Disabled Veteran Benefits in Missouri

A 100% rating alone does not exempt your home. The Missouri Constitution exempts the homestead of a citizen who is a former prisoner of war and who has a total service-connected disability. You need both.

If that is you, the exemption covers the real property you own and live in as your primary residence. You apply to your county assessor, not the state. Bring a VA letter proving the service-connected total disability, plus a DD 214 showing ex-prisoner of war status or a letter from the VA or the Military Personnel Records Center confirming it.

Everyone else at 100% should look at the Property Tax Credit in the next section. It is smaller, and it has an income limit, but your VA pay does not count toward that limit.

Missouri calls it the Property Tax Credit Claim, or the "circuit breaker". You qualify if you or your spouse is a veteran who became 100% disabled as a result of service. It works for renters as well as owners, and a 100% service-connected veteran does not list VA payments as household income.

For the 2025 tax year the credit is at most $1,100 for owners and $750 for renters. A homeowner's household income must be $30,000 or less if single or $34,000 or less if married filing combined; for renters the limits are $27,200 and $29,200. The law changed for calendar years starting January 1, 2026: the ceiling rises to $1,550 of property tax, or $1,055 for rent, and the income limits for homeowners rise to $42,200 single and $48,000 married filing combined. The exact credit depends on what you paid and what you earned.

You claim it with the Department of Revenue, not your county. Use Form MO-PTS if you file a Missouri income tax return and Form MO-PTC if you do not.

Missouri income tax starts from your federal adjusted gross income. VA disability compensation is a tax-free payment federally, so it is never in that number and Missouri has nothing to tax. This holds at every rating.

Military retired pay is different because the IRS does tax it. Missouri fixes that itself: state law subtracts 100% of retirement benefits received for service in the Armed Forces, and it names the reserve components and the National Guard too. The provision sets no age test and no income limit. You take it as a subtraction on your Missouri return.

Missouri issues one free set of Disabled Veteran plates per eligible veteran. No specialty plate, transfer, processing or replacement fees are due on that set, and you can personalize it for free. Extra sets are allowed but carry the normal fees.

Check your eligibility before you go. The Department of Revenue asks for a VA statement, no more than one year old, saying your disability is service-connected, and it must come from the VA itself, not a VA hospital or clinic. The statute behind the plate is narrower: it is written for veterans receiving VA compensation for total service-connected disability, or whose disability qualified them for a VA automobile grant. If you are rated below total, call the license office first.

Two more things. The plate does not let you park in disabled spaces unless it carries the wheelchair symbol, which takes a separate physician's statement. And a veteran with an honorable or general under honorable conditions discharge can add a Veteran designation to a driver license at no additional cost, though the standard license fees still apply.

The cut-off is 60% or greater, and it applies to residents and nonresidents alike. An honorably discharged veteran at that level, or any former prisoner of war, may fish and hunt without a permit. The exemption stops at big game: you still need permits for deer, turkey, elk and black bear, a Migratory Bird Hunting Permit for waterfowl and doves, and a trout permit where one is required. Trapping is not covered.

Carry proof. The Conservation Department requires a certified statement of eligibility from the VA on you in the field. Nonresident veterans who meet the 60% test can buy the permits they do need at resident prices.

State parks are simpler. Missouri does not charge entrance fees at its state parks and historic sites, for anyone, so there is no veteran pass to apply for. What veterans do get is $2 off per night on camping, year-round, with valid military identification at check-in (the parks list Form 214 among the accepted forms).

Missouri's tuition help follows combat service, not your VA rating. Under the Missouri Returning Heroes Act, public colleges and universities must cap undergraduate tuition for combat veterans at $50 per credit hour. For a graduate degree the cap is 30% of the cost of tuition and fees. You must be honorably discharged and be a Missouri resident or eligible to vote in Missouri, and you have to keep a 2.5 grade point average. The undergraduate benefit runs out ten years after your last discharge.

For families there is the Wartime Veteran's Survivors Grant. It is for the children (under 25) and spouses of veterans whose death or injury came from combat action, or who became 80% disabled from injuries sustained in combat action since September 11, 2001. The veteran must have been a Missouri resident when entering service or at the time of the death or injury. The grant pays undergraduate tuition up to the University of Missouri-Columbia rate, up to $2,000 a semester for room and board, and up to $500 for books.

The catch is size. The law limits the grant to 25 students a year, with renewals first and then the earliest complete applications, so apply early.

Missouri runs seven Veterans Homes for veterans who need round-the-clock nursing care. The 2026 monthly rate is $2,773, adjusted each January. To get in you must have lived in Missouri for 180 consecutive days right before you apply, and a physician must document that you need 24-hour skilled nursing care. The eligibility list has no disability rating on it.

The five state veterans cemeteries charge nothing. Opening and closing the grave, a concrete grave liner if the family does not buy a vault, a granite headstone or niche cover, military honors and perpetual care are all provided at no cost to veterans, their spouses and eligible dependent children. Eligibility matches a national cemetery, and there is no residency requirement. You can plan ahead by filing a pre-certification application with a copy of your DD-214.