Veteran benefits in Queens County, New York
- Benefits you can claim here
- 42
- County levy rate (2024)
- 11.91
- per $1,000 of full value
- $12,000 basic maximum, typical home
- $143
- a year at this county rate
- Veterans in this county
- 36,171
- US Department of Veterans Affairs VetPop2023 county model, as of 9/30/2025
What to do, in Queens County
The process is the same across New York, but the ANSWER is not. Each town, village and school district decides separately whether to offer each exemption. Only the office and the local option change — but those change everything.
Find what applies to you
42 benefits reach Queens 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 Queens 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 Queens County?
Queens County levies $11.91 per $1,000 of full value for 2024 in county tax, published by New York State. Every parcel in the county pays at least this. Your town and school district add most of the rest — across this county the medians bring the combined rate to about $11.91 per $1,000. Because New York's veterans exemptions are local option, each of those jurisdictions also decides separately whether your exemption applies to its share of the bill.
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.
| County levy rate | $11.91 per $1,000 (2024) |
|---|---|
| Combined with the median town and school district | about $11.91 per $1,000 |
| $12,000 basic maximum (N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law §458-a) | about $143 a year against the county rate |
| Total exemption (§458-a with combat and disability) | the entire bill — about $2,978 a year against the county rate on a typical $250,000 value, and more once your other taxing units are added |
| Where to file | Queens County assessor |
| Deadline | March 1 in most towns, every year |
Which document does the Queens County assessor accept?
The state prescribes the forms, so the form is never the question. What varies is whether your locality adopted the exemption at all, and only your assessor can tell you that.
Easiest · VA Benefit Summary / Rating Letter
Sign in at VA.gov, choose Download VA Letters, then Benefit Summary.
The Department of Taxation and Finance prescribes forms RP-458, RP-458-a and RP-458-b statewide, so the form is never the argument. What varies is whether your locality adopted the exemption at all, and at which maximum — and only your assessor can tell you that. Get the printable one-pager to hand to the clerk.
All 42 benefits you can claim in Queens County
New York law applies in every county — but the three property tax exemptions are local option, so whether they reach your bill is your assessor's answer rather than the state's.
recreation(3)
The Patriot Plan — Free Sporting Licences, and Resident Prices for Those Stationed Here
New York gives free hunting, fishing and trapping licences to resident members of the New York Organized Militia and the U.S. Reserve forces, and to full-time active-duty New York residents stationed outside the state who are home on leave of 30 DAYS OR LESS. Separately — and this is the part outsiders miss — a NONRESIDENT active-duty member stationed in New York for MORE THAN 30 DAYS gets RESIDENT PRICING, which on a nonresident hunting licence is a large difference.
Free hunting, fishing and trapping licences; resident pricing for qualifying nonresident military
Reduced-Fee Hunting and Fishing Licences at a 40% Rating
Reduced-fee hunting, fishing and trapping licences, plus preference for Deer Management Permits, for a veteran rated 40% or higher.
Reduced-fee hunting, fishing and trapping licences
Lifetime Liberty Pass — Free State Park Entry for Every New York Veteran
Free vehicle entry to state parks and DEC day-use areas, free golf at 28 state courses, free swimming at 36 pools, and discounted camping — for life. There is no longer a disability requirement: every New York-resident veteran qualifies, as do Gold Star parents, spouses and children of service members who died in armed conflict. Golf courses and marinas run by concessionaires rather than by the parks agency are outside the pass.
Park entry, golf and pool access
housing(3)
Access to Home for Heroes — Ramps, Lifts and Wider Doors, for Renters Too
New York funds accessibility modifications to a veteran's primary residence: ramps, lifts, handrails, doorway widening, roll-in showers, plus emergency repairs and code-violation corrections. Two things widen this well beyond what people expect. RENTERS QUALIFY, not only homeowners — very little in this corpus reaches a renter. And the disability NEED NOT BE SERVICE-RELATED: a substantial physical limitation caused by age or health counts. Household income must be at or below 120% of area median income, which is a high ceiling.
Funded accessibility modifications, emergency repairs and code corrections
Up to $2,000 for an Immediate Housing Crisis — While the Money Lasts
New York's Department of Veterans' Services pays up to $2,000 to a veteran living in the state who faces an immediate housing hardship. The net worth test borrows the federal VA's non-service-connected pension limit, which is more generous than most emergency programmes. The honest caveat belongs up front: FUNDING IS LIMITED, awards depend on money being available, AND INTAKE HAS PREVIOUSLY BEEN PAUSED. Check whether it is open before relying on it, and have a second route in mind.
