Delaware Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption: How It Works (2026)

The Delaware disabled veteran property tax exemption is really a school tax credit for veterans paid 100% VA compensation for a permanent and total disability.1 Delaware's Disabled Veterans School Property Tax Credit covers 100% of the non-vocational school district property tax on a qualifying veteran's principal residence, but only in school districts whose board has voted to allow it, and it does not erase every line of a Delaware property tax bill.1 New Castle County and Sussex County then add county-tax relief for veterans approved for the state credit, which is why getting the one state application right by April 30 matters so much.2

In This Guide

• Do You Qualify?
• What It Covers
• County Relief on Top
• What About a Surviving Spouse?
• Married and Co-Owned Homes
• How to Apply
• The Senior Credit vs. This Credit
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Do You Qualify for the Delaware Disabled Veterans School Tax Credit?

Delaware's benefit is written into state law at 14 Del. C. § 1917(d), and the Delaware Department of Finance explains the program, while the application itself goes to your county.1 The test has two parts, one about your VA rating and one about how long you have lived in Delaware, and then a few conditions about the home itself. Here is each one.

• Your VA rating: to qualify for Delaware's Disabled Veterans School Property Tax Credit, the veteran must receive from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 100% disability compensation due to a service-connected, permanent and total disability, based either on a 100% disability rating or on individual unemployability.1
• Delaware domicile: Delaware's disabled veterans school tax credit requires the veteran to have been legally domiciled in Delaware for at least 3 consecutive years.1
• Your principal residence: the Delaware credit applies only to property the qualifying veteran owns and occupies as a dwelling and as their principal residence.1
• Taxes paid in full: Delaware requires the property tax bill to be paid in full by the end of each tax year to qualify for the credit in the following tax year, and the application form says a veteran who is delinquent in property taxes does not qualify.1
• No other principal-residence credit: the Delaware application form says a veteran receiving a property tax credit in this or any other state or county that requires the property to be their principal residence does not qualify.1

The rating test is the one that trips people up, because it turns on how the VA pays you, not only on your rating percentage. Delaware's statute defines a qualified veteran by 100% VA disability compensation for a service-connected, permanent and total disability, based either on a 100% disability rating or on individual unemployability, so a veteran rated below 100% whom the VA pays at the 100% rate through permanent and total individual unemployability does meet the statute's definition.1 A Delaware veteran who is not paid at the 100% rate through either route, or who is paid at 100% for a disability the VA has not found permanent and total, does not meet the statute's definition for the Delaware disabled veterans school tax credit.1 If that is your situation, your county's assessment office is the place to ask what else your county offers.

What the Delaware Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption Covers

The Delaware Department of Finance describes the Disabled Veterans School Property Tax Credit, available since 2022, as a credit against 100% of non-vocational school district property tax on a qualifying veteran's primary residence.1 The statute says the same thing in legal terms: where authorized, the credit equals the full amount of the school tax liability on the qualifying property.1 In a school district that has authorized it, the school district line on a qualifying veteran's bill can drop to nothing.

Two limits keep it from being a whole-bill exemption. First, the Delaware disabled veterans credit reaches only school district tax, and Sussex County's own page for the credit says it excludes Sussex Tech (the vocational district) and non-value-based fees and services.1 Second, it is a local option. Under 14 Del. C. § 1917(d), the Delaware disabled veterans school tax credit is allowed only if authorized by majority vote of the whole school board of the local school district.1 Because of that vote, confirm with your county's assessment office that your school district allows the credit before you count on it.

You won't receive a check. The Delaware Department of Finance says the amount of the disabled veterans credit is deducted from your property tax bill before the county mails it to you.1

County Relief on Top of the State Credit

Delaware's three counties each process the state application, and New Castle County and Sussex County publish county-tax relief for veterans who qualify for the state credit; for Kent County, ask the Kent County Levy Court Assessment Division.2 Each county's rule comes from that county's own documents, so it is worth reading the row for where you live.

