Disabled Veteran Benefits in Nebraska

Nebraska's homestead exemption is the benefit that moves real money. A veteran with an honorable or general discharge who draws VA compensation for a 100% service-connected permanent disability, or who has a total rating based on unemployability (TDIU), gets 100% of the exempt amount. For this group the law defines the exempt amount as the taxable value of the homestead, so the whole home comes off the tax roll. The law ties the exemption to household income only for a different group, covered below.

A 100% temporary rating qualifies too, with one difference: you reapply every year with a VA certification. With a permanent or TDIU rating you apply once and do not file again in later years. The exemption passes to an unremarried surviving spouse, and to a surviving spouse who remarries after age 57.

Two other groups are covered. A home the VA substantially paid for, for a paraplegic veteran or multiple amputee, is exempt outright. A veteran who is totally disabled by something not connected to service sits in a separate category, where the exemption is based on household income. You file Form 458 with your county assessor; in 2026 the deadline was June 30.

This is new and wider than most veterans expect. Starting January 1, 2026, all disabled or blind veterans in Nebraska can take the Motor Vehicle Tax and Motor Vehicle Fee off one vehicle they own and use for personal transportation. The definition comes from federal law and covers anyone with an established service-connected disability, including a 0% rating, as well as anyone receiving VA compensation, disability retirement or pension.

It does not zero out the whole registration. The plate fee, sales tax and wheel tax are still due. You must first be in the NDVA Military & Veterans' Registry, because that is how the DMV checks you. Ask for the exemption within 30 days of buying a vehicle, or, at renewal, before the last day of the month your registration expires. After that it renews automatically.

The Disabled Veteran license plate is a separate thing with a different bar: a 10% service-connected rating. The standard alphanumeric plate carries no plate fee; a custom message plate is $40 a year. Regular registration fees and taxes still apply to the plate, and it does not let you park in handicapped spaces.

The cut-off for both is the same. If you are a Nebraska resident with an honorable or general discharge and the VA rates you 50% or more for service-connected disability, the state issues a combination fishing, fur-harvesting and hunting permit without any fee. It comes with the habitat stamp, the aquatic habitat stamp and the Nebraska migratory waterfowl stamp. The permit is perpetual: it ends only if you stop being eligible.

The same rating earns one disabled veteran park permit for a resident vehicle, also free and also perpetual. Veterans who receive a VA pension for a total and permanent disability that was not service-connected qualify for both permits too.

Below 50% there is still something. A resident veteran age 64 or older pays $5 for the annual combination permit, and every resident veteran with an honorable or general discharge can get a free one-day hunting permit for Veterans Day.

The Waiver of Tuition is for dependents, not for the veteran. It can waive 100% of tuition charges and tuition-related fees at University of Nebraska campuses, the state colleges and the community colleges. The veteran must be rated 100% permanently and totally disabled from military service, or have died from a service-connected cause, or be listed as missing in action or a prisoner of war. State law counts a total rating based on individual unemployability when it is permanent; other temporary total ratings do not count.

It covers one community college degree, diploma or certificate and one bachelor's degree, in that order. A spouse can use it while married to the veteran. A child or stepchild can use it until earning a bachelor's degree or reaching age 26, whichever comes first.

Know the limits before you plan around it. It does not cover master's, doctoral or professional degrees, and it does not pay for housing, food, parking, books or non-tuition fees. The student must be a Nebraska resident who qualifies for in-state tuition, and the application has to be in before the term starts.

Nebraska runs four state veterans' homes, in Bellevue, Norfolk, Kearney and Scottsbluff, offering assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care. Veterans with an honorable or general discharge who have lived in Nebraska for at least two years at some point in their life are eligible. So are spouses, surviving spouses and Gold Star spouses and parents under similar rules.

Cost depends on your rating. Veterans rated 70% to 100% service-connected may receive care at no cost once the rating is verified and the level of care they need meets VA criteria. For other members, the contribution is set on a sliding scale by income and assets and runs from $0 to $5,549 per month.

You can apply to a home directly, through your County Veterans Service Officer, or through a recognized veterans service organization.

Nebraska law requires a preference for veterans applying to the state or any of its governmental subdivisions. If you pass every part of an exam or numerical scoring, 5% is added to your passing score. A disabled veteran gets an additional 5%. Disabled here means any established service-connected disability, or receiving compensation, disability retirement or pension; the definition names no percentage.

Your spouse can use the preference too if you have a 100% permanent disability as determined by the VA. Where no exam or score is used, the preference goes to the veteran when two or more equally qualified candidates are in the running.

You have to claim it on the application and give the hiring authority a copy of your DD-214. If you are not hired, the employer must tell you and explain any appeal available.

For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, all military retirees may exclude 100% of military retirement benefits from Nebraska taxable income, to the extent the benefits are included in federal adjusted gross income. You do not need to make an election or send in a form to claim it, which was required under the older rule.

The exclusion covers retirement pay reported on a Form 1099-R from the Department of Defense or the Office of Personnel Management, and it extends to retirees of the Coast Guard, the Public Health Service commissioned corps and the NOAA commissioned corps.