Up to $2,000 per eligible veteran toward emergency housing costs
Homes for Veterans — 0.40% Off the Mortgage Rate, and the First-Time-Buyer Rule Waived
The state mortgage agency prices veterans below its own standard rate — 0.40% lower on loans with down payment assistance — and lifts the first-time-buyer requirement that applies to everyone else. A veteran who has owned before can still use it, which is what makes it worth checking twice.
Interest rates 0.40% below the agency's standard rates on loans with down payment assistance; assistance of $3,000 or 3% of the purchase price, whichever is higher, capped at $15,000; only 1% of your own money required
vehicles(3)
Two Road Tests You Need Not Sit — CDL and Motorcycle
New York waives the CDL skills (road) test for military personnel and veterans with qualifying commercial motor vehicle driving experience. It ALSO waives the MOTORCYCLE ROAD TEST for a New York resident armed forces member who completed the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider Course ON A MILITARY INSTALLATION. The second one is genuinely obscure — thousands of members take that course on base and then sit a road test at home that they did not need to. All other licensing requirements still apply in both cases.
CDL road test waived; motorcycle road test waived after the MSF course on base
Registration and Plate Fees Waived — on Three Narrow Routes
New York waives registration and plate fees on three routes, and only three: a vehicle acquired with VA automobile assistance under Federal Title 38 chapter 39, a Congressional Medal of Honor custom plate, or a former prisoner of war custom plate. A service-connected disability on its own does not reach it. The VA-assisted route covers one vehicle — a passenger car, suburban or light truck of 20,000 lbs or less unladen, used exclusively to carry passengers — on form MV-1E first time and MV-1G to renew, and it cannot be renewed online.
Registration and plate fees waived
Free, Unlimited Thruway Travel — but the Tag Hangs Off a Fee-Exempt Registration
The Thruway Authority offers free, unlimited travel anywhere on the Thruway to qualifying disabled veterans, through a non-revenue E-ZPass tag. It is not applied for on a rating letter. The chain runs: a federal automobile-and-adaptive-equipment determination, then a DMV fee-exempt vehicle registration, then the Thruway application with a copy of that registration attached — and the tag lives and dies with the registration.
Free, unlimited travel anywhere on the Thruway system, on one E-ZPass tag
property tax(5)
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.
15% of assessed value, plus 10% for combat, plus half your disability rating
Cold War Veterans Exemption
A 10% exemption — 15% at local option — for veterans who served during the Cold War period and so cannot claim the wartime Alternative exemption. The basic exemption runs for TEN YEARS unless your taxing jurisdiction has removed the limit by local law or resolution; the disability portion is permanent either way. Un-remarried surviving spouses qualify.
10% of assessed value, or 15% at local option, plus a disability share
Eligible Funds Exemption
The oldest of the three: an exemption for property bought with pension, bonus or insurance money received because of military service. Up to $7,500 of assessed value.
Up to $7,500 off assessed value
Alternative Veterans Exemption for a Gold Star Parent
A locality may extend the Alternative Veterans Exemption to the parent of a servicemember who died in the line of duty. Many assessors’ own guidance has not caught up with it.
The same exemption a wartime veteran would receive
Senior Citizens Exemption — Up to 50% Off Your Assessment
A locality may take up to half your taxable assessment off at 65, on a low income. Where it is adopted it usually beats the veterans exemption — and you may be able to hold both.
Up to 50% of your taxable assessment, if your locality adopted the maximum
other(16)
Guard Pay for Service Inside New York Comes Off Your State Income
A member of the New York Army or Air National Guard, or the Naval Militia, who performs ACTIVE SERVICE WITHIN NEW YORK STATE under state or federal active-duty orders may subtract that pay from New York adjusted gross income. Two limits decide whether it applies to you: the service must be INSIDE New York, and REGULAR TRAINING DRILLS ARE EXCLUDED. So a weekend drill does not qualify and a state activation for a storm or a deployment inside the state does.
Qualifying active-service pay subtracted from New York adjusted gross income
Military Pensions Are Entirely Exempt from New York Income Tax
Military retirement pay is fully excluded from New York State, New York City and Yonkers income tax, with no cap. For most retirees this is worth more than every property tax exemption combined.
