KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Connecticut doesn’t tax military retired pay, disability retirement pay or Survivor Benefit Plan annuities.
- Veterans rated 100% permanent and total pay no property tax on the part of the home they live in, or on one vehicle if they don’t own a home. It first shows up on 2026 tax bills.
- Since the October 1, 2025 grand list, towns can choose to extend that exemption to up to two acres of the lot, to individual unemployability and to more surviving spouses.
- Veterans rated 10% or higher get a smaller exemption tied to rating, age and income, roughly doubled below the state income limit.
- Eligible wartime veterans and Guard members get tuition waived at state universities and community colleges, and since July 2025 the waiver also covers summer and intersession fees.
- Connecticut Veteran Benefits at a Glance
- Connecticut Income Tax Benefits
- Connecticut Property Tax Exemptions for Veterans
- Education Benefits
- Employment and Business
- The Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Marines’ Fund
- Vehicles, Plates and Licenses
- Parks, Hunting and Fishing
- Veterans Home and Housing in Rocky Hill
- State Veterans Cemetery
- Help for Families and Survivors
- How to Claim Connecticut Veteran Benefits
- Frequently Asked Questions
Connecticut has quietly become one of the stronger states for disabled veterans. A 2024 law fully exempts the homes of veterans rated 100% permanent and total, and 2025 changes let towns go further. Add a full exemption for military retired pay, tuition waivers at public colleges and a free lifetime parks pass for any service-connected disability, and the package is better than its reputation. The trade-off is complexity: many property tax amounts are set or raised town by town. This guide sorts out what’s statewide and what to ask your assessor.
Connecticut Veteran Benefits at a Glance
| Your status | What you get in Connecticut |
|---|---|
| Wartime veteran | Basic property tax exemption (amount varies by town), tuition waiver at public colleges, state hiring preference, help from the Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Marines’ Fund |
| Military retiree | Retired pay and SBP not taxed by Connecticut |
| Any service-connected rating | Free lifetime pass to state parks and forests |
| 10% or higher rating | Disability property tax exemption based on rating, age and income |
| 100% permanent and total | Full property tax exemption on your home (or one vehicle if you don’t own a home) |
| Connecticut National Guard | Tuition waivers and the Wartime Service Bonus for qualifying deployments |
Connecticut Income Tax Benefits
- Military retired pay: not taxed by Connecticut, with no age or income condition. Military disability retirement pay and SBP, RCSBP and RSFPP annuities aren’t taxed either, and DIC is tax-free.
- Active-duty pay: taxed for residents unless all three apply: you keep no permanent home in Connecticut, you keep a permanent home elsewhere (barracks don’t count), and you spend 30 days or less in the state during the year.
- Combat zone: federal combat-zone rules apply, including a 180-day extension to file and pay, and residents who die in a combat zone owe no Connecticut tax for the year of death.
- Military spouses: a nonresident spouse of a service member stationed in Connecticut doesn’t pay Connecticut tax on wages earned here if both share the same state of residence.
Our military pension calculator shows what your retired pay will be before federal tax.
Connecticut Property Tax Exemptions for Veterans
Connecticut runs three separate veterans’ exemptions, and you can’t combine the 100% exemption with the others. File with your town assessor; the amounts and deadlines are local.
Full Exemption at 100% Permanent and Total
Under CGS § 12-81(83), a veteran whom VA rates permanently and totally disabled based on a 100% service-connected rating pays no property tax on their primary home, effective for the October 1, 2024 grand list and first reflected on 2026 tax bills. According to the legislature’s Office of Legislative Research:
- The exemption covers the portion of the dwelling the veteran actually lives in; commercial and rental portions are excluded.
- If the veteran doesn’t own a home, it exempts one motor vehicle instead. If the veteran owns neither, it can apply to a spouse’s home or vehicle when they live together.
- It’s portable to another town, and you must report changes to your rating.
- You can’t receive it and the rating-based exemption below at the same time.
Public Act 25-168 added local options for assessment years beginning October 1, 2025, as summarized by the Office of Legislative Research. Each town may exempt up to two acres of the dwelling lot, cap the exemption at the median assessed value of homes in town, extend it to certain surviving spouses of veterans who died before it took effect, and offer a similar exemption to veterans rated unemployable (TDIU) and to surviving spouses of service members killed in the line of duty. Ask your assessor which options your town adopted.
