Montana Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption: 2027 MDV Guide

Montana's disabled veteran property tax exemption, the MDV program, cuts the property tax rate on a 100% disabled veteran's home by 50%, 70%, 80% or 100%, depending on income.1 The Montana Disabled Veteran (MDV) Assistance Program is open to a veteran the VA rates 100% disabled, or pays at the 100% disabled rate, for a service-connected disability, and to that veteran's unmarried surviving spouse.1 Once the Montana Department of Revenue approves an MDV application, the veteran doesn't have to reapply each year.1 What decides the size of the cut is household income, so the tables below are where you'll find your own band.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• Do You Qualify for the Montana Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption?
• How Much the Montana MDV Rate Reduction Is Worth in Tax Year 2027
• What Happens for a Surviving Spouse in Montana
• How to Apply for the Montana Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption
• The April 15 Deadline and Yearly Verification
• Special Situations: Nursing Homes, Moving and Farm Land
• Not Rated 100 Percent, or 62 and Older?
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Do You Qualify for the Montana Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption?

The program's formal name is the Montana Disabled Veteran (MDV) Assistance Program, and the Montana Department of Revenue runs it under Montana Code Annotated 15-6-311.1 The veteran's conditions come down to four things, and the application form asks you to affirm the service and disability ones in writing:

• Service and rating: the veteran was honorably discharged from active service and is currently rated 100% disabled, or paid at the 100% disabled rate, by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs because of a service-connected disability.1
• Ownership: the veteran owns the home, or is buying it under a contract for deed. A house qualifies, and so does a mobile or manufactured home.1
• Occupancy: the veteran lives in the home as their primary residence for at least seven months of the year.1
• Income: the household's 2025 federal adjusted gross income, excluding capital and income losses, falls at or under the Tax Year 2027 ceiling for the applicant's filing status.1

The rating test has two routes, and the second one is easy to miss. Montana's MDV program accepts a veteran who is rated 100% disabled, and it equally accepts a veteran who is paid at the 100% disabled rate for a service-connected disability.1 If that's your route, send the VA letter that shows the 100% pay rate.1

The income test counts more than the veteran's own income. A married MDV applicant in Montana has to include the spouse's income in the 2025 federal adjusted gross income figure, whether or not the spouse is a co-owner of the home.1 Montana's Tax Year 2027 MDV income ceilings are $64,551 or less for a single applicant, $74,482 or less for a married applicant or head of household, and $56,276 or less for an unmarried surviving spouse.1

How Much the Montana MDV Rate Reduction Is Worth in Tax Year 2027

Montana law calls the MDV benefit a tax rate reduction: the normal property tax rate on the home is reduced by 100%, 80%, 70% or 50%, depending on the applicant's marital status and income.1 Because the relief works on the rate, the dollar effect for any one household depends on that home's own tax bill, which is why this guide gives the percentage bands rather than a dollar figure.

To find your band, pick the table for your filing status and look up your 2025 federal adjusted gross income, excluding capital and income losses.1

Those bands move every year. Montana Code Annotated 15-6-311 requires the MDV qualifying income levels to be adjusted annually by the PCE inflation factor defined in Montana Code Annotated 15-6-301, rounded to the nearest whole dollar, and if the adjustment would lower them, the levels stay the same as the year before.1 In practice, a household that sat just above a line one year may land inside it the next, so it's worth checking the Department of Revenue's current table each year rather than relying on an old one.

What Happens for a Surviving Spouse in Montana

A widow or widower can hold on to Montana's MDV relief, and in some cases can qualify even though the veteran was never rated 100%. Under Montana Code Annotated 15-6-311, the MDV tax rate reduction continues for a deceased veteran's spouse who owns and occupies the house, is unmarried, and has a letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs showing one of three things about the veteran:1

1. The veteran was rated 100% disabled, or paid at the 100% disabled rate, for a service-connected disability at the time of death.1
2. The veteran died while on active duty.
3. The veteran died as a result of a service-connected disability.