The whole of New York income tax on your military pension
Blind Annuity for Legally Blind Wartime Veterans
An annuity paid directly to a legally blind wartime veteran, or their unmarried surviving spouse, worth $1,695.96 a year — $141.33 a month — from 1 January 2025. The blindness does not have to be service-connected.
$1,695.96 a year, paid as $141.33 a month
Gold Star Parent Annuity
An annuity of $602.90 a year paid to each Gold Star parent of a deceased servicemember, with no income test. It is paid in two instalments a year, and the amount rises each year with the federal cost-of-living adjustment within a 1% to 4% band — the same escalator the spouse and child annuity uses.
$602.90 a year, per parent
New York State Veterans Homes
Five state veterans homes offering skilled nursing and long-term care. Four are operated by SUNY, which makes them unlike the veterans-department homes other states run.
Skilled nursing care at well below the private market rate
Buy Up to Three Years of Pension Credit for Military Service
A New York public employee can purchase up to three years of retirement service credit for military duty — for 3% or 6% of one year's salary per year bought. You must apply before you retire.
Up to three additional years of pension service credit, for life
Restoration of Honor — Get New York to Treat Your Discharge as Honorable
If PTSD, TBI, military sexual trauma, sexual orientation or gender identity led to a less-than-honorable discharge, New York can restore your access to every state veteran benefit.
Access to every New York State veteran benefit you were shut out of
The Supplemental Burial Allowance — Up to $6,000, and Only for a Combat Death
The state pays up to $6,000 towards funeral and interment costs the federal government did not cover, to the family member who actually bore them. The eligibility test is unusually tight: the death must have been in a combat zone, while drawing hazardous duty pay, or from wounds sustained in either.
Up to $6,000 towards funeral and interment costs not met by the federal government
The State Veterans Cemetery — Three Years Old, and Almost Nobody Knows It Exists
New York spent decades as one of the last states without a state veterans cemetery. It has one now: 162 acres on Seneca Lake at Romulus, on the old Sampson naval training station, run by the state veterans department since 1 February 2023. A veteran discharged under other than dishonorable conditions, their legal spouse and eligible dependent children may be buried there.
Interment at the state veterans cemetery at Romulus for a veteran, their legal spouse and eligible dependent children; the department publishes no fee for the veteran and directs families to ask the cemetery for the dependent burial fee
Terminating a Lease on Entering Service — and the Landlord Who Keeps Your Furniture Commits a Crime
State law lets a tenant who enters military service end a residential, professional, business or agricultural lease by written notice, including a lease signed jointly with a spouse. For a monthly tenancy it ends thirty days after the next rent day. A landlord who seizes or holds your possessions to secure rent accruing after that is guilty of a misdemeanour — up to a year in gaol or a $1,000 fine.
Written notice ends the lease: thirty days after the next rent day for a monthly tenancy, or the last day of the following month otherwise, with advance rent prorated and refunded — and a criminal penalty on a landlord who detains your property for post-termination rent
The Phone, the Broadband, the Cable and the Gym — Cancelled, No Penalty, But You Have Fourteen Days
A service member ordered to ninety days or more of active duty can terminate a telecommunications, internet, television or health club contract signed before deployment where the provider cannot deliver the service at the new duty station. The catch is the clock: written notice with a copy of the orders within FOURTEEN DAYS of receiving them. A separate section cancels other rental contracts with a full refund of deposits on one week's notice.
Termination without penalty of a telecommunications, internet, television or health club contract on deployment of 90 days or more — written notice with orders within 14 days; and cancellation of other rental contracts at no penalty with a full refund of deposits, on notice within one week
Six Percent on Pre-Service Debt — and No Filing Fee to Enforce It
State law caps interest at six percent a year on an obligation incurred before entering active service, and defines interest broadly enough to swallow service charges, renewal charges and fees. Separately, a member of the organised militia bringing a civil action about their service — including a claim under this article or under military-status discrimination law — pays no court costs or filing fees at all.
Interest capped at 6% a year on obligations incurred before active service, with service charges, renewal charges and fees counted as interest; and a full waiver of court costs and filing fees for a qualifying civil action
A Women Veterans Coordinator the Statute Spells Out — Including Maternity Care
Most states appoint a women veterans coordinator by administrative choice. Here the post and its duties are written into the Veterans’ Services Law. Section 19 requires the coordinator to plan and coordinate statewide programmes for women veterans, run an information clearinghouse, deliver cultural competence training, report on the demographics of the women veteran population, and develop a maternity care programme addressing the mental and behavioural health needs of pregnant and postpartum veterans. Section 20 adds a twelve-member advisory committee of women veterans that must meet at least quarterly and report by 15 February each year.