Exemption for Veterans Rated 10% or Higher
Under CGS § 12-81(20), veterans rated 10% or higher get an exemption that depends on their rating, age and income. The base amount at a 100% rating is $3,500 of assessed value, and veterans whose income is at or below a state threshold get twice the base. For 100% rated veterans that threshold is $18,000 unmarried or $21,000 married; for others it is set each year by the state budget office, at $45,200 for individuals and $55,100 for married couples in 2025, according to the Office of Legislative Research. Towns may give up to three times the base, so a 100% rated veteran can receive $10,500, and towns must raise amounts after certain revaluations.
Basic Wartime Veteran Exemption and Local Options
Veterans who served during a recognized period of war get a basic exemption, and towns may add more for lower-income veterans: up to $20,000 or 10% of assessed value for wartime veterans and 30-year retirees under a local income limit, and up to $5,000 or 5% for veterans who don’t qualify for other exemptions. Towns can also fully exempt homes built with VA specially adapted housing grants. To start, file your DD-214 with the town clerk; deadlines vary by town.
If you’re close to 100% or think you’re unemployable because of service-connected conditions, our 100% VA disability guide explains permanent and total ratings and TDIU.
Education Benefits
Connecticut waives tuition at its public colleges for eligible veterans and Guard members, covering what VA tuition assistance doesn’t. The waiver doesn’t pay books, parking or room and board.
- Connecticut State Universities: 100% of tuition for undergraduate and graduate fall and spring semesters.
- Community colleges: tuition waived for full- or part-time study.
- Summer and intersession: since July 1, 2025, the waivers also cover extension fees for summer, winter and intersession courses, and Charter Oak State College waives tuition.
- Who qualifies: Connecticut residents with an honorable or general discharge and at least 90 days of active duty during a recognized war (unless discharged earlier for a service-connected disability), and active Connecticut National Guard members.
- Dependents: resident children and surviving spouses of service members killed in action on or after September 11, 2001, and resident children of service members declared missing in action or prisoners of war after January 1, 1960.
Federal benefits usually cover more; see our Post-9/11 GI Bill guide.
Employment and Business
- State hiring preference: 10 points for disabled wartime veterans receiving VA compensation, for spouses of disabled veterans who can’t work and for surviving spouses of 10-point veterans; 5 points for other honorably discharged wartime veterans.
- Veteran-owned micro businesses: businesses at least 51% veteran-owned with gross revenue up to $3 million get a 15% price preference on state contracts (certification: 860-616-3685).
- Guard Wartime Service Bonus: $50 a month of active duty, up to $500 for non-combat service or $1,200 for combat-zone service, for Guard members who served at least 90 consecutive days on or after September 11, 2001.
- Military Relief Fund: grants of up to $5,000 for financial hardship caused by military service.
The Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Marines’ Fund
This state fund, run by the American Legion, gives temporary financial help to Connecticut wartime veterans in need. It can cover weekly needs, rent or mortgage interest, utilities, some medical costs, emergency dental care for the veteran, eye exams and glasses, hearing aids, durable medical equipment and funeral expenses. You need an honorable discharge after at least 90 days of active duty in a wartime period, Connecticut residency and demonstrated need. Apply through a local fund representative listed at alctssmf.org.
Vehicles, Plates and Licenses
- Registration fee waivers: new and renewal registration, temporary plate and related fees can be waived for eligible service members and veterans (Form B-276).
- Plates: 16 veteran plates, including a Military Veteran plate with 10 wartime designations. The Gold Star Family plate is free for surviving family of service members killed in the line of duty, and Medal of Honor recipients and former POWs get two sets of free plates.
- Stationed here: nonresident active-duty members pay a reduced 4.5% sales tax on vehicle purchases or leases (Form CERT-135).
- Veteran license designation: available with 90 days of active duty (not counting training) and an honorable discharge, through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Parks, Hunting and Fishing
- Free lifetime parks pass: Connecticut residents with any service-connected disability get a free lifetime pass to state parks and forests. It doesn’t cover camping or events with separate admission. Apply at a state park or by mail to DEEP (860-424-3200).
