Veteran benefits in Maui County, Hawaii
- Benefits you can claim here
- 27
- Property tax rate
- 0.21
- effective rate, ACS 2023 five-year
- The home, exempt from county real property tax (totally disabled veterans), typical home
- $0
- a year at this county rate
- Veterans in this county
- 7,903
- US Department of Veterans Affairs VetPop2023 county model, as of 9/30/2025
What to do, in Maui County
The process is the same across Hawaii for the statewide records. Only the office and the tax rate change.
Find what applies to you
27 benefits reach Maui County. Browse them below.
Check whether you qualify
Open any benefit and answer a few questions about that one specifically.
Get your proof
A VA Benefit Summary Letter from VA.gov covers most of them, in about two minutes.
File with Maui County
Form DR-501 to the Property Appraiser before March 1. File even without your letter.
How much is a property tax exemption worth in Maui County?
The rate shown is the county's effective property tax rate - aggregate taxes actually paid divided by aggregate home value, from the Census ACS 2023 five-year file. Every overlapping levy, credit and cap is already inside it, which makes it the honest basis for sizing an exemption's dollar value.
These are example savings for a typical home in this county, not an estimate of your own bill. Your actual saving depends on your assessed value, your taxing districts, and how this exemption interacts with any others you hold.
| Effective rate | what homeowners here actually paid |
|---|---|
| Basis | ACS 2023 five-year aggregates |
| The home, exempt from county real property tax (totally disabled veterans) (County real property tax codes) | about $0 a year against the county rate |
| Total exemption (County real property tax codes) | the entire bill — about $525 a year against the county rate on a typical $250,000 value, and more once your other taxing units are added |
| Where to file | Maui County County real property tax office |
| Deadline | Set by each county, every year |
Which document does the Maui County County real property tax office accept?
Statute sets the floor; the office picks the paperwork.
Easiest · VA Benefit Summary Letter
Sign in at VA.gov, choose Download VA Letters, then Benefit Summary — Veteran Benefits.
All 27 benefits you can claim in Maui County
All 5 Hawaii counties get the same statewide law.
other(8)
Guard and Reserve Drill Pay Is Not Taxed by Hawaii, Up to E-5
Hawaii excludes from gross income the pay a serving reserve or Guard member receives for duty equivalent to forty-eight drills — twelve weekends — and fifteen days of annual duty, valued at up to the E-5 pay grade after eight years of service. It reaches serving members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard reserves and the Hawaii National Guard. It does not reach separated veterans.
Drill and annual duty pay excluded, valued up to the E-5 grade
Military Pensions Untaxed — Under General Pension Law
Hawaii does not tax employer-funded pension distributions at all — and its own instructions name military pensions in terms. No age test, no cap, no income limit.
The whole of your military pension, subtracted from Hawaii income
State Veterans Cemetery — Gravesite, Marker and Perpetual Care, No Reservations
The cemetery at Kāne‘ohe provides the gravesite, the marker, opening and closing, and perpetual care. Gravesites cannot be reserved in advance, and full military honours are for retirees only.
Gravesite, marker, perpetual care, opening and closing of the grave
Ending a Lease on State Active Duty — Housing and the Car, by Written Notice
A dwelling lease or a motor vehicle lease signed before you entered state active duty or full-time Guard duty can be ended by written notice. On a monthly rent, termination lands thirty days after the next rent day. On a vehicle lease, no early termination charge may be imposed.
Written notice ends the lease; no early termination charge on a vehicle lease
Six Per Cent Interest Cap — Reaching Debts the Federal Act Does Not
A pre-service debt bearing more than six per cent may not bear more than six per cent during a period of state active duty or full-time Guard duty. "Interest" includes service charges, renewal charges and fees.
Pre-service debt capped at 6% a year during the period of service
A Counsellor Post Won by the Women Veterans Subcommittee
A subcommittee of women veterans pressed for, and an Act funded, a veterans services counsellor post inside the state veterans office whose primary focus is women veterans. The subcommittee itself dates from 2013 and the task force behind it from 2011.
