Veteran benefits in Jefferson County, Missouri
- Benefits you can claim here
- 21
- Property tax rate
- 0.82
- effective rate, ACS 2023 five-year
- A credit against Missouri income tax, claimed on Form MO-PTC, typical home
- $0
- a year at this county rate
- Veterans in this county
- 14,256
- US Department of Veterans Affairs VetPop2023 county model, as of 9/30/2025
What to do, in Jefferson County
The process is the same across Missouri for the statewide records. Only the office and the tax rate change.
Find what applies to you
21 benefits reach Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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 |
| A credit against Missouri income tax, claimed on Form MO-PTC (RSMo §135.010 et seq.) | about $0 a year against the county rate |
| Total exemption (RSMo §135.010 et seq.) | the entire bill — about $2,050 a year against the county rate on a typical $250,000 value, and more once your other taxing units are added |
| Where to file | Jefferson County the Missouri Department of Revenue |
| Deadline | April 15, with your return, every year |
Which document does the Jefferson County the Missouri Department of Revenue 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 21 benefits you can claim in Jefferson County
All 115 Missouri counties get the same statewide law.
vehicles(2)
Disabled Veteran Plates Free at Any Rating — and Free to Replace
Missouri gives one complimentary set of Disabled Veteran plates to an honorably discharged resident with a service-connected disability. ANY rating qualifies. No specialty fee, no transfer fee, no processing fee and no replacement fee applies to that set; further sets are charged at the standard rates. The VA letter must be LESS THAN A YEAR OLD and must come directly from the VA — a photocopy of an older letter is refused, and that is the single most common reason applications bounce. The wheelchair-accessibility symbol and disabled-parking privilege need a separate physician's statement.
One complimentary set of DV plates, with no specialty, transfer, processing or replacement fee
VETERAN on the Licence — Proved Once, Never Asked Again
Missouri prints a VETERAN banner on a driver's licence or state ID at no cost beyond the standard transaction fee. Accepted proof includes a DD-214 showing honorable or general under honorable conditions, a DD Form 2 (retired), a VA photo ID and several alternates — and if none of your paperwork fits, a Missouri Veterans Commission Veteran Service Officer can issue an EQUIVALENCY LETTER. Once it is on, DOCUMENTATION IS NOT REQUIRED AGAIN AT RENEWAL, so it is proved once and carried thereafter.
VETERAN banner on the licence or state ID, at no extra cost
employment(2)
State Jobs: the Tie Goes to the Veteran — and Your Training Counts
RSMo 36.220 gives veterans and disabled veterans a preference in appointment to Missouri merit-system positions WHEN ALL OTHER RELEVANT JOB-RELATED FACTORS ARE EQUAL. That is a tiebreak, not a points bonus, and the statute deliberately specifies no point values — anyone quoting you a number for Missouri is quoting another state. The second half is easy to miss and often worth more: the state must give credit for relevant military training and experience, which can be what makes you equal in the first place.
Preference where other job-related factors are equal, plus credit for military training
Show-Me Heroes — Half Your Wages Reimbursed to the Employer Who Trains You
Missouri reimburses a participating employer 50% of the wages it pays a veteran in a qualifying on-the-job training post, for up to six months. The job must be permanent and full time — 32 hours a week or more — and the employer must be enrolled and using E-Verify. Like the hire credits in other states, the money goes to the employer, so the way a veteran uses it is to name it: a small firm hesitating over the cost of training you may take the job seriously once it knows half the wage bill is covered.
50% of wages reimbursed to the employer for up to six months of training
education(5)
Missouri Guard Tuition — a Full Fee Waiver Since 2025-26, Not Just a Grant
Missouri National Guard members get tuition and mandatory fees waived at Missouri public institutions. This CHANGED for the 2025-26 academic year: what used to be a grant capped at the University of Missouri average is now a waiver of tuition and mandatory fees, applied after all other aid, up to 120 credit hours. A certificate of satisfactory service is needed each semester. The condition that surprises people is repayment — losing Guard status means paying it back, except where the loss is by death or disability.
Tuition and mandatory fees waived, up to 120 credit hours
Operation Recognition — the Diploma, Signed by the Governor
Missouri awards an honorary high school diploma, naming the school you attended and SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR, to honorably discharged veterans who did not return to finish school after service. Civilian prisoners of war are covered too. You may be a current OR FORMER Missouri resident, so leaving the state does not close it. Apply through the Missouri Veterans Commission with your discharge papers; MVC verifies and forwards to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
An honorary diploma naming your school, signed by the Governor
Wartime Veteran's Survivors Grant
For children and spouses of veterans killed or badly injured in combat action since 11 September 2001 — including an 80% disability route.
A grant toward tuition at a Missouri institution
Returning Heroes — $50 a Credit Hour, Because the University May Not Charge More
The Missouri Returning Heroes’ Education Act caps what an approved institution may charge a qualifying combat veteran: $50 per credit hour for approved undergraduate programmes, and no more than 30% of tuition and fees at graduate level.
$50 per credit hour undergraduate; graduate charges capped at 30% of tuition and fees
In-State Tuition Without Moving — the Guard and Reserve Route
A member currently serving in the National Guard or a reserve component is deemed domiciled in Missouri for in-state tuition at any approved public institution, and a member stationed here on orders is treated as a resident along with a spouse and children under 24.
