California
California Disabled Veterans’ Property Tax Exemption.
If the VA rates you 100% disabled, California takes a big piece of your home’s assessed value off your property tax bill. Here’s who qualifies, what it’s worth in 2026, and how to claim it, whether you already own, you’re buying here, or you’re moving in from another state or overseas.
Written by Luis, Military and VA Realtor serving North County San Diego
Updated October 2026
2026 at a Glance
Amounts come off assessed value. Source: California State Board of Equalization. Savings estimated at a 1.1% tax rate, compared with the $7,000 homeowners’ exemption.
How to claim itThe Numbers
What It’s Worth
The exemption comes off your home’s assessed value before the tax rate applies. At a 1.1% rate, the basic exemption saves about $1,900 a year compared with the regular $7,000 homeowners’ exemption, and the low-income exemption saves about $2,900. Rates vary by county and tax rate area, so I run the exact number for the home you’re looking at.
Source: California State Board of Equalization. Amounts come off your home’s assessed value.
Who Qualifies
Who Qualifies
The exemption goes by your VA rating, not your branch of service.
Rated 100% by the VA
A 100% service-connected disability rating, or VA pay at the 100% rate because your service-connected conditions keep you from working. Blindness in both eyes or the loss of use of two or more limbs also qualifies.
Discharged other than dishonorable
Your discharge has to be honorable or under conditions other than dishonorable.
Your primary residence
The home has to be where you live. It replaces the $7,000 homeowners’ exemption, so you claim one or the other.
Unmarried surviving spouses
A surviving spouse who hasn’t remarried can claim it when the veteran qualified during their lifetime or died from a service-connected cause.
How to Claim It
How to Claim It
Every California county uses the same state form, BOE-261-G. Here’s the order I walk buyers through.
Close and move in
The exemption is for the home you live in. The assessor can apply it from the date your home qualifies, so it doesn’t have to wait for January.
Gather your documents
Your VA rating letter showing the 100% rating or 100% pay, and in some counties your DD214.
File BOE-261-G with your county assessor
The basic exemption is a one-time filing. File as soon as you can after closing; late claims can still get a partial exemption.
Refile every year for low-income
The low-income exemption needs a new claim and household income worksheet every year by February 15.
Watch your escrow payment
If your lender pays your property taxes, your monthly payment drops once the exemption shows up on the tax bill.
PCS and Relocation
Moving From Another State or Overseas
Disabled veteran property tax breaks are set state by state, so an exemption you had in Texas, Virginia, or anywhere else doesn’t carry over. In California, the clock starts when you own the home and live in it.
If you’re on orders from overseas or out of state, you can buy before you arrive. A VA loan generally expects you to move in within about 60 days of closing, and I handle the search and the paperwork remotely.
Already own in California and never filed? Ask the assessor about past years. California can correct the tax roll for this exemption going back up to eight years.
Questions
Exemption Questions, Answered
The questions I hear most from veterans buying in California. If yours is not here, call or text and ask it.
Ask Me a QuestionWho qualifies for the California disabled veterans’ property tax exemption?
Veterans the VA rates 100% disabled from a service-connected condition, or pays at the 100% rate for unemployability, along with veterans blind in both eyes or with the loss of use of two or more limbs. Unmarried surviving spouses can qualify too. The home has to be your primary residence.
How much is the exemption in 2026?
The basic exemption takes $180,671 off your home’s assessed value. The low-income exemption takes $271,009 off when household income is under $81,131. For 2027, the amounts rise to $185,889 and $278,836.
Do I have to file every year?
Only for the low-income exemption, which needs a new claim by February 15 each year. The basic exemption is a one-time filing that stays in place while you qualify.
Can I get the exemption on a home I just bought?
Yes. File form BOE-261-G with the county assessor after you close and move in. The assessor can prorate the exemption from the date the home qualifies, so you don’t have to wait for January.
Does my exemption from another state transfer to California?
No. Each state runs its own program, so you file fresh with the California county where your home is.
Is California making it a full exemption?
Not yet. AB 2022 would have exempted more, but it was held in the State Senate’s appropriations committee in August 2026, so the current amounts still apply.
Find Your County Assessor
Ready to Put Your Benefits to Work?
Tell me where you are in the process. I’ll map out the purchase and the exemption filing with you.
Prefer to call? (619) 485-8293
