Arizona Benefits Guide for Disabled Veterans

An Arizona veteran rated 100% service-connected owes no property tax on a primary residence, provided the household also clears the income test below. A.R.S. 42-11111 grants that full exemption, and the veteran must hold an honorable discharge, live in Arizona, and occupy the home as a single main residence.

The rating on the VA benefits letter decides eligibility, not the payment amount. For instance, the Maricopa County Assessor looks at the combined service-connected rating, so a veteran paid at the 100% rate through total disability based on individual unemployability qualifies only if the combined rating itself reaches 100%. Arizona widens the exemption to include unemployability in tax year 2027.

A veteran rated below 100% service-connected, or rated for a disability that is not service-connected, receives up to $4,873 off the assessed limited property value for 2026. The Arizona Department of Revenue scales that figure by the VA rating percentage, and the county assessor then applies it to the veteran’s share of ownership, so a 60% rating on a solely owned home exempts roughly $2,924 of value.

For widows, widowers, and people with a total and permanent disability who claim the $4,873, the total assessed limited value of all property owned in Arizona must not exceed $36,454.

Income limits reach every exemption in the section, including the full exemption for a 100% rating. For 2026 the household ceiling is $39,865 if no children under 18 live in the home, and $47,826 if the home includes children under 18 or children with a medical or physical disability. The count covers the claimant, a spouse and resident children, and it uses the prior year’s income. Social Security benefits and veterans’ pension payments stay out of the calculation; ask your county assessor how it treats military retired pay, because the statute and some county guidance part company on that point.

Claims go to the county assessor where the home sits, in a window that opens the first Monday in January and closes March 1. Maricopa County accepts a late filing until September 1 with an approved deadline waiver. A veteran granted an exemption before January 1, 2026 keeps it without filing again, though every holder still has to recalculate income each year and report any change in rating, income, marital status or ownership.

A surviving spouse keeps the full exemption. If the home was already receiving the 100% service-connected exemption, the surviving spouse continues claiming it on their own primary residence for as long as they do not remarry. Arizona opens the first of these continuation claims in January 2027, and selling the home ends the exemption.

Carrying a rating lower than your conditions justify costs you this exemption as well as monthly compensation. Ask us for a free case evaluation.

Is Military Retirement Pay Taxed in Arizona?

Arizona does not tax military retirement pay. Under A.R.S. 43-1022, retired and retainer pay from the uniformed services comes off Arizona taxable income in full, and pay for active service with the reserves, the National Guard or the armed forces is subtracted as well. A surviving spouse receiving uniformed services payments may also subtract them in full. Find out more.

Emergency Money for Arizona Military Families

The Arizona Military Family Relief Fund pays hardship grants to service members, veterans and their families when military service caused the financial trouble. Eligibility rests on a deployment, meaning a move from the member’s home station to somewhere beyond the continental United States and its territories, together with an Arizona tie: Arizona as home of record, Arizona National Guard membership at the time of the deployment, departure from an Arizona installation, or established Arizona residency backed by twelve months of continuous physical presence.

Grants reach a $20,000 lifetime limit, and a first-time applicant can request up to $3,000 of that as one-time emergency help through the fund’s emergency committee. The money goes toward basic living costs such as rent, vehicle payments and utilities, and it cannot go toward VA debts, education, child support, credit cards or legal fees. Applications close on a monthly cut-off date ahead of each committee meeting.

HOME Plus is the state’s only statewide down payment assistance program, available in every Arizona county, city and ZIP code, and open to veterans on the same terms as other buyers. It puts up to 4% toward a down payment and closing costs as a second mortgage that charges no interest and takes no monthly payment. The balance is forgiven after five years, and a sale or refinance inside 60 months triggers repayment.

Grants to Adapt a Home for a Disability

Veterans with qualifying service-connected disabilities can apply for VA housing grants to buy, build or modify a home for independent living. For fiscal year 2026 the Specially Adapted Housing grant reaches $126,526 and the Special Home Adaptation grant $25,350. A veteran living for a time in a family member’s home can instead apply for a Temporary Residence Adaptation grant, worth up to $50,961 alongside SAH eligibility or $9,100 alongside SHA eligibility.

