Alternative Veterans Exemption — 15%, plus 10% for Combat, plus a Disability Share
The main New York veterans exemption: 15% of assessed value for wartime service, another 10% for a combat zone, and a further share equal to half your disability rating. Each part is capped, and each locality decides its own maximums.
Verified August 27, 2026
What this benefit is
New York’s main veterans property tax exemption. It has three parts that stack: 15% of assessed value for wartime service, a further 10% for service in a combat zone, and a further exemption equal to half your disability rating.
Every part is capped, every cap is chosen by your locality, and every cap is then multiplied by that locality’s equalization rate.
What it's worth: 15% of assessed value, plus 10% for combat, plus half your disability rating
- The computed figure applies the BASIC state maximum of $12,000 for the wartime portion against your county rate only. It is a floor in two directions: your locality may have adopted a higher maximum, and your town and school lines add to the county line.
- The three parts stack: 15% for wartime service, a further 10% for service in a combat zone, and a further exemption equal to HALF your disability rating multiplied by assessed value.
- Each part is capped at a basic state maximum — $12,000, $8,000 and $40,000 respectively — multiplied by your locality’s equalization rate. Two towns that both adopted the exemption can therefore give the same veteran different amounts.
- The un-remarried surviving spouse of a qualifying veteran is a qualified owner, and the exemption continues without any time limit.
Who is entitled to it
- A veteran who served on active duty during a defined period of war, or received an expeditionary medal,
- on residential property that is their primary residence,
- in a county, city, town, village or school district that has adopted the exemption.
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.
The thing most people get wrong
Ring your assessor before you do anything else
This exemption is local option, and that is not a footnote — it is the shape of the whole thing. RPTL §458-a says what a jurisdiction MAY grant, not what it must. Your county, your town, your village and your school district each decide separately whether to offer it and at which of several maximum levels. They routinely answer differently, and school tax is usually the largest line on a New York bill. So the useful first action is not filling in a form: it is one phone call asking your assessor three things — has this jurisdiction adopted it, at which level, and what is the taxable status date here. No national benefit guide can answer any of those for you.
How to claim it
Deadline: March 1 in most towns — taxable status date- 1Ring your assessor first and ask three things: has this jurisdiction adopted the exemption, at which maximum level, and what is the taxable status date here.
- 2File form RP-458-a with the assessor before that date — it is March 1 in most towns but not all.
- 3If you have a disability rating, include the VA letter: the disability portion is often larger than the other two combined.
- Form
- RP-458-a
- File with
- Your town, city or village assessor
- Documents you will need
- dd214 ny · va rating letter ny · proof of residence ny
- Stays in place once granted
- Once granted it continues, but tell the assessor if your rating changes — the disability portion moves with it.
Common mistakes that cost people this benefit
- Assuming March 1. That is the taxable status date in most towns, but cities and villages set their own and some are much earlier.
- Assuming the exemption applies to your whole bill. It applies to each taxing jurisdiction that adopted it, separately.
- Leaving out the VA letter. The disability portion — half your rating — is frequently larger than the wartime and combat portions put together.
- Reading a headline maximum as your maximum. The $12,000, $8,000 and $40,000 figures are BASIC state maximums; your locality may have adopted a different level, and the figure is then multiplied by an equalization rate.
Questions people ask
- Why does my neighbour get more than me?
- Almost certainly because you are in different towns or school districts, which adopted different maximums — or because their equalization rate differs from yours. Both are lawful and neither is an error.
- I served after Vietnam but before the Gulf. Do I get anything?
- Not this exemption, which needs wartime service. The Cold War Veterans exemption under §458-b exists precisely for that gap, and is very often the one people in your position were never told about.
- What is the equalization rate for?
- New York towns assess at different fractions of market value. The equalization rate reconciles them, so the same statutory maximum produces different cash amounts in different towns. It is why the headline $12,000 is rarely what you actually receive.
Sources
- authority · statuteN.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law §458-a
- operating · published policyNYS Dept. of Taxation and Finance — Assessor Manual, RPTL §458-a
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.