- Limb loss: residents who lost a limb or its use can get free inland fishing and small game hunting licenses with a doctor’s certification.
- Stationed here: nonresident active-duty members can buy hunting and fishing licenses at resident prices.
Veterans Home and Housing in Rocky Hill
- Sgt. John L. Levitow Healthcare Center: long-term, palliative and respite care (860-616-3708).
- Veteran Residential Facility: rehabilitation and community living on the same campus (admissions 860-616-3802).
- Patriots’ Landing: five single-family homes providing temporary housing for homeless or at-risk veterans and their families.
Eligibility for the Rocky Hill programs is 90 days of active duty (not counting training), an honorable or general discharge, and Connecticut residency when you apply or when you entered service. Veterans facing homelessness can also call VA’s National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-424-3838, 24 hours a day.
State Veterans Cemetery
The State Veterans Cemetery in Middletown provides the plot, opening and closing of the grave, a government headstone and perpetual care at no cost, for casket burial, cremated remains or columbarium niches. Eligibility matches VA national cemetery rules, and pre-registration is recommended. Call Cemetery and Memorial Services at 860-616-3688.
Help for Families and Survivors
- Property tax: unremarried surviving spouses of disabled veterans and of service members who died on active duty qualify for exemptions, and towns may now extend the 100% exemption to more surviving spouses.
- Income tax: SBP annuities and DIC aren’t taxed.
- Tuition: children and surviving spouses of service members killed in action since September 11, 2001 qualify for the tuition waiver.
For federal survivor benefits, see our guide to VA benefits for surviving spouses.
How to Claim Connecticut Veteran Benefits
- Gather documents: your DD-214 and a current VA benefit summary letter showing your rating and whether it’s permanent and total.
- Property tax: file your DD-214 with the town clerk and your rating proof with the assessor by your town’s deadline, and ask which 2025 local options your town adopted.
- Tuition: ask your college’s veterans office for the waiver before the semester starts.
- Parks pass: apply at any state park or by mail to DEEP.
- Get help: the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs at 287 West Street, Rocky Hill (860-616-3600) helps with state and federal claims for free.
If you haven’t enrolled in VA health care, you can apply online at VA.gov; our VA health care enrollment guide explains how priority groups work.
RELATED READING
Rhode Island Veteran Benefits: Complete State Guide →
Connecticut’s neighbor also exempts military retired pay and offers a tuition waiver from a 10% rating.
100% VA Disability: Pay, Benefits and How to Qualify →
The permanent and total rating behind Connecticut’s full property tax exemption.
Compare Connecticut with every other state’s taxes and property tax benefits.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Connecticut doesn’t tax military retired pay, military disability retirement pay or Survivor Benefit Plan annuities, and there is no age or income condition. DIC is also tax-free.
Not on their home if VA rates them permanently and totally disabled based on a 100% service-connected rating. The exemption covers the part of the dwelling the veteran lives in, or one vehicle if the veteran doesn’t own a home, starting with the October 1, 2024 grand list. Since October 1, 2025, towns may also exempt up to two acres of the lot or cap the exemption at the median home value.
Only if their town adopts it. Public Act 25-168 lets each town offer a similar full exemption to veterans with a service-connected rating of total disability based on individual unemployability, for assessment years beginning October 1, 2025. Ask your assessor whether your town has.
It depends on your rating, age and income, and many towns give more than the state minimum. At a 100% rating the base is $3,500 of assessed value, doubled to $7,000 with income of $18,000 or less ($21,000 married), and towns may give up to $10,500. For 2025 the income threshold for the doubled amount for other veterans is $45,200 single and $55,100 married.
Eligible wartime veterans and Connecticut National Guard members get tuition waived at Connecticut State Universities and the community colleges, and since July 2025 the waiver also covers summer, winter and intersession extension fees. Children and surviving spouses of service members killed in action since September 11, 2001 also qualify.
Yes, if you are a Connecticut resident with any service-connected disability. The free lifetime pass covers state parks and forests but not camping or events with separate admission. Apply at a state park or by mail to DEEP.
This article is provided by USMilitary.org, an independent educational resource. We are not affiliated with the State of Connecticut, the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs, VA or any government agency. Local exemption amounts and options vary by town; confirm current details with your town assessor, the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs or the official Connecticut state benefits summary before you apply.