Rhode Island Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption (2026)

Rhode Island's disabled veteran property tax exemption comes from state law, R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-3-4, but each city or town applies it, so the amount depends on where your home is assessed.1

That is why a single statewide dollar figure can mislead you in either direction. Under § 44-3-4, a Rhode Island veteran the VA has rated totally disabled through a service-connected disability can reach an exemption three different ways: a local-option exemption the town adopts by ordinance, an exemption for veterans who received VA help acquiring specially adapted housing, and a full exemption on a specially adapted homestead bought or modified with a VA grant.1 Every one of them is claimed at your city or town tax assessor's office.2

In This Guide

• Why Rhode Island's Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption Depends on Your City or Town
• If the VA Rates You Totally Disabled
• If You Received a VA Specially Adapted Housing Grant
• What a Surviving Spouse Keeps
• If Your Rating Is Below 100 Percent
• How to Apply for the Rhode Island Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption
• How It Fits With the RI-1040H Property Tax Relief Credit
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Why Rhode Island's Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption Depends on Your City or Town

Rhode Island writes its veterans' property tax exemptions into one statute and then leaves much of the practice to its cities and towns. The Rhode Island Office of Veterans Services puts it plainly on its property tax exemptions page: "Exemptions vary by town."1

Here's how that works in the law itself. The main totally-disabled exemption in R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-3-4 is written with the words "may, by ordinance," which means a Rhode Island veteran receives it where the city or town has adopted it.1 The statute then names specific towns with their own amounts, some far above the $10,000 default, so a veteran in Westerly and a veteran in Warwick are reading different lines of the same law.1

The state keeps a town-by-town list, but it is an old snapshot. The Rhode Island Division of Municipal Finance's Report on the Veteran, Senior, and Other Tax Exemption Programs uses an assessment date of 12/31/21, is self-reported by the municipalities, warns that discrepancies could exist, and directs all questions about actual exemptions, the application process and qualification to the local municipal assessor.2 Treat the amounts below as what the statute says, and treat your assessor as the final word on what your town applies today.

If the VA Rates You Totally Disabled

Three separate provisions of § 44-3-4 turn on a determination by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that the veteran is totally disabled through a service-connected disability.1 The statute calls the agency the Veterans' Administration. Which provision fits you depends on two things: whether your town has adopted the local-option exemption, and whether your home was acquired or adapted with VA housing help.

The Local-Option Exemption Under § 44-3-4(c)

Under § 44-3-4(c), in addition to the other exemptions, a Rhode Island veteran the VA determines to be totally disabled through a service-connected disability may, by ordinance passed in the city or town where the veteran's property is assessed, receive a $10,000 exemption from local taxation on property, whether real or personal.1 Under § 44-3-4(c), a totally disabled Rhode Island veteran who owns real property may also be exempt from taxation by any fire and/or lighting district.1

The statute writes different § 44-3-4(c) amounts for six named Rhode Island towns.1

Several of these § 44-3-4(c) entries are ceilings ("not to exceed"), so confirm the amount your Rhode Island city or town actually applies with its assessor.1

If You Received a VA Specially Adapted Housing Grant

Two more Rhode Island provisions reach veterans whose homes were acquired or adapted with help from the VA. If you are not sure whether your grant counts, our guide to VA adaptive housing grants explains the federal programs themselves.

The $10,000 Exemption Under § 44-3-4(b)

Under § 44-3-4(b), in addition to the basic veterans' exemption in subsection (a), Rhode Island law provides a $10,000 exemption from local taxation on real property for a veteran the VA has determined to be totally disabled through a service-connected disability who, because of that disability, received VA assistance in acquiring "specially adapted housing."1 The § 44-3-4(b) Rhode Island exemption also covers the unmarried widow or widower of a deceased veteran who qualified for it.1

Three conditions come with the § 44-3-4(b) exemption, and each one is practical. The real estate has to be occupied as your domicile. If the building is designed for more than one family, only the value of the part you live in as your domicile is exempted. And you have to furnish the assessors with satisfactory evidence that you received the VA assistance.1 Eleven named towns carry different § 44-3-4(b) amounts, including Cranston (not to exceed $30,000), Newport ($10,000 or 10% of assessed valuation, whichever is greater), Narragansett (up to $50,000 by ordinance) and Westerly (up to $40,500 by ordinance).1

The Full Homestead Exemption Under § 44-3-4(i)

This is the provision that can take a Rhode Island home off the tax rolls entirely. Under § 44-3-4(i), a veteran discharged under conditions other than dishonorable (or an officer honorably separated) whom the VA has determined to be totally and permanently disabled through a service-connected disability, and who owns a specially adapted homestead acquired or modified with the assistance of a VA special adaptive housing grant, is exempt from all taxation on the homestead, and so is the veteran's surviving spouse.1

A few details decide whether your home fits. To qualify for the Rhode Island § 44-3-4(i) exemption, the homestead must meet VA and Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines; a homestead bought or modified with the proceeds from selling a previous grant-assisted homestead also qualifies.1 Westerly is the one exception to the full exemption: in Westerly, the § 44-3-4(i) specially adapted homestead exemption is $46,500.1 Notice also that § 44-3-4(i) uses "totally and permanently disabled," a slightly different phrase from the "totally disabled" in subsections (b) and (c), so bring the VA letter that shows how your rating is described.

