Veteran benefits in Somerset County, New Jersey
- Benefits you can claim here
- 33
- Property tax rate
- 1.9
- effective rate, ACS 2023 five-year
- 100% of your property tax bill, typical home
- $0
- a year at this county rate
- Veterans in this county
- 8,746
- US Department of Veterans Affairs VetPop2023 county model, as of 9/30/2025
What to do, in Somerset County
The process is the same across New Jersey for the statewide records. Only the office and the tax rate change.
Find what applies to you
33 benefits reach Somerset 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 Somerset 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 Somerset 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 |
| 100% of your property tax bill (N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.30) | about $0 a year against the county rate |
| Total exemption (N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.30) | the entire bill — about $4,750 a year against the county rate on a typical $250,000 value, and more once your other taxing units are added |
| Where to file | Somerset County local tax assessor |
| Deadline | No fixed deadline, every year |
Which document does the Somerset County local tax assessor 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 33 benefits you can claim in Somerset County
All 21 New Jersey counties get the same statewide law.
recreation(2)
Free Hunting and Fishing for Serving Guard Members — but Not From the Usual Counter
An active New Jersey National Guard member in good standing gets free sporting licences. The practical detail that decides whether you actually get them is where you go: THEY ARE OBTAINED THROUGH DMAVA, NOT THROUGH STANDARD LICENCE SALES. A Guard member walking into a licence agent or using the online system will simply be charged. Go through the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs instead.
Free hunting and fishing licences for serving Guard members
Free Hunting and Fishing Licences
A service-connected disability of any degree — there is no percentage — makes every licence, stamp and permit you are eligible for free.
Every licence, stamp and permit you are eligible for, free
vehicles(4)
The Veteran Marker on Your Licence — and What It Is Not Good For
New Jersey will put a veteran designation on a driver licence or non-driver ID for anyone honorably discharged from active service, proved by a DD-214 or federal activation orders under 10 U.S.C. 672 or 12301. Read the limitation carefully, because New Jersey states it plainly and most states do not: THE MARKER IS NOT VALID PROOF OF VETERAN STATUS WHERE A STATUTE REQUIRES DOCUMENTATION. It is convenient at a shop counter and it will not do for a property tax deduction or a licence application. Keep the DD-214 for those. The fee is not published.
Veteran designation on a New Jersey licence or non-driver ID
No Sales Tax on the Part of the Car the VA Pays For
Where the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the New Jersey Department of Veterans Affairs provides funds toward a disabled veteran's vehicle purchase, New Jersey does not charge sales tax on THOSE AMOUNTS. What it does charge on is the rest: money you put in yourself remains taxable. So on a car part-funded by a VA automobile grant, the tax is calculated on the balance, not on the whole price — which is a real saving and a common surprise at the dealership if nobody raised it beforehand.
Sales tax not charged on the VA- or NJDVA-funded portion of the purchase
Skip the CDL Road Test — Your Military Driving Counts for Twelve Months
New Jersey waives the CDL behind-the-wheel skills examination for an active, reserve or veteran applicant who served WITHIN THE LAST 12 MONTHS in a military post requiring the operation of a vehicle equivalent to a commercial motor vehicle. A commanding-officer certification is required, which is worth getting BEFORE you separate — chasing a signature from a unit you have left is the part that goes wrong. You need a valid New Jersey driver licence to apply.
The CDL behind-the-wheel skills examination waived
Disabled Vet Plates and Placard — 24-Hour Meter Exemption, Any Rating
Any honorably discharged veteran the VA has declared service-connected disabled — at any rating — may carry "Disabled Vet" plates ($15 on top of ordinary registration) and the free MVC placard that exempts the vehicle from municipal parking meter fees for up to 24 hours.
"Disabled Vet" plates for $15 plus ordinary registration fees; placard with a 24-hour municipal parking meter exemption
employment(2)
Fifty-One Licensing Boards, and Someone Whose Job Is to Help You Through Them
New Jersey's 51 professional and occupational boards, all under the Division of Consumer Affairs, must facilitate recognition of military training, education and experience toward licensure. The part that is genuinely unusual is the support: DCA provides DEDICATED ONE-TO-ONE APPLICATION HELP for service members, veterans and spouses, at DCAMilitary@dca.njoag.gov or 973-504-6210. A named contact who deals with this every day is worth more than the statutory duty on its own, because the duty is where most states stop.
Military training recognised toward licensure, with one-to-one application support
Absolute Veterans Preference in Civil Service
Pass the examination and you rank above every non-veteran on the list, whatever their score — disabled veterans first, then veterans, then everyone else.
