — Basic
Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code §276
File within 90 days of the qualifying event, or by the January 1 after it, whichever is later, to receive 100% of the exemption. Later filings are accepted at a reduced percentage rather than refused outright.

February 15, every year, for the low-income exemption

The basic exemption files once. The low-income one files annually and is worth about $900 a year more. That difference is the most-lost California veteran benefit.

See all the dates

This is general information about California statute, not a government eligibility determination and not legal advice. Your county assessor decides your claim.