Arkansas 100% Disabled Veteran Benefits and Exemptions

If you hold a 100% total and permanent service-connected rating from the VA, Arkansas eliminates state property taxes on your home and personal belongings, and layers on lifetime hunting and fishing licenses for pocket change, a free disabled veteran license plate, and tuition help for your dependents. Those Arkansas 100% disabled veteran benefits stack with federal programs like tax-free VA compensation, housing adaptation grants, a waived VA loan funding fee, and Veteran Readiness and Employment services. Here is what each benefit is worth and the rules that decide whether you qualify.

The Arkansas Property Tax Exemption

Arkansas exempts qualifying disabled veterans from all state taxes on their homestead and personal property. The homestead covers your primary residence plus up to 40 contiguous acres, as long as that land is not used commercially. Personal property covers tangible items you own for non-commercial use, including vehicles and household belongings.¹

Rental property, a commercial building, and farmland used for business fall outside the exemption. The benefit is limited to the property where you actually live and the personal items you use day to day.

Who Qualifies

You must be an Arkansas resident, and the VA must have either awarded you special monthly compensation for the loss or loss of use of one or more limbs or total blindness in one or both eyes, or rated you 100% totally and permanently disabled due to a service-connected condition.¹²

One trap catches a lot of veterans. If you are compensated at the 100% rate through Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU), your VA letter may not describe you as 100% total and permanent on the schedular basis the statute requires.³ Check with your county collector or an accredited veterans service officer before assuming a TDIU award qualifies you.

How to Claim It

Get a letter from the VA verifying your disability status, then present it to your county collector. The collector handles the exemption at the local level.¹

When you buy or sell a home, the tax gets prorated. If you sell, you owe no tax for the portion of the year you lived there under the exemption, and the buyer picks up the rest. If you buy, your exemption starts on the date of purchase, and the seller owes taxes for the period before you took ownership. The proration is not automatic. Ask the county collector to apply it at the time of sale, because chasing a refund afterward is harder.¹

The Amendment 79 Conflict

You cannot claim the disabled veteran exemption and the standard Amendment 79 homestead property tax credit at the same time. The statute bars dual benefits under Sections 26-3-306 and 26-26-1118.¹ The disabled veteran exemption wipes out state taxes entirely rather than offering a partial credit, so it is the more valuable of the two.

Fraudulent claims carry criminal penalties. Anyone who claims the exemption with intent to defraud can be charged with a misdemeanor under Arkansas law, and a fraudulent claim triggers repayment of all taxes that should have been collected.

Lifetime Hunting and Fishing Licenses

If you are 100% totally and permanently disabled from a service-connected condition, you can purchase a lifetime hunting license for $1.50 and a lifetime fishing license for $1.50. Veterans with a service-connected rating of 70% or higher, or 50% or higher with a Purple Heart, qualify for certain additional license provisions.⁴ Applications go through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Little Rock office by mail.

Free Disabled Veteran License Plate

Arkansas provides a free disabled veteran license plate to resident veterans with a 100% non-service-connected disability, and veterans with a 30% or greater service-connected disability are also eligible for the plate. A second plate is available for a $4.00 fee.⁵ Separate specialty plates exist for Purple Heart and Medal of Honor recipients.

Tuition for Your Spouse or Children

The Arkansas Military Dependents Scholarship Program covers tuition at public and private institutions in the state for the spouse or dependent child of a veteran who is rated 100% totally and permanently disabled, was killed in action, is declared missing in action, or was a prisoner of war. The applicant must be an Arkansas resident and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Spouses lose eligibility if they remarry. The program requires documentation including the veteran’s DD-214, VA disability verification, and proof of relationship.