A statutory coordinator, a clearinghouse, cultural competence training, a maternity care programme, and a twelve-member advisory committee that reports every 15 February
Veterans Treatment Court — In 28 Counties, and Reachable From an Adjoining One
The first veterans treatment court in the country opened at Buffalo City Court in 2008, and this state now lists them across 28 counties. Two facts do the work here. First, the judiciary states plainly that these courts accept veterans with all characters of military discharge. Second, since a 2021 amendment a misdemeanour case can be removed to a veterans treatment court in an ADJOINING county, with the consent of both district attorneys — so being charged in a county with no court is not the end of it.
A judicially supervised treatment track with a veteran peer mentor, open on every character of discharge, and transferable to an adjoining county’s court with both district attorneys’ consent
Gold Star Annuity for Spouses and Children — Remarriage Does Not End It
The state annuity for Gold Star families reaches spouses and children, not only parents. Two provisions make it unusual: a spouse includes a domestic partner as state law defines that term, and remarriage by a Gold Star spouse does not discontinue eligibility. It is paid in two instalments a year, in March and September, and rises annually with the federal cost of living adjustment within a 1% to 4% band.
An annuity paid in two instalments a year, in March and September, rising each year with the federal cost of living adjustment
Veteran-Directed Home Care — Real Money, Ten Counties
A programme in which payment flows from the local federal medical centre to the Area Agency on Aging, and the veteran directs the care: personal care using workers the veteran identifies, housekeeping, chores, social adult day care, meals, respite, caregiver training and support groups, and home modification the federal side does not cover. Eligibility is determined federally and referred to the aging agency. It began in three counties and is expanding to seven more.
Consumer-directed home and community based services — personal care by workers the veteran identifies, plus respite, adult day care, meals and home modification
education(5)
New York Veterans Tuition Award
Full undergraduate or graduate tuition at SUNY, CUNY or a participating private or vocational school. Since July 2025 it reaches any veteran with four years of active duty, not only combat veterans.
Tuition, up to the SUNY undergraduate rate
Regents Award for Children of Deceased and Disabled Veterans
An annual award of $450 for the child of a wartime veteran who died, was rated 40% or more disabled, was taken prisoner, or was declared missing in action.
$450 a year toward undergraduate study
MERIT Scholarship — Full Cost of Attendance for Families of the Severely Disabled or Lost
The Military Enhanced Recognition Incentive and Tribute scholarship covers the full cost of attendance for the child, spouse or financial dependant of a New Yorker who died or was severely disabled in service.
The full cost of attendance at a SUNY or CUNY institution
Guard Tuition — Up to the State University Rate, With Two Hard Deadlines
The state military division pays tuition up to the state university rate per semester for a Guard member in good standing reading for an undergraduate degree. Two things decide whether you get it: six credit hours a semester, and an application in by 15 August for the autumn or 15 December for the spring.
Tuition paid up to the state university rate per semester, for an undergraduate degree-granting programme
The Diploma You Never Finished — Free, and Awarded Posthumously
A veteran who left school before graduating may be awarded a high school diploma under the education law. One day of active duty, a satisfactory discharge, state residence — and no requirement ever to have attended school here. There is no fee, and a spouse or child may accept one on behalf of a veteran who has died.
A state high school diploma at no charge, for a veteran who left school before graduating
employment(2)
Civil Service Examination Credit — Five Points, Ten With a Disability
Extra points on any New York civil service examination under Civil Service Law §85: five for a veteran, ten for a disabled veteran, usable once for appointment and once for promotion. The separate 55-c programme, which fills 500 state posts for disabled veterans without an examination at all, has its own record.
Five exam points, ten if disabled — and 55-c, which skips the exam
500 State Jobs Set Aside — No Competitive Examination
The civil service law authorises up to 500 positions in the non-competitive class to be filled by veterans with disabilities. No written examination, no competitive list. An approved candidate receives an eligibility letter good for three years and goes into a database that hiring agencies search.
Up to 500 non-competitive class positions reserved for veterans with disabilities; approval lasts three years and is renewable
business(2)
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business — a 6% Share of State Contracting
New York sets a 6% statewide participation goal for service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, and lets agencies set contracts aside for them entirely. It is the highest such goal of any state in this corpus.