The second and third routes are the ones that matter for a spouse whose husband or wife never reached a 100% rating. An unmarried surviving spouse in Montana whose VA letter shows the veteran died on active duty, or died from a service-connected disability, meets the MDV letter requirement on that basis alone.1 An unmarried surviving spouse still has to meet Montana's MDV surviving-spouse income ceiling, which for Tax Year 2027 is $56,276 or less in 2025 federal adjusted gross income.1

When a surviving spouse applies to Montana's MDV program, the VA letter or letters go in with the application, and they have to describe the deceased veteran's status rather than the spouse's.1 If you don't have that letter yet, requesting it from the VA is the first step, and it's worth doing well before April 15.

How to Apply for the Montana Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption

The Montana Department of Revenue gives you two ways to apply for MDV relief: submit the electronic Montana Disabled Veteran Property Tax Relief Application online, or return a completed and signed Form MDV to your local Department of Revenue field office.1 Either way, the paperwork is the same.

One detail for veterans with a temporary rating: if the VA disability rating is temporary, the Montana Department of Revenue will periodically ask the MDV recipient for an updated verification letter from the VA.1 Keeping a current copy on hand saves a scramble when that request arrives.

If you're helping a parent with this, the Department of Revenue's MDV page links both the online application and the paper form, and a Department field office can take the completed Form MDV in person.

The April 15 Deadline and Yearly Verification

A Montana MDV application must be filed by April 15 of the year for which the relief is first claimed, and a paper Form MDV must be postmarked or hand delivered by April 15.1 If the April 15 deadline is missed, the Montana Department of Revenue considers the MDV application for the following year.1 So a late filing doesn't vanish, but it moves the start of the relief back a year, which is the main reason to file early.

After the first approval, Montana's MDV program runs on the Department's annual verification rather than a new application. Montana law says an approved applicant remains eligible in later years through that annual verification process without the need to reapply, and the Department's MDV page says the application stays active for as long as you own and live in the home.1 The Department also sends an MDV recipient a letter each year with their current property tax assistance status.1

Not reapplying isn't the same as never being checked. A Montana MDV recipient still has to meet the income and property ownership and occupancy requirements every year, and has to tell the Department of Revenue about any change in eligibility from one year to the next.1

Special Situations: Nursing Homes, Moving and Farm Land

A temporary nursing-home stay. Under Montana Code Annotated 15-6-302, a temporary stay in a nursing home or similar facility does not change a taxpayer's primary residence for Montana's MDV program.1

The year you qualify. Montana's MDV relief covers the full tax year in the first year an applicant qualifies, as long as the applicant lives in the property for the rest of that tax year.1

Buying or selling during the year. A person who buys a qualifying Montana property is generally not entitled to MDV relief for the partial tax year in which they buy it.1 A qualifying MDV recipient who sells the home and doesn't buy a new residence during that tax year gets the relief for the number of days they owned the property.1 If a move is on the horizon, the timing of closing is worth raising with the Department before you sign.

Agricultural and timber land. On an agricultural or timber parcel in Montana, the only land eligible for the MDV rate reduction is the one-acre home site.1

More than one program. When someone applies, the Montana Department of Revenue awards the property tax assistance program that provides the greatest benefit to the taxpayer, after reviewing the application and eligibility requirements, and notifies the applicant of its decision.1

Not Rated 100 Percent, or 62 and Older?

Montana's MDV program is written for veterans rated 100% disabled or paid at the 100% disabled rate, and for their surviving spouses.1 If you're 62 or older, a separate Montana program is worth a look whatever your VA rating: the Montana Elderly Homeowner/Renter Credit is a refundable income tax credit of up to $1,150 for Montanans age 62 or older with gross household income under $45,000, and it phases down as household income rises from $35,000. The Elderly Homeowner/Renter Credit also requires at least nine months of Montana residence and six months living in a Montana home during the year.2 Our guide to Montana senior property tax relief walks through that credit in full.

Learn More

Find personalized help filing Montana's MDV property tax application 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.