Veteran benefits in Fayette County, West Virginia
- Benefits you can claim here
- 34
- Property tax rate
- 0.6
- effective rate, ACS 2023 five-year
- 100% of the property tax paid on the homestead, refunded, typical home
- $0
- a year at this county rate
- Veterans in this county
- 2,727
- US Department of Veterans Affairs VetPop2023 county model, as of 9/30/2025
What to do, in Fayette County
The process is the same across West Virginia for the statewide records. Only the office and the tax rate change.
Find what applies to you
34 benefits reach Fayette 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 Fayette 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 Fayette 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 the property tax paid on the homestead, refunded (W. Va. Code §11-13MM-4) | about $0 a year against the county rate |
| Total exemption (W. Va. Code §11-13MM-4) | the entire bill — about $1,500 a year against the county rate on a typical $250,000 value, and more once your other taxing units are added |
| Where to file | Fayette County West Virginia Tax Division |
| Deadline | With your income tax return, every year |
Which document does the Fayette County West Virginia Tax Division 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 34 benefits you can claim in Fayette County
All 55 West Virginia counties get the same statewide law.
property tax(2)
Disabled Veteran Real Property Tax Credit — Refundable
From a 90% rating, 100% of the property tax paid on the homestead comes back as a refundable credit on the state income tax return. The tax has to have been paid on time, and the credit is first claimable for tax year 2024.
100% of the property tax paid on the homestead, refunded
The First $20,000 of Assessed Value, Exempt — and Age 65 Is a Second Door
West Virginia exempts the FIRST $20,000 OF ASSESSED VALUE of an owner-occupied homestead used exclusively for residential purposes. The Department of Veterans Assistance lists veterans rated 100% PERMANENT AND TOTAL by the federal VA; the same exemption is available to ALL OWNERS AGED 65 OR OVER, so an older veteran who is not rated at 100% reaches it by the other door. Proof for the disability route includes a WRITTEN CERTIFICATION SIGNED BY THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION that the person is totally and permanently disabled. Claim with the county assessor.
The first $20,000 of assessed value exempt from ad valorem property tax
other(6)
The Year You Separate, Your Active Duty Pay Comes Off Your State Income
A West Virginia resident on active duty for 30 OR MORE DAYS — armed forces, National Guard or reserves — who PERMANENTLY SEPARATES DURING THE TAX YEAR may deduct their active-duty military income for that year. A copy of the DD Form 214 is required. This is a one-year benefit tied to the year of separation, which is also the year someone is least likely to be thinking about state tax, so it is worth flagging before the return is filed rather than afterwards.
Active-duty military income deducted for the year of separation
Military Retirement Pay — 100% Exempt, Including USPHS and NOAA
West Virginia exempts military retirement income in full through a DECREASING MODIFICATION to federal adjusted gross income. The scope is wider than the phrase suggests: it covers the REGULAR ARMED FORCES, THE RESERVES, THE NATIONAL GUARD, AND UNIFORMED SERVICES THAT ARE NOT PART OF THE ARMED FORCES — including the COMMISSIONED CORPS OF THE U.S. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE AND NOAA. Those last two are routinely left out of state exemptions and their retirees routinely assume they are excluded.
Military retirement income fully exempt from West Virginia income tax
Women Veterans Program — Women Service Officers and a Private Consultation
The veterans department runs a Women Veterans Program with women veteran service officers available across its benefits offices, built around military sexual trauma claims and any other claim a woman veteran may have. Enrolment is by a form on the department site, and a woman service officer then makes contact for a private benefits consultation.
A woman service officer, a private consultation, and help with an MST claim
RAFT Suicide Prevention Programme — the State’s Own Prevention Effort
Resource Availability Family Tapestry, established in 2023, is the veterans department’s own suicide prevention programme for service members, veterans and their families, covering prevention, intervention and postvention, and working alongside the Governor’s Challenge team that has run here since 2020.
A state prevention programme, partner referrals, and a route into the Governor’s Challenge team
Department Benefits Offices — Accredited Service Officers in Fourteen Locations
The veterans department operates fourteen benefits offices and a claims office. Accredited service officers advise on benefits, file claims, and may represent a veteran to the federal benefits administration on a disagreement with a decision. The department publishes a county-by-county lookup covering all fifty-five counties.
