California Veterans Property Tax Exemption: Amount and Deadlines

California’s disabled veterans property tax exemption reduces the assessed value of your primary residence by $180,671 for the 2026 assessment year, or by $271,009 if your household income for the prior calendar year stayed below $81,131. It’s available to veterans with a total service-connected disability, and you claim it by filing form BOE-261-G with the assessor in the county where your home sits.¹

Who Qualifies

Eligibility is set by Revenue and Taxation Code Section 205.5. The statute covers veterans who are blind in both eyes, have lost the use of two or more limbs, or are totally disabled because of an injury or disease that occurred during military service.² In practice, a 100% disability rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs meets that standard.

Veterans rated below 100% on the VA’s schedular system can still qualify through Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU). TDIU applies when service-connected disabilities keep a veteran from holding steady employment even without a 100% schedular rating, and TDIU recipients are compensated at the 100% rate. California treats TDIU veterans the same as schedular 100% veterans for this exemption.²

Beyond the disability rating, you have to meet three other conditions:

You were discharged under other than dishonorable conditions.
The property is your principal place of residence, and you are a California resident when you file.
The home is owned by you, your spouse, or the two of you jointly.

An unmarried surviving spouse of a qualified veteran can continue claiming the exemption on the same home. Remarriage ends that eligibility, so families should plan around that limit deliberately.²

How Much the Exemption Is Worth in 2026

The program has two tiers. The Basic Exemption knocks $180,671 off your home’s assessed value, and every qualifying veteran gets it regardless of income. The Low-Income Exemption raises that reduction to $271,009, but only when total household income for the prior calendar year came in below $81,131.¹

All three figures are adjusted each year using the California Consumer Price Index, measured February to February, so they climb as costs rise.²

Household income means everything coming in: wages, Social Security, pensions, investment returns, anything else. If your income rises above the limit in a given year, you drop to the Basic Exemption for that year and can reclaim the Low-Income tier the next year if income falls back below the threshold.

How to Apply

The claim form is BOE-261-G, “Claim for Disabled Veterans’ Property Tax Exemption.” File it with the county assessor’s office in the county where your home is located. The form asks for the property’s parcel number, the date you acquired and moved into the home, and a certification that the property is your primary residence.³

Send these along with the form:

Your DD-214, showing discharge under other than dishonorable conditions.
A current VA rating letter confirming your 100% disability rating or TDIU status.
For the Low-Income tier, documentation of all household income for the prior calendar year (Social Security statements, pension records, tax returns).

Missing documents are the most common reason claims stall, and stalls can push you past deadlines that shrink the benefit. Gather the paperwork before you file.

Filing Deadlines

The deadlines split into two paths: your first claim, and the annual renewal for the Low-Income tier.

First-Time Claims

When you first become eligible, whether through a new disability rating, a home purchase, or moving into a new primary residence, file your claim by the later of the following January 1 or 90 days after the qualifying event. Filing inside that window gets you 100% of the exemption. Claims filed after it still qualify, but the first-year benefit drops to 85%.⁴

The Basic Exemption is a one-time filing. Once it’s approved, it stays in place as long as you remain in the same home and keep your disability rating. No annual refiling.

Annual Low-Income Renewal

The Low-Income Exemption requires a fresh claim every year to confirm your household income still qualifies. That claim must be filed between January 1 and February 15. File after February 15 but by December 10, and you get 90% of the exemption. File after December 10, and you get 85%.⁴ Revenue and Taxation Code Section 276 codifies these reductions.⁵

Forget the annual renewal entirely and you don’t lose all tax relief; you default to the Basic Exemption for that year, which doesn’t require renewal. But the difference between the two tiers is large, so February 15 is worth a calendar reminder.

Moving to a New Home

The exemption doesn’t follow you automatically when you sell one home and buy another. Two steps are required: file form BOE-261-GNT with the assessor in the county of your old home to terminate the exemption there, and file a new BOE-261-G with the assessor in the county of your new home. The new exemption takes effect on the date you move in, and the old one ends the day the previous home stops being your primary residence.⁴

Missing either step is a common oversight when veterans move between counties. Delay filing on the new property and the late-filing reductions above kick in, so handle both forms as soon as you close.

What You Can’t Combine It With

California allows only one property tax exemption per property. If you qualify for the disabled veterans’ exemption, you can’t also claim the standard homeowners’ exemption or the regular $4,000 veterans’ exemption on the same home, even if a co-owner would independently qualify.⁴ The disabled veterans’ exemption is the more valuable one in every case, so there’s no scenario where trading it for another exemption makes sense.

1
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. LTA 2025/014 – Disabled Veterans’ Exemption Increases for 2026
2
California Legislative Information. California Code Revenue and Taxation Code 205.5
3
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Claim for Disabled Veterans’ Property Tax Exemption – BOE-261-G
4
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Disabled Veterans’ Exemption
5
California Legislative Information. California Code Revenue and Taxation Code 276