Disabled Veteran Benefits in New Hampshire

New Hampshire does this through credits, not a blanket exemption. A veteran with a total and permanent service-connected disability, or a double amputee or paraplegic from a service-connected injury, receives a standard yearly credit of $700 subtracted from the property tax on the home that is their principal place of abode. A surviving spouse receives it too. Each town may instead adopt an optional credit from $701 up to $5,000, so the real number depends on where you live.

The only full exemption is narrower. If you own a home specially adapted through a VA Special Adapted Housing or Special Home Adaptation grant, and you are 100% permanently and totally disabled, a double amputee or paraplegic, or blind in both eyes from service, the homestead is exempt from all taxation. Separately, a resident veteran who served at least 90 days in a qualifying war or armed conflict, at any rating, qualifies for the $50 standard veterans' credit, which a town may raise to as much as $750. Where a town has adopted the optional disability credit, the law says it replaces the veterans' credit and is not in addition to it.

You apply to your town or city assessors or selectmen, not the state, and you give them VA certification that you are rated totally and permanently disabled. The state Department of Revenue Administration publishes a report of the exemptions and credits available in each municipality, so check yours before you assume the $700.

The state veterans department lists the usual questions: retirement income, retired military pay, military disability retired pay, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, and Survivor Benefit Plan payments. The answer is the same for all of them. New Hampshire does not levy a general state income tax on individuals, so you are not required to file an individual state tax return in any of those cases.

That means there is no income tax exemption to apply for, and none to lose. The state's help for disabled veterans shows up in the property tax bill instead, which is why that section comes first.

The cut-off is permanent and total disability as evaluated by the VA. At that level you get one set of disabled veteran plates with the accessibility symbol at no charge, no fee for registering the vehicle, and no fee for a driver license. A vehicle carrying those plates also gets free parking time in any city or town while it is under your direct control. You can instead choose the regular veteran plate, also without charge, but then you give up the free parking.

Only the initial set of plates is free. An additional set costs the state and municipal permit fees. A separate law waives the town or city permit to register, and it is narrower: it is written for the initial set of plates and for a veteran of a war or armed conflict.

At any rating, an honorably discharged veteran can ask for a Veteran indicator on a driver license or ID card. There is no additional cost at renewal, and a $3.00 fee for a replacement card outside renewal. Bring proof of honorable discharge to a DMV office.

A New Hampshire resident who is totally and permanently disabled from a service-connected disability and has a discharge other than dishonorable gets a perpetual special veteran's license for fishing, hunting or bow and arrow. A $10 administrative fee is charged once, when you apply to the Fish and Game Department. The state calls the license free, but you do pay that $10.

There is a smaller discount below 100%. A resident rated at least 80% but not 100% can get a lifetime license at 50% of the cost of a lifetime license. If you have been at that level for more than 2 years the department must issue it. At 2 years or less it may.

State parks ask for less than any other benefit here. A New Hampshire veteran with any VA service-connected disability rating pays no fee for day-use admission to state parks. Your disabled veteran plate or a VA letter is accepted as proof. Campgrounds, ski lifts and food service still charge.

The benefit goes to the child, not the veteran. The veteran must have a discharge other than dishonorable, be totally and permanently disabled from a service-connected disability, have been domiciled in New Hampshire when they entered service or when the VA found the disability, and be a New Hampshire resident now. Then a biological, adopted or stepchild pays no tuition at an institution in the University System of New Hampshire. The only proof of disability the system asks for is a VA letter saying the disability is 100 percent total, permanent and service connected.

The child stays eligible through the end of the semester in which they turn 27, and applies to the university system's board of trustees. Every applicant must also complete the FAFSA, which the school uses to offset the cost of the waiver.

A separate program is for families where the service member died on active duty or of a service-connected disability. It provides $2,500 scholarships for room, board, books and supplies, which the state veterans department describes as up to $2,500 per year for no more than 4 years, for children in need of financial assistance. Those children can also get free tuition through the university and community college systems.

Chapter 99-F of state law requires the state to grant a hiring preference to veterans, disabled veterans and military spouses. A disabled veteran is anyone entitled to VA disability compensation, anyone discharged for a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty, or anyone awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat. The law sets no minimum percentage.

On the initial application screening, and again on an application exam that results in a score, the employer adds 5 preference points for a veteran and 10 preference points for a disabled veteran. You have to pass the exam to get the points. You can use the preference at any time after discharge and an unlimited number of times.

When you apply, submit a qualifying discharge document, and as a disabled veteran also your VA summary of benefits letter. The preference does not guarantee the job. The employer can still decide on your merits or qualifications, and must explain its decision if you ask in writing.