Disabled Veteran Benefits in West Virginia

West Virginia does this as a credit, not an exemption, and the difference matters. Your county still sends a bill and you still pay it. Then you claim the Disabled Veteran Real Property Tax Credit on your state income tax return, and the state refunds 100% of the real property tax paid on your homestead. It is refundable, so you get the money even if you owe no income tax.

State law sets the bar at an honorable discharge and a rating of 90% or greater, or meeting the VA's requirements for individual unemployability. An unmarried surviving spouse of a veteran who had claimed the credit can keep claiming it.

Two rules trip people up. The tax has to be paid on time: the first half before October 1 and the second half before April 1. Late payments and back taxes earn no credit. And you file form DV-1 with your return, along with your tax receipts and your VA rating letter. You cannot combine it with the Senior Citizen Tax Credit or the Homestead Excess Property Tax Credit.

Below 90% the break to check is not a veterans' one. Any homeowner who is 65 or older, or certified permanently and totally disabled, gets the general homestead exemption on the first $20,000 of assessed value. You claim that one with your county assessor.

West Virginia's income tax starts from your federal adjusted gross income. The IRS says VA disability compensation is not taxable and is left out of income, so it never reaches the state return either. No West Virginia page spells this out in its own words; it follows from how the state defines income.

Military retirement is a separate, written exemption. All military retirement income from the regular Armed Forces, Reserves and National Guard is exempt from West Virginia income tax. You take it as a subtraction from federal adjusted gross income on your state return.

The vehicle benefit is built around 100% permanent and total. Special plates and disabled veteran tags are issued without fee to veterans who have that rating or who qualify for VA auto grant benefits. State law exempts one vehicle owned by a 100% total and permanent veteran from registration fees, as long as it is not used commercially. Former prisoners of war, Purple Heart recipients and Pearl Harbor survivors also get their plates without fee.

Below 100% you can still get a Veteran plate. Any honorably discharged veteran can order one for a one-time $10 fee on top of the regular registration fee.

Any honorably discharged veteran can also have the veteran designation printed on a driver's license. If adding it is the only reason you need a new card, and you ask before your current license expires, the replacement license is free.

The free hunting, trapping and fishing privilege is for West Virginia residents with a 100% permanent and total rating, veterans who qualify for the VA auto grant, and former prisoners of war. The law does not sell you a discounted license. It lets you hunt, trap and fish without one, once the Division of Natural Resources has certified you. The Department of Veterans Assistance says a printable application is on the DNR website.

State parks are a smaller benefit, and it is not a free pass. The Veterans Salute discount takes 10% off any lodge room, cabin or campsite, year-round, for veterans and active duty. Book with code VETS10 and show military ID at check-in. Some exclusions apply, and it is not offered at Stonewall Resort State Park.

The broadest program is for veterans themselves. Veterans Re-education Assistance pays up to $500 per semester to a veteran enrolled in a certified post-secondary course, and can help with vocational training case by case.

A full waiver is narrower. Public colleges waive undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees for West Virginia residents awarded the Purple Heart or Medal of Honor, for up to eight semesters. The waiver covers what your other state and federal education aid does not. Veterans who move to West Virginia to attend a state school are charged in-state rates.

For families, the War Orphan Program covers a surviving spouse, or a surviving child younger than 26. Tuition and fees at public colleges are waived beyond what federal survivor benefits pay, and the state adds up to $1,000 per semester, to a maximum of $2,000 per year, for expenses. The state's page does not say which deaths qualify, so ask a benefits office before you count on it.

If you apply for a job with the state, or with a county or city that hires under civil service, your service counts. Qualifying veterans get 5 points added to a passing exam score or rating. A veteran with a present service-connected disability, or a Purple Heart, gets 10 points instead. The statute sets no minimum rating for the higher tier; the Division of Personnel words it as a present compensable, service-connected disability.

The points only count once you have passed. With them, you are listed ahead of non-veterans who have the same score. The Division of Personnel wants your DD-214, and a letter from the VA to verify the disability.

The West Virginia Veterans Home in Barboursville is a place to live, not a nursing home. Residents must be able to manage daily life on their own. Income is never a barrier to getting in: the monthly fee is 50% of your total monthly income. For homeless veterans, its Project-214 program gives 60 days at no cost while staff help find permanent housing.

The Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery in Dunbar buries eligible veterans at no cost, including the grave site or niche, opening and closing, headstone and perpetual care. A spouse or other eligible family member is charged $780.

If a family cannot afford to have a VA grave marker installed, the state's Jack Bennett Fund pays up to $380 toward it, based on financial need.