In-state rather than out-of-state tuition at an approved public institution
other(3)
Emergency Grants for Guard and Reserve Families — Funded by a Tick Box on a Tax Return
Missouri's Military Family Relief Fund makes emergency financial grants to Missouri National Guard members and to Missouri residents serving in the federal reserve components. The criteria are set by the Adjutant General on the recommendation of a statutory panel, so they move rather than sitting in the statute. Secondary sources put the cap at $3,000 but THE STATUTE NAMES NO FIGURE and we are not going to publish one as though it were settled — ask the Adjutant General's office what is currently payable.
Emergency financial grants; the cap is not set in statute
Missouri Deducts Military Pay, Pensions and Drill Pay
Active duty pay is 100% deductible, military pension income is subtracted on Form MO-A, and inactive-duty drill pay for Guard and Reserve members is deductible in full from tax year 2024 under a separate provision.
Active duty pay fully deducted; pensions subtracted; drill pay fully deducted from 2024
Skilled Nursing in a State Veterans Home — 180 Days’ Residency First, and a Hardship Rate If You Cannot Pay
The Missouri Veterans Commission admits veterans needing skilled nursing care to its veterans homes on eight eligibility conditions, including 180 days’ physical residency in the state before applying. A waiting list runs on two priorities, with a 70 percent or higher service-connected rating, a need for care for an adjudicated service-connected disability, or individual unemployability all placing an applicant in priority one. A resident who cannot afford the monthly room and care fee may apply for a hardship rate.
Skilled nursing care in a state veterans home, at a monthly room and care fee set by the commission — reducible on hardship
property tax(2)
Former POW at 100%: the Home Comes Off the Tax Roll Entirely
Missouri exempts the homestead from real property tax altogether for a former prisoner of war who is 100% disabled as a result of military service. There is NO INCOME LIMIT, and this is a statewide constitutional entitlement rather than something each county chooses to offer — an assessor cannot decline it as a matter of local policy. Both conditions must be met: former POW status and a total service-connected disability, evidenced by a VA letter. You must own and occupy the home as your primary residence.
The homestead exempt from real property tax in full
Missouri Property Tax Credit — One of Several Routes, and Renters Count
A credit claimed on your income tax return rather than relief applied to the bill — and it reaches renters as well as owners. Veterans are one qualifying class among several: the veteran route is a 100% service-connected permanent and total disability. Seniors and disabled persons reach the same credit by their own routes, so not qualifying as a veteran does not mean not qualifying.
A credit against Missouri income tax, claimed on Form MO-PTC
recreation(3)
$2 Off Every Night's Camping, Year Round — and Veterans Day Is Free
Missouri State Parks takes $2 a night off camping for retired, veteran and active-duty military personnel, all year, on production of a valid military ID at check-in — a CAC, DD Form 1173, DD-214 or listed alternate. Veterans Day brings a FREE camping night and free historic-site tours around the holiday. It is small per night and it adds up: a fortnight's camping is $28, and unlike most park discounts it has no blackout on weekends or peak season.
$2 a night off camping, year round; a free night on Veterans Day
Hunting and Fishing Without a Permit
A 60% service-related disability, former prisoner of war status, or a Warrior Transition assignment lets you fish and hunt in Missouri without buying a permit at all.
No fishing or hunting permit to buy at all
Called Up Mid-Season? The Permit Is Reinstated, and the Next One Is Cheap
A Missouri resident mobilised on full-time active duty in the Guard or Reserve hunts, fishes and traps on a low-cost permit for twelve months afterwards — and a permit you could not use because you were called away is reinstated free on your return.
A low-cost small game, fishing and trapping permit, plus free reinstatement of a permit lost to a call-up
Filing in Jefferson County
- Office
- Jefferson 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 Jefferson County
Jefferson 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 Jefferson County veteran benefits
- What can I claim here?
- The Missouri 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 Jefferson County?
- File with your the Missouri Department of Revenue. The form and deadline are on each benefit record.
- What document does the Jefferson County the Missouri Department of Revenue 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 Missouri.
Other counties
- Adair
- Andrew
- Atchison
- Audrain
- Barry
- Barton
- Bates
- Benton
- Bollinger
- Boone
- Buchanan
- Butler
- Caldwell
- Callaway
- Camden
- Cape Girardeau
- Carroll
- Carter
- Cass
- Cedar
- Chariton
- Christian
- Clark
- Clay
- Clinton
- Cole
- Cooper
- Crawford
- Dade
- Dallas
- Daviess
- DeKalb
- Dent
- Douglas
- Dunklin
- Franklin
- Gasconade
- Gentry
- Greene
- Grundy
- Harrison
- Henry
- Hickory
- Holt
- Howard
- Howell
- Iron
- Jackson
- Jasper
- Johnson
- Knox
- Laclede
- Lafayette
- Lawrence
- Lewis
- Lincoln
- Linn
- Livingston
- McDonald
- Macon
- Madison
- Maries
- Marion
- Mercer
- Miller
- Mississippi
- Moniteau
- Monroe
- Montgomery
- Morgan
- New Madrid
- Newton
- Nodaway
- Oregon
- Osage
- Ozark
- Pemiscot
- Perry
- Pettis
- Phelps
- Pike
- Platte
- Polk
- Pulaski
- Putnam
- Ralls
- Randolph
- Ray
- Reynolds
- Ripley
- St. Charles
- St. Clair
- Ste. Genevieve
- St. Francois
- St. Louis
- Saline
- Schuyler
- Scotland
- Scott
- Shannon
- Shelby
- Stoddard
- Stone
- Sullivan
- Taney
- Texas
- Vernon
- Warren
- Washington
- Wayne
- Webster
- Worth
- Wright
- St. Louis
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.