Disabled Veteran Benefits in Wisconsin

Wisconsin has no property tax exemption for veterans. It has the Veterans and Surviving Spouses Property Tax Credit, which does the same job. The credit covers 100% of the property taxes paid on your primary residence and up to one acre of land. It is refundable, so if it is bigger than the income tax you owe, the state pays you the difference.

The cut-off is a 100% service-connected rating, or a 100% rating based on individual unemployability. Age does not matter. You must live in Wisconsin now, and have entered active duty as a Wisconsin resident, or have lived in Wisconsin for at least five consecutive years after entering service. An unremarried surviving spouse can claim it too.

First get certified by the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs through your county veterans service officer. Then claim the credit on your Wisconsin income tax return and attach the certificate the first year. Second homes do not count. Renters who pay the property tax as part of their rent may qualify with proof.

The Wisconsin GI Bill is a state program, separate from the federal GI Bill. It gives full tuition and segregated fee remission for up to eight semesters or 128 credits, whichever is greater, at any University of Wisconsin System or Wisconsin Technical College System school. The student also has to qualify for residency for tuition purposes at the school.

For the veteran there is no rating requirement. You need qualifying service, a discharge under honorable conditions, and Wisconsin residency: you live in Wisconsin now, and you either entered service as a Wisconsin resident or have lived here for at least three consecutive years before the semester starts.

The rating matters for your family. Your spouse and children qualify once you hold at least a 30% service-connected rating. A child must be at least 17 and not yet 26. The same remission goes to the family of a veteran who died on active duty or from a service-connected disability.

All retirement payments from the U.S. military retirement system are exempt from Wisconsin income tax, and that includes Survivor Benefit Plan payments.

The VA describes disability compensation as a monthly tax-free payment. Wisconsin also treats military pay that is exempt for federal tax purposes as exempt, and lets those still serving subtract their active duty basic, special and incentive pay.

At 70% or higher, or as a former prisoner of war, you get the Honor Admission Pass: the vehicle admission fee for state parks and forests and the trail pass fee are waived. Your county veterans service officer certifies the application.

At 50% or higher, or if you are individually unemployable, you can buy the Disabled Veteran Recreation Card for $7 a year. It covers fishing, small game hunting, park admission and the trail pass. If all you want is fishing, a $3 annual license is open at 70%, with unemployability, or if you draw a VA pension.

The DNR's list of disabled veteran privileges has no deer license on it. Separately, a Wisconsin resident veteran who served in a war period can get one free small game, archery, gun deer or annual fishing license. Ask the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs first; it issues a voucher that must be redeemed within 365 days of discharge. Purple Heart recipients pay $10 for the resident Conservation Patron license.

The state's plate page sets no rating cut-off, so a VA rating by itself, whatever the number, does not qualify you. The plate is not free either: the application lists the annual registration fee if you do not already have current plates.

The Disabled Veteran Parking plate depends on mobility, not on your rating. A VA health care specialist has to certify a permanent disability incurred in active service that limits or impairs your ability to walk, for example that you cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest. The vehicle must be titled to you, and you apply by mail on form MV2172; DMV customer service centers do not issue the plate.

What the plate gives you is parking: you are exempt from time limits of a half hour or more and can park free at municipal metered spaces with those limits. Wisconsin's military plates are open to active or retired military veterans and carry no parking privileges.

The program is the Veterans Non-Competitive Appointment. A veteran with a 30% or greater service-connected disability who does not already hold a permanent state job can be considered for openings in state agencies without competing. You need rating documentation dated within the last 12 months.

Wisconsin also waives the fee for one initial professional license for qualified veterans; the program page lists no rating requirement. The waiver covers licenses issued by 13 state agencies and cannot be used for a renewal.

A veteran who was involuntarily laid off or is underemployed can get a Retraining Grant of up to $3,000 a year for up to two years, based on financial need. It pays for technical education or on-the-job training; four-year college programs do not qualify. A certified service-disabled veteran-owned business may receive a 5% bid preference on state contracts.

These grants are for veterans in need who have exhausted every other source of aid. Health Care Aid pays the provider directly: up to $800 for dental procedures in any 12 months, up to $400.00 for vision care in any 12 months, and up to $1,875 for each hearing aid in any 24 months.

Subsistence Aid replaces income lost to illness, injury or natural disaster, for up to three months and no more than $3,000 in any 12-month period. The two grants together stop at a $7,500 lifetime limit. Apply through your county or tribal veterans service office.