A funded counsellor post inside the state office, focused on women veterans
A Veterans Court on Two Islands, Sitting Every Friday
The judiciary runs a veterans treatment court in the First Circuit since 2013 and the Third Circuit since 2014. Participants report to court every Friday afternoon, are drug tested, and are paired with a volunteer veteran mentor.
A veterans docket in two circuits, with treatment, housing help and a mentor
Kupuna Care Absorbed the Caregivers Programme — and the $210 a Week Left the Statute With It
The kupuna caregivers programme at HRS §349-18, the one with the $210-a-week allocation guides still quote, was repealed by L 2022, c 160, §4. What remains is the kupuna care programme at §349-17, which now serves care recipients, caregivers AND employed caregivers, runs through the area agencies on aging, and pays the service provider directly. Its text carries no weekly cap and no veteran route.
Long-term services and supports through the area agencies on aging — no veteran route
vehicles(5)
Eleven More Plate Legends Beyond Gold Star
HRS 249-9.2 provides twelve qualifying categories of military special number plate. The corpus records one. The others are the basic VETERAN plate, plus COMBAT, COMBAT WOUNDED, PEARL HARBOR SURVIVOR, FORMER POW, and separate legends for Second World War, Korea, Vietnam and Persian Gulf veterans. They are issued for a fee at standard registration cost, through county motor vehicle registration offices.
Special military-service plates at standard registration cost
Motor Vehicle Exemption — $45 Off, Not the Whole Registration
A veteran with a 100% service-connected rating is exempt from the $45 state registration fee. The rest of the registration bill still has to be paid, and the paperwork starts at the veterans office, not the DMV.
$45 off the state registration fee each year — the balance is still due
Vehicle Weight Tax — One Car Exempt While You Serve
One noncommercial vehicle registered to a Guard, reserve or armed service member assigned to a unit in the State is exempt from the vehicle weight tax. The state tax alone runs at 1.75 cents a pound, so a mid-size car carries about $60 a year of it.
The weight tax on one noncommercial vehicle, removed each year
Gold Star Family Plates — Grandparents Named In, and a Front Plate Kept as a Memorial
The county director of finance issues special military-service number plates reading "GOLD STAR FAMILY" to an applicant who proves they would qualify for a gold star lapel button under 10 U.S.C. §1126 — and the subsection says in terms that being the grandparent of the deceased member does not disqualify you. The plates are issued for a fee, are not transferable, and when the qualified person dies the director of finance shall allow the survivor to keep the front plate as a memorial.
One set of GOLD STAR FAMILY plates, issued for a fee set by the county
The Placard Is Decided by a State Board, Not the County — and Needs a Six-Year Prognosis
The issuing agency for every disability parking permit in this state is the disability and communication access board, even though a county counter takes the transaction and may keep a fee for it. The permanent removable windshield placard is issued only on a certificate of disability verifying the applicant's disability is expected to last at least six years, signed by a licensed practising physician, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse. A VA rating letter is not a certificate of disability.
Removable windshield placard, special plate or paid-parking exemption permit
housing(3)
State Veterans Homes — Hilo and Kapolei
Hawaii runs two state veterans homes: the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home in Hilo, on (808) 961-1500, and the 120-bed Daniel K. Akaka State Veterans Home in Kapolei. Between them they provide post-acute care, short-term rehabilitation, residential long-term placement and 24-hour skilled nursing. Both are contract-operated under the Office of Veterans' Services.
Post-acute care, rehabilitation, long-term placement and 24-hour skilled nursing at two homes
State Share Toward a Specially Adapted Home — Never More Than the Federal Share
HRS §363-11 lets the State meet part of the cost the federal government does not, for a veteran who qualifies for the federal Specially Adapted Housing grant. Two limits define it: residency before service, and a ceiling at the federal share.
A state share toward the cost the federal grant does not cover
No Eviction of Your Family Without a Judge — and a Stay of up to Three Months
While you are on state active duty or full-time Guard duty, the dwelling occupied by your spouse or dependants cannot be subject to eviction or distress except by leave of court. On application the court must stay the proceedings for up to three months unless your ability to pay is not materially affected.