Free accredited help with a claim, and representation on an appeal
Caregiver Support — the State Has None of Its Own, and Its Own Page Says So by What It Lists
The Department of Veterans Assistance publishes a caregiver support page. Every programme on it is the federal VA’s or a national charity’s: the Program of General Caregiver Support Services, the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, and three out-of-state nonprofits. The only in-state door it names is the Bureau of Senior Services, which is not a veterans programme.
No state-funded caregiver stipend, respite programme or adult day health route for veterans — the routes are federal
education(7)
Tuition and Fees Waived for the Family of Someone Killed in the Line of Duty
West Virginia waives UNDERGRADUATE TUITION AND FEES at state institutions of higher education for the child or spouse of a WEST VIRGINIA-RESIDENT National Guard member, reserve component member, or person on FEDERAL OR STATE ACTIVE MILITARY DUTY killed in the line of duty. SPECIAL AND LABORATORY FEES AND PARKING ARE EXCLUDED — so it covers tuition and the ordinary fees rather than literally everything. State active duty is inside it, which not every state's equivalent covers.
Undergraduate tuition and fees waived at state institutions
War Orphan Education — Tuition Waived, Plus a Living Stipend
A qualifying student — the child, 16 to 25, or the spouse of a veteran killed in action or dead of war service — is not charged tuition and fees at any in-state post-secondary institution, and the veterans department adds up to $1,000 a semester ($2,000 a year) toward room, board and books.
Tuition and fees not charged, plus up to $2,000 a year toward room, board and books
Guard Educational Encouragement Program — Up to $10,000 a Fiscal Year
State tuition assistance funded by the National Guard for a drilling member, up to $10,000 per service member per fiscal year as prescribed by the Adjutant General, at an approved accredited institution in the State.
Up to $10,000 per service member per fiscal year
Veterans Re-education Assistance — $500 a Semester, Including Non-Traditional Study
A stipend of up to $500 a semester for a veteran enrolled in a certified post-secondary course, funded through annual legislative allocations since fiscal year 1997 and able to reach vocational and non-traditional study case by case.
Up to $500 a semester
Medal of Honor or Purple Heart — Tuition Waived, But Only What Other Aid Does Not Cover
All public institutions of higher education waive undergraduate tuition and mandatory fee charges for residents of the State awarded the Medal of Honor or the Purple Heart, for a maximum of eight semesters. The waiver is last-dollar: W. Va. Code 18B-10-10 covers only the amount exceeding other state or federal education benefits, grants or scholarships, so a recipient with GI Bill entitlement may find little or nothing left for it to pay. Recipients whose combat wounds caused permanent disability or the loss of a limb hold an enhanced tier, offset only against aid designated solely for tuition and mandatory fees.
Undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees waived for up to eight semesters — less whatever other aid already covers
In-State Tuition for a Non-Resident Using the G.I. Bill, Within Three Years
All public institutions of higher education assess tuition at the in-state rate for non-resident recipients of the G.I. Bill who enrol within three years of discharge.
Tuition at the in-state rate rather than the non-resident rate
High School Diploma for a WWII, Korea or Vietnam Veteran Who Left to Serve
A veteran of the State who left high school before graduating to serve in World War II, Korea or Vietnam may be awarded a high school diploma, granted by the county of current residence or the county where the school stood.
A high school diploma, awarded by a county board of education
licenses & fees(2)
Veteran on Your Licence — and Nine Ways to Prove It
West Virginia prints a United States Veterans designation on a driver's licence or ID card, usable as proof of veteran status. The accepted documents are unusually broad and worth listing, because older veterans are routinely turned away elsewhere for holding the wrong paper: DD Form 214, WD AGO 53, WD AGO 55, WD AGO 53-55, NAVPERS 553, NAVMC 78PD, NAVCG 553, a Military ID card, or a current military licence. THE FEE IS NOT ESTABLISHED from the sources reviewed — ask when you go.