The table draws on the Delaware DVP-TAX form for where each application goes and on each county's own rules for the relief column.1,2

New Castle County. New Castle County's disability-exemption form, revised January 6, 2026, says a veteran who qualifies for the State of Delaware Disabled Veterans School Tax Credit will automatically receive a full exemption of the total assessed value of the property for New Castle County tax purposes.2 The New Castle County exemption does not reach local light and ditch taxes or any stormwater maintenance fee.2 The state credit itself still needs its own application, on the Delaware Division of Revenue's form, filed with the New Castle County Assessment Division by April 30.2

Sussex County. Sussex County Council adopted Ordinance No. 2811 on November 16, 2021, creating a credit against Sussex County value-based property tax for totally disabled veterans who live in Sussex County, own their home, and meet the eligibility rules of the state Disabled Veterans School Tax Credit.2 Under Ordinance 2811, a completed application for the state credit also serves as the application for the Sussex County credit, so a Sussex veteran files once.2 Sussex County's page on the state credit describes the combined result as up to a full credit towards property taxes, excluding Sussex Tech and non-value-based fees and services.2

Kent County. The Kent County Levy Court Assessment Division is where a Kent County veteran files the state application.1 Ask that office directly whether any Kent County tax relief applies to your home.

What About a Surviving Spouse?

Delaware law protects a surviving spouse, but only one who meets every condition. Where the local school board has authorized the credit, 14 Del. C. § 1917(d) requires Delaware to allow the Disabled Veterans School Property Tax Credit for the surviving spouse of a qualified veteran if all four of these apply:1

1. The veteran was claiming the credit immediately before death and had not had the right to claim it withdrawn.
2. The surviving spouse was a titled owner of the home before the veteran's death.
3. The surviving spouse has not remarried.
4. The surviving spouse owns and occupies the home as their principal residence.

The first condition is the one families miss. A Delaware surviving spouse keeps the school tax credit only if the veteran was already claiming it, so a veteran who qualifies but never applied leaves nothing to continue.1 A surviving spouse loses the Delaware disabled veterans school tax credit on remarrying, on ceasing to be a titled owner of the home, or on ceasing to occupy it as their principal residence.1

In Sussex County, the county credit under Ordinance 2811 also continues for as long as the applicant or the applicant's surviving spouse owns the home and continues to meet all the conditions of the state credit.2

Married and Co-Owned Homes

How you hold title changes how much of the credit you get. The Delaware Department of Finance says that when spouses own a home as tenants by the entirety, the property is treated as if wholly owned by each spouse, so a disabled veteran married to a non-veteran receives the full credit.1 No more than one Delaware disabled veterans school tax credit is granted per property in any one year, however many owners qualify.1 For unmarried co-owners, Delaware sets each qualifying owner's share of the credit by their ownership interest in the property.1

How to Apply for the Delaware Disabled Veteran Property Tax Credit

There is one Delaware application for the school tax credit, the Division of Revenue's Application for Disabled Veteran School Property Tax Credit (form DVP-TAX), and it goes to your county rather than to the state.1

The deadline comes earlier than it looks. Delaware county fiscal years begin on July 1, so the April 30 deadline falls about two months before the tax year it applies to.3 Delaware's DVP-TAX form states that the disabled veterans credit is not permitted retroactively, so an application that misses April 30 cannot reach back to cover the tax year that begins that July.1

After approval, the paperwork is light. Once a Delaware veteran qualifies for the disabled veterans school tax credit, they do not need to re-apply each year.1 Moving and a change in your VA rating are the two exceptions, covered in the questions below.

If illness kept you from filing on time, there is a narrow safety valve. Delaware's Secretary of Finance can waive the April 30 application date for a person who is financially disabled, meaning unable to manage their own financial affairs because of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment expected to result in death or lasting at least 12 continuous months.1 The Delaware waiver does not apply to anyone whose spouse, guardian, or other person is authorized to act for them in financial matters.1

The Senior Credit vs. the Disabled Veterans Credit

A 100% disabled Delaware veteran who is also 65 or older may be looking at two Delaware school tax credits. Delaware's DVP-TAX form says applicants receiving the Disabled Veterans School Tax Credit may not claim the Senior School Property Tax Relief Credit, so a veteran has to pick one.1

The two are built differently. The Delaware Senior School Property Tax Credit gives homeowners 65 or older a credit of 50% of regular school property taxes, capped at $500 a year, with no income test.3 The Delaware disabled veterans credit, by contrast, is a credit against 100% of non-vocational school district property tax where the school board has authorized it.1 Our guide to Delaware senior property tax relief covers the senior credit's own residency rules and filing.

For the wider set of VA programs that help pay for care, see VA benefits for senior care in Delaware, and for how other states handle this benefit, see the disabled veteran property tax exemption by state.

Learn More

Find personalized help applying for Delaware's disabled veterans school tax credit 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.