Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All Illinois benefits
property taxstate

$5,000 Off Your Assessment for Coming Home — No Rating Needed, and the Window Is Two Years

A veteran returning from active duty may take a $5,000 reduction in the equalised assessed value of their primary residence — for the tax year in which they return and the following year. No disability rating is required, which makes it the one property tax exemption in this state open to a veteran who has no rating at all. It is also the easiest to lose: two assessment years is a short window to discover a benefit in.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

A veteran returning from active duty may take a $5,000 reduction in the equalised assessed value of their primary residence — for the tax year in which they return and the following year. No disability rating is required, which makes it the one property tax exemption in this state open to a veteran who has no rating at all. It is also the easiest to lose: two assessment years is a short window to discover a benefit in.

What it's worth: $5,000 reduction in equalised assessed value on the primary residence, for two consecutive assessment years — the year of return from active duty and the following year

  • The department states a veteran may qualify for a $5,000 reduction in the equalised assessed value on his or her primary residence.
  • The department states the reduction applies for two consecutive assessment or tax years: the tax year, and the following year, that the veteran returns home from active duty.
  • The department states no disability rating requirement for this exemption, in contrast to the disabled veterans' standard homestead exemption described alongside it.
  • The saving in cash depends on the local tax rate applied to the assessed value, which varies by taxing district.
  • The department does not state the filing deadline, the form number, or whether the exemption may be claimed for more than one return from active duty.

Who is entitled to it

  • Your discharge characterisation is within the range these run on.
  • You are in this state.

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

  1. 1File in the year you come home. The exemption runs for the tax year of your return and the following year, so a veteran who finds out about it in year three has lost the whole thing.
  2. 2Claim it even with no disability rating. This is the exemption that does not ask for one, and veterans who were told they did not qualify for the disabled exemption assume that answer covers everything.
  3. 3Ask the county assessment office for the form by name and ask for its deadline. Property exemption deadlines are set locally in this state and vary by county.
  4. 4Ask whether it can be claimed again after a later deployment. The department describes it around a return from active duty without saying it is once in a lifetime, and a Guard or Reserve member may return more than once.
  5. 5Work out what $5,000 of equalised assessed value is worth at your own local rate before deciding it is not worth the paperwork. In a high-rate district it is a meaningful sum, and the form is short.
  6. 6Ask whether it stacks with the general homestead exemption you may already have. They are different exemptions and being on one does not usually take you off another.
Form
The returning veterans' homestead exemption application, from your chief county assessment officer
File with
Your chief county assessment officer
Documents you will need
dd214
Annual
Claimed once a year.
Worth knowingThis is the only veterans property tax exemption recorded for this state that turns on an event rather than a condition. Everything else asks what your rating is; this one asks when you came home.
CorrectionIt is not permanent and it is not a credit off the bill. It reduces the equalised assessed value by $5,000 for two assessment years, and what that saves you depends entirely on your local rate.
Known gapThe form number, the local filing deadline, and whether it can be claimed on a second return from active duty are all unstated. Ask the chief county assessment officer in the year of return.

Sources

Why only one source type: The department's own published benefits guide states the amount, the measure it reduces and the two-year window. The legislature's statute server refused both an automated fetch and a live browser navigation this session, so the property tax code section could not be read.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.