Legislative Changes to Disabled Veterans Property Tax Exclusion Create a New Category of Qualifying Surviving Spouses

Changes are effective for the 2009 Tax Year

Recently the NC General Assembly enacted several revisions to the Disabled Veterans Property Tax Exclusion which are effective for the 2009 tax year.

The key statutory revisions are as follows:

1. Discharge Status - the law now clearly states that the exclusion only applies to two discharge statuses: a) honorable and b) under honorable conditions.
2. Qualification of unmarried surviving spouses – the statute now clarifies that, in order to qualify, the surviving spouse must never have remarried since the death of the veteran.
3. Created a new category of qualifying surviving spouses – the statute now states that the surviving spouse can also qualify if the VA certification shows that the veteran’s death was the result of a service-connected condition, even if the condition did not rise to the level of total and permanent disability. This applies if the veteran dies while on active duty or after discharge.

Veterans or surviving spouses who may qualify under the revised provisions are asked to contact the Onslow County Tax Office, Listings Division at 910-989-2201 for applications or additional information. Application forms may also be obtained on the Onslow County website at http://onslowcountync.gov/tax

Applicants are encouraged to file as soon as possible in order to allow time for tax bill corrections to be processed. Applications must be filed before December 31, 2009 to be considered for the 2009 tax year.

 

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