Disabled Veteran Benefits in North Dakota

The Disabled Veteran's Property Tax Credit takes your disability percentage and applies it to the first $9,000 of the taxable value of your homestead. At 50% that is up to $4,500 off taxable value, and at 100% up to $9,000. These are reductions in taxable value, not dollars off the bill. You also qualify at a lower rating if the VA pays you at the 100% rate through individual unemployability. You need an honorable discharge, or to be retired from the armed forces.

The credit is not means tested: the state says your income and assets do not affect eligibility. You must live in the home and own an interest in it. A mobile home can qualify. If your spouse is also a disabled veteran, your combined credits cannot exceed 100% of $9,000. A surviving spouse who receives VA dependency and indemnity compensation gets the full 100% credit.

Apply to your local assessor or county director of tax equalization by April 1 of the year the credit is for. Include proof of your service-connected disability and your honorable discharge.

North Dakota's vehicle benefits start at 100%, including a 100% rate through individual unemployability. The VA office must sign a certification letter saying you are 100 percent service related disabled, and you send it in with the title application (form SFN 2872).

The DAV plate has no annual license fee, and the plate lets you park in designated handicap spots with no additional placard. You can have two vehicles on DAV plates at a time; the plate may not go on a vehicle with a gross weight of 26,000 pounds or more. Resident veterans at 100% also get two vehicles exempt from the vehicle excise (sales) tax: use exemption code 14 on the title application.

An un-remarried surviving spouse who receives dependency and indemnity compensation keeps the exemption for one vehicle. Any veteran can add a Veteran indicator to a North Dakota driver license: take your DD214 to a Veteran Service Officer, who verifies it and signs the form.

North Dakota veterans with a 50 percent or greater service-related disability get a free lifetime state park pass. North Dakota veterans with a lower service-related disability can buy an annual permit for $28. Both need a current Summary of Benefits Letter from the VA as proof.

Game and Fish sells residents a Veteran Combined Hunting license at a 50% or higher service-related disability for $10, plus the $2 certificate and, if you hunt waterfowl, the $5 waterfowl stamp. It covers general game and habitat, small game and fur-bearer licenses. A veteran fishing license at 50% is also $10 plus the $2 certificate, against $27 for a regular fishing license. You only buy the certificate once a year. Neither license is free.

The Dependent Tuition Waiver covers a child, stepchild or spouse of a resident veteran who has a 100% service-connected disability, including a 100% rating through individual unemployability. The same waiver applies to dependents of veterans who were killed in action, died of service-connected causes, were prisoners of war or were declared missing in action.

The dependent must be accepted into an undergraduate degree or certificate program at a North Dakota state institution of higher education. The law makes the bachelor's degree or certificate free of any tuition and fee charges, for as long as the dependent is eligible. Aviation flight charges are not covered. For details, the state says to contact the financial aid office or veterans services department on the campus you choose.

For tax years 2019 and after, military retirement benefit payments may be subtracted from North Dakota taxable income, for retired members of the armed forces, Reserve and National Guard and their surviving spouses. The deduction equals the taxable amount of the benefits reported on your federal return. Attach a copy of the Form 1099-R from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to your state return.

The Tax Commissioner's military page and its military guideline do not mention VA disability compensation. Check with the Tax Commissioner if you have a question about it.

At the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, there is no cost to the veteran or eligible spouse and dependent for burial. That covers the plot, opening and closing of the grave and the headstone. Families still pay a funeral home for the casket and vault, a basic grave liner is required, and an urn is at the family's expense.

The North Dakota Veterans Home has 52 skilled nursing beds and 98 basic care beds. Admission follows a priority list. In both units, veterans with a service-connected disability come first among new applicants, right after people who already live in the Home or were medically discharged from it.