Top of the eligible list, above every non-veteran, whatever their score
education(5)
Free Undergraduate Tuition for the Children of POWs and the Missing
New Jersey pays free undergraduate tuition at a public OR PRIVATE institution for the child of a servicemember officially declared a prisoner of war or missing in action after 1 January 1960. The private-institution half is unusual — most state tuition benefits stop at public colleges, and this one does not. The residency test is not established from the sources reviewed, so ask the Veterans Benefits Bureau rather than assuming you are outside it.
Free undergraduate tuition at a New Jersey public or private institution
Operation Recognition — Reaching Back as Far as the First World War
New Jersey awards a state-endorsed high school diploma to honorably discharged veterans of WWI, WWII, the Korean conflict or the Vietnam conflict who left a New Jersey high school before graduating in order to serve. The WWI inclusion is now historical, but it tells you how the statute was written: this is one of the widest windows in the corpus. Attendance at a New Jersey high school is the residency test. Awarded by the Department of Education with DMAVA's Veterans Benefits Bureau.
A state-endorsed high school diploma
$400 a Year for Vietnam-Era Veterans — and Three Ways to Prove Residency
New Jersey pays up to $400 a year toward tuition for a veteran who served on active duty between 31 DECEMBER 1960 AND 7 MAY 1975 and is eligible for federal educational assistance. Half-time study pays $200. It goes to the institution and cannot exceed the tuition charged. The residency test has THREE alternative routes: New Jersey legal residence at induction, OR at discharge, OR for at least one year before applying, not counting active duty time — so someone who has only recently returned to the state can still meet it. Deadlines are 1 October for the fall term and 1 March for spring.
$400 a year full-time, $200 half-time, paid to the institution
War Orphans Tuition Assistance
$500 a year for four years — modest money, and a window that closes at 21.
$500 a year, for four years of college or equivalent training
New Jersey National Guard Free Tuition — 16 Credits a Semester
A member of the New Jersey National Guard may attend any New Jersey public college or university tuition free, undergraduate or graduate, up to 16 credits a semester.
Tuition free for up to 16 credits a semester at a New Jersey public college or university
business(3)
One Licence, Every Town — the Veteran's Statewide Peddler Licence
An honorably discharged New Jersey veteran can hold a peddler licence that is good STATEWIDE and is EXEMPT FROM APPLYING FOR A MUNICIPAL LICENCE. In a state of 564 municipalities, that is the whole value: an ordinary peddler applies town by town. Apply to the county clerk with a WD Form 93 or DD-214, which is forwarded to the state Department of Veterans Affairs for verification. Other municipal ordinance provisions — where and when you may trade — still apply; it is the licensing requirement that is lifted, not the local rules.
A statewide right to hawk, peddle and vend, with no municipal licence needed
Veteran-Owned Business Certification — a Listing, Not a Set-Aside
New Jersey certifies Veteran-Owned Business Enterprises: a business with its principal place of business in New Jersey, independently owned and operated, at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more veterans. Be clear about what it buys. NO SET-ASIDE PERCENTAGE ATTACHES TO VOBE — the 3% state contracting set-aside is for DISABLED veteran-owned businesses (DVOBE) only. What VOBE gives you is certification and a place on the state registry, which agencies and prime contractors search. That is worth having; it is not the same thing as reserved work.
State VOBE certification and a listing on the registry
A 3% Set-Aside of State Contracting for Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses
New Jersey reserves three percent of state contracting for disabled veteran owned businesses. Certification is free through the Treasury’s registry, and a federally verified SDVOSB can come in on that verification.
A three percent share of state contracting, reserved
other(11)
New Jersey Taxes No Military Pension — at Any Age
Military retirement pay and survivor benefit payments are fully excluded from New Jersey gross income tax. There is NO AGE THRESHOLD and no disability requirement, which distinguishes it from New Jersey's ordinary pension exclusion — a 42-year-old retiree gets the same treatment as a 72-year-old. Survivor benefit payments are covered in their own right. One line to watch: a FEDERAL CIVIL-SERVICE PENSION based on military service credit is NOT exempt, so a veteran who went on to a federal civilian career should separate the two.
Military pension and survivor benefit payments fully excluded from New Jersey income
Free Counselling for Gold Star Families — Paid for by a Credit to the Therapist
New Jersey provides mental health counselling to the families of members of the armed forces or National Guard who died while on active duty, through professionals linked to the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The funding mechanism is unusual and worth understanding: the professional donates the time and takes A STATE TAX CREDIT for it. That means the counselling is free to the family and that availability depends on how many professionals have signed up in your area — so ask DMAVA who is participating rather than searching on your own.