United States Veterans designation on the licence or ID
CDL Written and Skills Waivers on One Form
West Virginia handles both CDL military waivers on a single form, CDL-ST-WVR: EVEN EXCHANGE, which is MOS-specific and waives the WRITTEN AND SKILLS tests, and the SKILLS TEST WAIVER for qualified military commercial motor vehicle experience. The detailed eligibility conditions were NOT ESTABLISHED from the sources reviewed — the DMV publishes the form index rather than the criteria. Ask the DMV which route your specialty and experience fit before booking any test.
Skills test waived; written test too on the MOS even-exchange route
employment(3)
Priority of Service in State Job Training Programmes
West Virginia has a codified article — Veterans Employment Training Priority at W. Va. Code §§9A-4-1 to 9A-4-6 — giving veterans PRIORITY OF SERVICE in state employment and training programmes. The article covers purpose, definitions, programme eligibility, application for priority of services and the priority itself. Priority of service means being served first, ahead of others otherwise eligible, and it is worth asking for by name. WE HAVE NOT READ the administering rules; secondary sources point to WorkForce West Virginia.
Priority of service in state employment and training programmes
Military Incentive Credit — 30% of $5,000, or Your Rating Times $5,000
A credit paid to the employer who hires you: 30% of the first $5,000 in wages for an economically disadvantaged veteran, your disability percentage times the first $5,000 for a disabled veteran, and 25% of the first $5,000 for a Guard or reserve member. You are the one who has to be certified.
Worth up to $1,500 to an employer for an economically disadvantaged veteran; a rating-scaled amount for a disabled veteran
Five Preference Points on a State Examination — Ten With a Purple Heart or a Rating
Five points are added to a final passing examination score for a veteran, and a further five — ten in total — for a Purple Heart recipient or a veteran with an established service-connected disability. The disability route needs a Veterans Administration letter dated within the last six months.
Five points on a passing score, ten with a Purple Heart or a service-connected disability
business(4)
Veterans and Heroes to Agriculture — Free Membership and $600 a Year for Training
West Virginia's Department of Agriculture runs a programme for veterans entering or working in agriculture — and for FIRST RESPONDERS, and for SPOUSES AND FAMILY MEMBERS. MEMBERSHIP IS FREE. It pays SCHOLARSHIP REIMBURSEMENT UP TO $600 PER FISCAL YEAR for pre-approved agricultural training, runs an annual agribusiness pitch competition, and offers Homegrown by Heroes branding. The condition that catches people is that you must APPLY BEFORE REGISTERING for the training — reimbursement is not available retrospectively.
Free membership, with up to $600 a year in training reimbursement
Veteran Vendor Preference — 3.5 Percent on State Bids
A resident vendor who is a veteran gets a 3.5 percent bid preference on state purchases, by either of two routes: four years of continuous residence here, or a workforce three-quarters made up of two-year residents.
3.5 percent bid preference
Certified Veteran Owned Business — a Decal, Not a Bid Preference
A state certification for a business at least 51% owned by an honorably discharged veteran, by serving military personnel of any branch, or by their spouses. It issues an official decal and logotype for invoices, websites and advertising.
An official decal and logotype marking the business as veteran or military owned
Surplus Property for a Veteran-Owned Small Business — No Cost to Enrol
The state surplus property agency runs a veterans programme that lets a verified veteran-owned small business search and request federal surplus property. Enrolment is free; a service fee covers administration, transport and warehousing where it applies.
Access to federal surplus property; free to enrol, service fee on what you take
vehicles(3)
DV Tags Free at 100% P&T — and a $10 Plate for Every Veteran
Disabled veteran tags are free for veterans with the federal auto grant or a 100% permanent and total rating; POWs, Purple Heart recipients and Pearl Harbor survivors have their own plates; and every other honorably discharged veteran gets the veterans plate for a one-time $10 over the regular fee.
Veterans plate: one-time $10 over the regular fee; DV tags free at auto-grant or 100% P&T
Gold Star Family Plate — and the Surviving Spouse Plate That Carries the Veteran’s Own Plate Forward
The Division of Motor Vehicles issues a Gold Star Family plate on form DMV-48-L to a parent, spouse or relative of a deceased service member, on authorisation from the Department of Veterans Assistance. A separate application, form DMV-48F, lets a surviving spouse hold the same military plate the deceased veteran held.