Federal Benefits That Stack

Tax-Free VA Compensation

VA disability compensation is completely tax-free at the federal and state level. You do not report it as gross income, and it does not count toward your adjusted gross income for other tax credits. The same applies to disability pension payments and grants for home or vehicle modifications.⁶

For 2026, a veteran with a 100% rating and no dependents receives $3,938.58 per month. Special monthly compensation for conditions like limb loss or blindness pays more, with amounts that vary by SMC level.⁷

Housing and Vehicle Grants

Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant: up to $126,526 in fiscal year 2026 for veterans with certain severe service-connected disabilities who need to build or modify a home for wheelchair access or other adaptations.⁸
Special Housing Adaptation (SHA) grant: up to $25,349 in fiscal year 2026 for veterans with specific disabilities like blindness or the loss of use of both hands.⁸
Temporary Residence Adaptation (TRA) grant: up to $50,961 in fiscal year 2026 if you are living temporarily in a family member’s home that needs modifications.⁸
Automobile allowance: a one-time payment of up to $27,074.99 toward a specially equipped vehicle if a service-connected disability prevents you from driving.⁹

Veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability are also exempt from the VA home loan funding fee, which normally runs between 1.25% and 3.3% of the loan amount. On a $250,000 loan, the waiver saves thousands at closing.¹⁰

Veteran Readiness and Employment

The VA’s Veteran Readiness and Employment program (formerly Vocational Rehabilitation, or Chapter 31) offers job training, education, resume help, and independent living services to veterans whose service-connected disabilities create employment barriers. You need a service-connected rating of at least 10% to apply. Veterans discharged on or after January 1, 2013, face no time limit; those discharged earlier have a 12-year window that may be extended if a counselor finds a serious employment handicap.¹¹

Benefits for Your Spouse and Children If You Die

The Arkansas Property Tax Exemption Passes to Them

When a qualifying disabled veteran dies, the property tax exemption passes to the surviving spouse and minor dependent children. To claim it, they present the county collector a VA letter confirming the veteran was entitled to SMC or held a 100% total and permanent rating, plus a signed affidavit stating the claimant’s relationship to the veteran.¹

A surviving spouse keeps the exemption only while unmarried. If the spouse remarries, the exemption ends on the date of the new marriage, but is reinstated if that later marriage ends through divorce or death.¹

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation

If a veteran’s death was caused by a service-connected condition, or the veteran was rated 100% disabled for at least 10 years before death, the surviving spouse can receive DIC. The standard 2026 monthly rate is $1,699.36, with additional allowances for dependent children. When no eligible surviving spouse exists, dependent children can receive DIC directly, starting at $717.50 per month for one child.¹²

CHAMPVA Health Coverage

CHAMPVA provides health insurance to surviving spouses and dependent children of veterans who died from a service-connected disability or were permanently and totally disabled at the time of death. You cannot receive CHAMPVA if you qualify for TRICARE. A surviving spouse who remarries before age 55 loses coverage, but it is reinstated if that marriage ends. Remarriage at age 55 or later does not affect eligibility.¹³

1
Justia. Arkansas Code 26-3-306 – Disabled Veterans, Surviving Spouses, and Minor Dependent Children – Definitions
2
MyArmyBenefits. Arkansas Military and Veterans Benefits
3
Veterans Affairs. Individual Unemployability if You Can’t Work
4
Justia. Arkansas Code 15-42-128 – Lifetime Hunting Licenses and Lifetime Fishing Licenses for Disabled Veterans
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Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Disabled Veteran License Plate – Free
6
Internal Revenue Service. Veterans Tax Information and Services
7
Veterans Affairs. Current Special Monthly Compensation Rates
8
Federal Register. Loan Guaranty: Assistance to Eligible Individuals in Acquiring Specially Adapted Housing; Cost-of-Construction Index for Fiscal Year 2026
9
Veterans Affairs. Current Special Benefit Allowances Rates
10
Veterans Affairs. VA Funding Fee and Loan Closing Costs
11
Veterans Affairs. Eligibility for Veteran Readiness and Employment
12
Veterans Affairs. Current DIC Rates for Spouses and Dependents
13
Veterans Affairs. CHAMPVA Benefits