Alaska Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption: $150,000 (2026)

Alaska's disabled veteran property tax exemption removes the first $150,000 of assessed value from the home of a veteran rated 50% or more, and every Alaska municipality must grant it.1

Property taxes in Alaska are levied by municipalities, the cities and boroughs, so the forms, the filing deadline and any relief beyond that first $150,000 come from your own local assessor rather than from a state office.2 A widow or widower of a qualifying Alaska disabled veteran who is at least 60 and has not remarried keeps the same $150,000 exemption.1

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• Who Qualifies for the Alaska Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption
• How Much the Alaska Exemption Takes Off Your Assessed Value
• What State Law Sets and What Your Municipality Sets
• Surviving Spouses
• How to Apply for Alaska's Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption
• An Example of Local Rules: the Matanuska-Susitna Borough
• If You Are Also 65 or Older
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Who Qualifies for the Alaska Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption

Alaska's exemption is written into state law at AS 29.45.030(e), and the definition of who counts as a "disabled veteran" sits a few paragraphs later, in AS 29.45.030(i).1 Read that definition closely before you file: it is more specific than "a veteran with a disability," and every part of it has to be true for you.

Under AS 29.45.030(i), a disabled veteran for Alaska's property tax exemption is a person who meets all four of these conditions:1

• Was separated from U.S. military service under a condition that is not dishonorable.
• Is a resident of Alaska.
• Has a disability that was incurred or aggravated in the line of duty in U.S. military service.
• Has that disability rated at 50 percent or more, either by the branch of service they served in or by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

There is a second route written into the same Alaska statute for people who served in the Alaska Territorial Guard. A resident of Alaska whose disability was incurred or aggravated in the line of duty while serving in the Alaska Territorial Guard, and whose disability has been rated at 50 percent or more, also counts as a disabled veteran for the property tax exemption.1

The home itself has to qualify too. Alaska's exemption applies to real property the disabled veteran owns and occupies as their primary residence and permanent place of abode.1 For Alaska's $150,000 disabled veteran property tax exemption, state law counts a mobile home as real property, whether your municipality classifies it as real or personal property for tax purposes.2

Expect to prove the rating. AS 29.45.030(f) directs the local assessor to require a disabled veteran claiming the Alaska exemption to provide evidence of the disability rating, so have your VA rating letter or your branch's rating decision ready before you file.1

How Much the Alaska Exemption Takes Off Your Assessed Value

The floor is the same everywhere in the state. Alaska's Division of Community and Regional Affairs (DCRA) describes the disabled veteran exemption under AS 29.45.030(e) as a mandatory exemption of up to the first $150,000 of assessed value on the primary residence, and states that "All municipalities are required to grant this exemption."1

The exemption works on assessed value, not on your tax bill. Alaska's mandatory exemption removes up to the first $150,000 of a qualifying disabled veteran's assessed home value, and assessed value above $150,000 stays taxable unless the municipality provides more relief.2

Relief above $150,000 is possible in Alaska, but it depends on where you live. State law gives municipalities two separate ways to go further:2

• Hardship: under AS 29.45.030(e), an Alaska municipality may, in case of hardship, provide an exemption beyond the first $150,000 of assessed value.2
• Voter-approved local option: under AS 29.45.050(i), an Alaska municipality may, by an ordinance its voters approve, exempt the assessed value above $150,000 for the same residents, so in a municipality that has adopted that option the exemption is not capped at $150,000.2

Neither of those is automatic. Ask your assessor whether your city or borough has a hardship provision or a voter-approved option, and how to apply for it.

What State Law Sets and What Your Municipality Sets

Most of the confusion about Alaska's disabled veteran exemption comes from mixing up the two layers. The table below lines them up.2,1

Surviving Spouses

Alaska's exemption can continue after a disabled veteran dies, and age decides which rule applies.

A widow or widower who is at least 60 years old, and whose spouse qualified as a disabled veteran, is entitled to Alaska's $150,000 exemption in every municipality.1 So a 62-year-old widow of a veteran rated 100 percent keeps the exemption on the home she owns and lives in, as long as she has not remarried.

For widows and widowers under 60, Alaska leaves the disabled veteran exemption to each municipality's voters. An Alaska municipality may, by an ordinance its voters approve, extend the exemption to the widow or widower under 60 of a qualifying disabled veteran, or to the widow or widower of a person who died from a service-connected cause while serving in the U.S. armed forces or the National Guard.1 If you fall into either group, ask your assessor whether your municipality's voters have adopted that option.

Remarriage matters. For Alaska's disabled veteran exemption, AS 29.45.030 defines a "widow or widower" as a person whose spouse has died and who has not remarried.1

How to Apply for Alaska's Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption

There is no single statewide application for Alaska's disabled veteran exemption. The application goes to the assessor for the city or borough that taxes your home, and each municipality sets its own procedures and deadline by ordinance.2 DCRA says the local assessor's office should have the application forms.1

The Permanent Fund Dividend question matters if you spent long stretches outside Alaska. In an Alaska municipality that has adopted the PFD requirement, an applicant who was absent from the state long enough to lose PFD eligibility for that year can be denied the property tax exemption.2

If you miss the deadline, ask anyway. State law lets an Alaska municipality waive a late filing for good cause.2 And if your application is approved after you've already paid that year's tax, AS 29.45.030(f) says the tax you paid on the exempted property is refunded to you.2

An Example of Local Rules: the Matanuska-Susitna Borough

The details below are the Mat-Su Borough's own rules, taken from its Senior Citizen/Disabled Veteran Exemption page. They show how one municipality fills in what state law leaves open. They are not statewide rules, and your city or borough may differ.1

The effective date is the detail to check if your rating is new. Say you're a Mat-Su homeowner whose 70 percent rating came through this spring. The Mat-Su Borough asks whether the rating's effective date falls before January 1 of the tax year you're applying for, so look for the effective date printed on your VA letter; a rating whose effective date is January 1 or later doesn't meet Mat-Su's test for that tax year.1

Mat-Su has occupancy rules as well. To qualify in the Mat-Su Borough, you must own and occupy the home as your permanent place of abode before January 1 of the assessment year, and in each later year the home must be your primary residence for at least 185 days before January 1.1 You also can't own another property that is receiving, or will receive, a Residential, Senior Citizen or Disabled Veteran exemption.1

A Mat-Su widow or widower of a previous participant can obtain the exemption upon reaching 60 by providing copies of the marriage and death certificates.1 And once you have the exemption, the Mat-Su Borough makes you responsible for telling the assessor about any change in ownership, property use, residency, permanent place of abode, disability status or anything else that affects whether you qualify.1

The Mat-Su Borough's exemption page, as posted for its 2026 application cycle, also describes the borough's own optional Senior Citizen/Disabled Veteran exemption program, under which up to $135,279 of assessed value may be exempt for qualified applicants.1 Ask the Mat-Su assessor whether you qualify for the optional program.

If You Are Also 65 or Older

Alaska's disabled veteran exemption and its senior exemption for residents 65 and older are the same exemption under AS 29.45.030(e), reached through different doors, and both take off the first $150,000 of assessed value.2 Alaska law allows only one exemption for the same property, so a disabled veteran who is also 65 or older receives one $150,000 exemption on the home, not two.1

If age is your easier route, our Alaska senior property tax relief guide covers the 65-and-older side of the same statute.

Learn More

Find personalized help claiming Alaska's disabled veteran property tax exemption at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.