Mental health counselling at no cost to the family
The Wounded Warrior Caregivers Credit — $675 a Year for Looking After a Relative
New Jersey pays an income tax credit to a family caregiver of a relative whose disability arises from service in any war or conflict ON OR AFTER 11 SEPTEMBER 2001. The credit is the lesser of 100% of the federal veteran disability compensation or $675 a year, and it is APPORTIONED where more than one person cares for the same veteran. Income caps: $100,000 filing jointly, head of household or qualifying widow(er); $50,000 single or married filing separately. Claimed on Schedule NJ-WWC or Form NJ-1040-HW.
The lesser of 100% of the federal disability compensation or $675 a year
The $6,000 Veteran Income Tax Exemption
A flat $6,000 exemption for any veteran discharged honorably, or released under honorable circumstances, from active duty on or before the last day of the tax year. It is not a pension exclusion and does not require military retired pay. A spouse or civil union partner who independently qualifies may claim their own $6,000 on a joint return. It does not pass to a surviving spouse, except in the year of death on a joint return.
$6,000 off your New Jersey taxable income
Burial at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery
The state buries an eligible veteran, their spouse and their dependent children at no cost — the grave, the state-provided liner and the interment included.
The grave, the state-provided liner and the interment, at no cost to the family
Catastrophic Entitlement — $150 a Month, and It Survives You
A monthly $150 state payment for a wartime service-connected disability on a closed list of seven catastrophic conditions. The surviving spouse continues to receive it.
$150 a month — $1,800 a year — and it continues to the surviving spouse
State PTSD and Readjustment Counselling — Family Included
New Jersey runs its own counselling service for combat veterans of all war periods, from individual and group counselling through biofeedback to medication monitoring — and it treats the family too.
State clinical counselling for the veteran and the family — no cost figure is published
Refused a Job or a Flat Because You Might Be Called Up — That Is Illegal Here
The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination protects people with liability for service in the Armed Forces. An employer may not refuse to hire or promote you because you may be called to duty, and a landlord may not refuse you housing for the same reason.
A protected characteristic in employment, housing and public accommodation
Getting to the VA Without a Car — the County Transport Directory
The state veterans department publishes a Veterans Transportation Guide naming, county by county, the unit that carries veterans to medical appointments, its reservation and cancellation numbers, whether it takes wheelchair users, and whether a caregiver may ride.
A named county transport unit, with its booking number and its wheelchair and escort policy
The Veterans Diversion Program — a Route Out Before the Court Route
Created by P.L. 2017, c. 042, the Veterans Diversion Program lets a servicemember who is a veteran and alleged to have committed an eligible offence be assisted, with a volunteer mentor, in resolving the problems that led to the involvement with the criminal justice system.
Diversion with a volunteer veteran mentor, for an eligible offence
Office of Women Veterans — the State Says It Makes No Distinction
New Jersey states plainly that the benefits on its veterans department site apply to all veterans and make no distinction between men and women, and refers gender-specific needs to the federal VA. What the state adds is outreach and women veterans service officers.
Outreach and women veterans service officers — the benefits themselves are not gendered
property tax(2)
Full Property Tax Exemption for 100% Disabled Veterans — and Their Surviving Spouses
The dwelling and its lot come off the roll entirely — one of only a handful of true total exemptions in this corpus. It does not end with the veteran: an unremarried surviving spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner of an honorably discharged veteran who was 100% permanently and totally disabled during active duty service qualifies for the same full exemption.
100% of your property tax bill
$250 Off the Property Tax Bill Every Year — No Disability Needed
An annual $250 property tax deduction for an honourably discharged veteran with active duty service who owns a New Jersey home, and for an unremarried surviving spouse — tested as of 1 October of the pretax year.
$250 off the property tax bill, every year
housing(3)
The Three New Jersey Veterans Memorial Homes
Round-the-clock nursing care at Paramus, Menlo Park and Vineland — for veterans discharged from war or peacetime service, their spouses, and Gold Star parents. Residents pay according to income.
Nursing care across 948 beds statewide, charged on ability to pay
Bringing Veterans Home — the State’s Route Out of Veteran Homelessness
Street outreach, diversion, emergency shelter, housing navigation and rapid rehousing, run jointly by the housing department and the veterans department, with a self-referral route you can use yourself.
Coordinated housing help rather than a payment
Veterans Haven — Two Years of Transitional Housing
A two-year transitional housing programme for homeless New Jersey veterans, run by the State at Glen Gardner in the north and a second site in the south. Admission requires being drug and alcohol free on the day.
Up to two years of transitional housing and support, aimed at a permanent solution
Filing in Somerset County
- Office
- Somerset 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 Somerset County
Somerset 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 Somerset County veteran benefits
- What can I claim here?
- The New Jersey 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 Somerset County?
- File with your local tax assessor. The form and deadline are on each benefit record.
- What document does the Somerset County local tax assessor 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 New Jersey.
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.