Eviction only by leave of court, with a stay of up to three months
licenses & fees(3)
Temporary Licence for a Military Spouse — Fees Still Apply, Five Years Maximum
HRS §436B-14.7 says a spouse on a permanent change of station here shall be approved for temporary licensure. The statute also requires payment of all applicable fees, and caps the holding at five years in the aggregate.
Mandatory approval for temporary licensure, with expedited consideration
Free Certified Copies for a Service Claim — A 1949 Statute Almost Nobody Cites
The health department must supply certified copies of birth, marriage, divorce and death records free of charge to a veteran, the veteran’s wife, immediate family or the next of kin of a deceased veteran, when the copy is needed for a claim based on armed forces service.
The $10 first-copy fee and the $4 charged for each further copy, waived
The Word "Veteran" on the Licence — Other Than Dishonourable Is the Test
A driver's licence may carry a notation of veteran status if the applicant wants one. The statute is unusually precise about two things: the notation goes on the FRONT of the licence, and it may not include any designation other than the term "veteran" — no branch, no era, no rating. The definition reaches anyone who served in any of the uniformed services and was discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.
The single word "veteran" on the front of the licence
education(2)
Guard Tuition Assistance — Full Undergraduate Tuition, Paid Back to You
The adjutant general may pay 100% of tuition for a first undergraduate degree at a university campus, and 50% toward a first master’s. It is a reimbursement with a 30-day application window, and the statute funds it only so far as money is available.
100% of tuition for a first undergraduate degree; 50% toward a first master’s
University Tuition — The Non-Resident Differential Removed, Not Residency Granted
Serving members, their authorised dependants, state Guard and reserve members, and veterans using their federal education entitlement pay the resident rate. At the flagship campus that is $5,880 a semester instead of $16,896 — a difference of $11,016 each term.
$11,016 a semester at the flagship campus — the non-resident differential, removed
business(2)
Veteran-Owned Business Preference — There Is None in the Procurement Code
The public procurement code creates its preferences by name, and no name on the list is a veteran. There is no veteran-owned or service-disabled veteran-owned set-aside, certification or bid preference in state procurement.
No veteran preference exists in state procurement
Eight Ways Into the State Farm Loan, and Service Is Not One
The agricultural loan chapter defines a new farmer by listing eight qualifying backgrounds. Military service, veteran status and the skills that come with them appear nowhere in the list, and no veteran preference sits in the definition.
No veteran route into the new farmer definition — qualify another way
Filing in Maui County
- Office
- Maui County Property Appraiser
- Form
- DR-501 for most exemptions; DR-501DV for the combat-related discount; DR-501M for a deployment exemption.
- Deadline
- March 1, every year. Missing it costs the whole tax year — there is no late route back in.
Free help in Maui County
Maui County has a County Veteran Service Officer, and their help is free. Go to them for anything touching a federal VA disability claim.
Nobody should charge you to claim the benefits on this page. Unaccredited operators charging fees for VA claims are a real and growing problem.
Common questions about Maui County veteran benefits
- What can I claim here?
- The Hawaii statewide records apply in every county. We have not researched county-level programmes here, so this page shows state law and complete geography rather than a local layer.
- What is it worth in this county?
- Dollar figures use the county's EFFECTIVE property tax rate - what homeowners there actually paid per dollar of home value, from the Census ACS 2023 five-year file. It is an estimate for sizing a saving; the levy table on your own bill governs.
- Where do I file for a veteran property tax exemption in Maui County?
- File with your County assessor. The form and deadline are on each benefit record.
- What document does the Maui County County real property tax office accept as proof?
- The statute sets what must be proved. An office may tell you which document it prefers, but it may not add a requirement the statute does not contain. We have not researched per-county document quirks in Hawaii.
Other counties
This is an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. Veterans Alliance is privately owned and is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Geography from the US Census; veteran population from the VA VetPop2023 county model.