A Gold Star Family plate, or the deceased veteran’s own military plate carried forward by the surviving spouse
The Disabled Veteran Plate That Actually Parks — Two Signatures, Not One
There are two disabled veteran plates here and only one of them uses accessible parking. Form DMV-48-DI, the Disabled Veteran Mobility Impaired plate, requires authorisation from the Department of Veterans Assistance and a licensed physician, and its own certification boxes ask for a federal vehicle grant or a 100 percent total and permanent rating plus a physician’s finding on walking.
A disabled veteran plate that authorises use of accessible parking, on a double certification
recreation(2)
Free Hunting, Trapping and Fishing — 100% P&T, Auto Grant or POW
A resident veteran with a 100% permanent and total rating, the federal auto grant, or former POW status qualifies for free hunting, trapping and fishing licences — and any service member on leave hunts and fishes with no licence at all, the leave papers serving instead.
Hunting, trapping and fishing licences free
State Parks Veterans' Salute — 10% Off Lodges, Cabins and Campsites
West Virginia state parks discount lodging and campsites for veterans and active-duty military under the Veterans Salute. There is no residency condition — the department describes it for veterans and serving members generally, so an out-of-state veteran visiting the parks qualifies on the same terms as a resident.
10% off standard lodges, cabins and campsites, all year
burial(2)
Burial at the Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery
A veteran's burial at the state cemetery in Dunbar costs nothing — gravesite or niche, opening and closing, a pre-set crypt, headstone or niche cover, perpetual care and a Presidential Memorial Certificate. Eligibility follows the federal national-cemetery rules; a spouse or eligible family member is interred for a $780 fee.
Veteran burial at no cost — grave or niche, crypt, headstone, perpetual care; spouse and family interments carry a $780 fee
Jack Bennett Fund — Up to $380 Toward Setting a Veteran’s Grave Marker
The federal government supplies the headstone or marker free and leaves the installation bill to the family. This fund pays up to $380 toward those installation fees, on need measured by the federal Means Test Threshold. A family member, a cemetery or a funeral director may apply.
Up to $380 toward grave marker installation fees
housing(2)
W. Va. Veterans Home — Residential Care at Half of Monthly Income
A 125-bed residential home for veterans who are still independent in daily living. The maintenance fee is 50 percent of the veteran's monthly income — not a fixed rate.
Residential care for a maintenance fee of half your monthly income
State Veterans Nursing Facility — 120 Beds, a Dementia Unit, and a Breezeway to the VA
A 120-bed veterans-only nursing facility opened in 2008, with private and semi-private rooms, a 20-bed unit for residents needing specialised care for Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, round-the-clock nursing with a physician on call, and breezeway-connected access to the federal medical centre next door. Two wheelchair-capable buses take residents to medical appointments.
A veterans-only nursing bed, at a cost the department says is well below the national average
Filing in Fayette County
- Office
- Fayette 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 Fayette County
Fayette 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 Fayette County veteran benefits
- What can I claim here?
- The West Virginia 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 Fayette County?
- File with your County assessor. The form and deadline are on each benefit record.
- What document does the Fayette County West Virginia Tax Division 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 West Virginia.
Other counties
- Barbour
- Berkeley
- Boone
- Braxton
- Brooke
- Cabell
- Calhoun
- Clay
- Doddridge
- Gilmer
- Grant
- Greenbrier
- Hampshire
- Hancock
- Hardy
- Harrison
- Jackson
- Jefferson
- Kanawha
- Lewis
- Lincoln
- Logan
- McDowell
- Marion
- Marshall
- Mason
- Mercer
- Mineral
- Mingo
- Monongalia
- Monroe
- Morgan
- Nicholas
- Ohio
- Pendleton
- Pleasants
- Pocahontas
- Preston
- Putnam
- Raleigh
- Randolph
- Ritchie
- Roane
- Summers
- Taylor
- Tucker
- Tyler
- Upshur
- Wayne
- Webster
- Wetzel
- Wirt
- Wood
- Wyoming
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.