Senior, Veteran and Disability Property Tax Relief in Virginia

Any county, city or town may, by ordinance, provide a real estate tax exemption, a deferral, or both for owners who are at least 65 (and, if the ordinance provides, owners who are permanently and totally disabled). The property must be owned and occupied as the person's sole dwelling (certain life estates and trust interests qualify). Relief may cover the tax increase since the year the person turned 65 or became disabled, or since the ordinance took effect. A home jointly held only by a married couple qualifies if either spouse meets the age or disability requirement. Income and asset limits, if any, are set by the locality.

A veteran rated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as having a 100% service-connected, permanent and total disability is exempt from real property tax on the dwelling occupied as the principal residence and the land under it up to one acre (more if the locality grants more acreage to elderly and disabled owners), plus certain non-business structures on that land; a manufactured home can be exempt even if the veteran does not own the land. Jointly owned property with a spouse qualifies. The unremarried surviving spouse of such a veteran who died on or after January 1, 2011 keeps the exemption, even after moving to a different principal residence.

Localities may extend their elderly real estate tax exemption or deferral ordinance to owners who are permanently and totally disabled, on terms set by the locality.