What a Surviving Spouse Keeps

Whether a widow or widower keeps a Rhode Island exemption depends on which provision the veteran held.

• Specially adapted homestead, § 44-3-4(i): the veteran's surviving spouse is exempt from all taxation on the homestead, the same as the veteran (except in Westerly, where the amount is $46,500).1
• Specially adapted housing, § 44-3-4(b): the $10,000 real property exemption covers the unmarried widow or widower of a deceased veteran who qualified.1
• Local-option exemption, § 44-3-4(c): the statute's own text extends Cranston's version, commencing with the December 31, 2016 assessment, to the unmarried widow or widower of the qualifying veteran.1 In any other Rhode Island town, ask the assessor what your town's ordinance provides for a surviving spouse.

Remarriage does not always end the benefit. Under § 44-3-4(d), the remarriage of a Rhode Island veteran's widow or widower does not bar the benefits of § 44-3-4 if that remarriage is void, has been terminated by death, or has been annulled or dissolved by a court of competent jurisdiction.1

One more rule helps families who have planned an estate. Any exemption a Rhode Island city or town grants under § 44-3-4 includes any life estate in property held by the qualified veteran. That matters for a veteran who deeded the house to children while keeping the right to live in it for life.1

Local practice after a death matters too. The City of Providence's assessor says all exemptions terminate upon the conveyance of the property, the death of the person exempted, or if the exempted person moves from the property.2 If you are a surviving spouse, contact your city or town assessor soon after the death to ask which exemption you can claim in your own name.

If Your Rating Is Below 100 Percent

A Rhode Island veteran rated below 100 percent may still find an exemption, but what's available depends heavily on the town. Section 44-3-4 authorizes exemptions for veterans the VA has determined to be partially disabled through a service-connected disability in certain named towns: Warren (by ordinance, up to $8,250), Barrington ($3,000 of real property), Warwick (by ordinance, $4,000 of real property) and Bristol (by ordinance).1

Other Rhode Island municipalities publish their own exemption for ratings below 100 percent. The City of East Providence, for example, publishes a Less Than 100% Service-Connected/Partially Disabled Veteran exemption in three tiers by VA rating (1% to 30%, 31% to 60%, and 61% to 99%), applicable on the applicant's primary residence only.1 East Providence also says its disabled-veteran exemptions cannot be combined with its regular veteran's or widow exemption.1

So the honest answer for a partially disabled Rhode Island veteran is that the exemption depends on the town.1 Ask your assessor two direct questions: does this city or town offer a partial-disability exemption, and does it stack with the regular veterans' exemption here?

How to Apply for the Rhode Island Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption

The Rhode Island Office of Veterans Services says to apply at your town tax assessor, and it lists a DD-214 as the documentation.2 Beyond that, the documents and the deadline are set locally, so the steps below describe what to bring and what to ask.

For the basic veterans' exemption in § 44-3-4(a), the statute adds three rules. The exemption applies to property in the municipality where the veteran resides, and any unused balance can be claimed in another Rhode Island city or town where the veteran owns property.2 The § 44-3-4(a) veterans' exemption is not allowed to anyone who is not a legal resident of Rhode Island.2 And the veteran must present evidence of entitlement to the assessors on or before the last day on which sworn statements may be filed for that year, evidence that stands as long as the veteran's legal residence remains unchanged (in South Kingstown, the evidence is due at least five days before the tax roll is certified).2 The Office of Veterans Services lists the basic exemption's eligibility as a discharge other than dishonorable and wartime service, with the complete list of qualifying conflicts in R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 44-3-4 and 44-3-4.2.2

If you have questions about your eligibility before you go, the Rhode Island Office of Veterans Services is the state agency that publishes this guidance, and our overview of VA benefits for senior care in Rhode Island shows the other state and federal benefits worth checking at the same time.

How It Fits With the RI-1040H Property Tax Relief Credit

Rhode Island has a second, unrelated kind of property tax help, and it runs on income rather than a VA rating. The state's Property Tax Relief Credit, claimed on Form RI-1040H under R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 44-33, is for homeowners and renters who are 65 or older and/or disabled, were domiciled in Rhode Island for the entire calendar year, and had total household income of $40,730 or less for 2025, among other conditions.3

The RI-1040H credit is not a flat payment. It is the amount by which property taxes accrued (or, for renters, 20 percent of rent paid) exceed a percentage of household income, capped at $700 for 2025, and Form RI-1040H must be filed by April 15 following the tax year.3 The veterans' exemption is claimed with your town assessor; the RI-1040H credit is a state claim with its own tests. If both might apply to you, our Rhode Island senior property tax relief guide walks through the credit in full.

Learn More

Find personalized help claiming the Rhode Island disabled veteran property tax exemption from your town assessor 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.