Access to a 6% goal across state contracting, and set-aside procurements
Free Veteran Vendor Licence
An honorably discharged veteran may hawk, peddle and vend goods in New York without paying for a municipal vendor licence. It is one of the oldest veteran benefits in the state.
The municipal vendor licence fee
licenses & fees(3)
Military Spouse Licensure — Half the Application Fee, and a Free Permit to Work Meanwhile
A spouse relocated here by the military who holds a licence in good standing elsewhere pays half the initial licensure application fee, gets an expedited review, and can be issued a temporary practice permit at no fee — good for up to six months — so the work can start before the file is finished.
Initial licensure application fee reduced by one-half, plus a no-fee temporary practice permit for up to six months
Birth and Death Certificates — $30 Each, Unless the Claim Needs Them
The Public Health Law sets a $30 fee for a certification or certified copy of a birth or death record. The same section then removes it: no fee at all where the record is required by the federal veterans department to determine eligibility for benefits. A claim needing four certificates is $120 that nobody has to pay.
No fee for a search, certification, certified copy or certified transcript of a birth or death record required by the federal veterans department to determine benefit eligibility — against a standard fee of $30
"Veteran" on Your Licence — No Extra Fee, and "Under Honorable Conditions" Counts
The word Veteran can be printed in the upper left corner of a driver licence, learner permit or non-driver photo ID. There is no additional fee for the designation itself, though the ordinary transaction fees apply. The proof must show a discharge characterised as Honorable OR Under Honorable Conditions — a wider door than most people assume — and it cannot be done online or by telephone.
No additional fee for the designation — ordinary transaction fees still apply
Filing in Queens County
- Office
- Queens 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 Queens County
Queens 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 Queens County veteran benefits
- What veteran benefits are available in Queens County, New York?
- 42 verified benefits apply in Queens County: 42 New York statewide benefits. They include three property tax exemptions, the complete exclusion of military pensions from state income tax, a 6% share of state contracting for service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, the Veterans Tuition Award, the Blind Annuity, and the Lifetime Liberty Pass. Whether the property exemptions reach your bill depends on which of your local taxing jurisdictions adopted them — and this page shows what Queens County actually granted last roll year.
- How much is the New York veterans property tax exemption worth in Queens County?
- It depends on your town and your school district, not only on your county. Queens County levies $11.91 per $1,000 of full value in county tax, and the combined rate with the median town and school district here is about $11.91. Applied to the basic state maximum of $12,000 for wartime service, the county portion alone is worth roughly $143 a year — but your locality may have adopted a different maximum, may not have adopted the exemption at all, and multiplies whatever it adopted by its own equalization rate. Your assessor is the only source for your parcel.
- Where do I file for a veteran property tax exemption in Queens County?
- With your town, city or village assessor — not with the county — on form RP-458-a, by the taxable status date. That is March 1 in most towns, but cities and villages set their own and some are much earlier. Ring and ask for yours specifically.
- What document does the Queens County assessor accept as proof?
- The Department of Taxation and Finance prescribes forms RP-458, RP-458-a and RP-458-b statewide, so the form is never the argument. What you need behind it is a DD214 and, if you have a rating, a VA letter — the disability portion is half your rating and is frequently the largest of the three parts.
Veteran benefits in other New York counties
- Albany
- Allegany
- Bronx
- Broome
- Cattaraugus
- Cayuga
- Chautauqua
- Chemung
- Chenango
- Clinton
- Columbia
- Cortland
- Delaware
- Dutchess
- Erie
- Essex
- Franklin
- Fulton
- Genesee
- Greene
- Hamilton
- Herkimer
- Jefferson
- Kings
- Lewis
- Livingston
- Madison
- Monroe
- Montgomery
- Nassau
- New York
- Niagara
- Oneida
- Onondaga
- Ontario
- Orange
- Orleans
- Oswego
- Otsego
- Putnam
- Rensselaer
- Richmond
- Rockland
- St. Lawrence
- Saratoga
- Schenectady
- Schoharie
- Schuyler
- Seneca
- Steuben
- Suffolk
- Sullivan
- Tioga
- Tompkins
- Ulster
- Warren
- Washington
- Wayne
- Westchester
- Wyoming
- Yates
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. Rates are from New York State's Real Property Tax Rates Levy Data by Municipality, roll year 2024, per $1,000 of full value. Veteran population is from the VA's VetPop2023 model.