Arizona Programs for Homeless Veterans

A veteran in Arizona who has lost housing, or is close to it, can reach the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans on 877-424-3838 at any hour, free and in confidence. The three VA systems in Arizona pair that with HUD-VASH vouchers for permanent supportive housing, Health Care for Homeless Veterans outreach and residential treatment, Grant and Per Diem transitional beds through community providers, and Supportive Services for Veteran Families for low-income families at risk. Phoenix runs a Community Resource and Referral Center at 1500 East Thomas Road, Suite 106, and the Tucson VA sends a mobile medical unit to veterans living unsheltered.

A veteran whom the VA certifies at 100% disability, and who receives compensation on that basis, pays neither the vehicle license tax nor the registration fee on one vehicle. A.R.S. 28-5802 covers a vehicle the veteran owns alone or jointly with someone else, and the exemption moves to a replacement vehicle. Arizona MVD asks for a VA eligibility letter or a Uniformed Services identification card carrying the 100% disabled veteran affiliation.

The vehicle exemption outlives the veteran. A surviving spouse renews the registration on one vehicle, or a replacement for it, under the same terms until they remarry or die. The Arizona MVD exemption page sets out the paperwork.

Purple Heart and VA-Financed Vehicle Exemptions

A Purple Heart recipient discharged honorably owes no vehicle license tax and no registration fee on one vehicle, and no disability rating is required. A.R.S. 28-5802 also lifts both charges from one vehicle at a time bought with VA financial aid.

Disability Plates and Parking Placards in Arizona

Reserved parking in Arizona comes with the international symbol of access plate or placard rather than with a veteran plate. Attaching a copy of a VA 100% disability certificate to the application replaces the medical certification a civilian applicant needs, under A.R.S. 28-2409. Arizona charges no special plate fee for that plate and hands out permanent placards at no cost. Applications and the current form sit on the MVD plates and placards page.

What Do Veteran License Plates Cost in Arizona?

An Arizona veteran plate costs $25 to order and $25 at each renewal, and the design is available for motorcycles as well as cars. Most specialty plates accept a disability symbol at no extra charge.

Separate honored military plates exist for former prisoners of war, Purple Heart recipients, Pearl Harbor survivors and Distinguished Flying Cross recipients, each with its own fee, and each of those may also be issued to an immediate family member. Find out more from the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services.

Free Rides to VA Appointments

Disabled American Veterans drives veterans to the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center at no charge when they have no other way to get there. The DAV van service carries passengers who can board and move about without help from the driver, and a veteran who takes a DAV van cannot also claim VA travel reimbursement for the same trip.

Arizona waives tuition at public universities and community colleges for a veteran who holds a Purple Heart citation and a VA rating of 50% or higher, and who lived in Arizona or was stationed here when the qualifying injury happened.

The waiver pays tuition only, for undergraduate study, and leaves the student to cover books, parking, course fees and room and board. It belongs to the person who earned it and cannot be signed over to anyone else. In addition to disabled veterans, there are three more eligibility tiers for the tuition waiver:

• An unremarried spouse, or a child up to age 30, of an Arizona National Guard member or armed forces member killed in the line of duty, or who died of injuries suffered in the line of duty while traveling to or from duty
• A serving Arizona National Guard member awarded a Purple Heart on or after September 11, 2001
• A former Arizona National Guard member given a medical discharge for an injury suffered on Title 10 duty, in weekend or annual training, or while answering a declared state of emergency

Do Spouses of Arizona Veterans Get Free Tuition?

The husband or wife of any honorably discharged veteran can apply for an Arizona tuition scholarship, with no rating, Purple Heart or line-of-duty death in the picture. A.R.S. 15-1809 pays tuition and mandatory fees at an Arizona public university or participating community college, less any federal aid, public grants or other gift aid already awarded.

The spouse has to qualify as an Arizona resident, stay one, and file a FAFSA each year. Awards go out first come, first served while money lasts, for up to four academic years or eight semesters, toward a certificate, associate or bachelor’s degree.

Can Out of State Veterans Pay In-State Tuition in Arizona?

A veteran holding an honorable discharge is classified as an in-state student straight away at Arizona public colleges under A.R.S. 15-1802, on showing intent to make Arizona home through something like an Arizona driver license, voter registration or vehicle registration. Arizona also extends in-state standing to a service member stationed in Arizona and to that member’s spouse and dependent children.

Arizona State Veterans Hiring Preference

A.R.S. 38-492 gives a veteran discharged under honorable conditions after more than six months of active duty a 5 point preference for state employment, and gives 10 points to an honorably separated veteran who has a service-connected disability or receives compensation or disability retirement benefits. No minimum rating is required for the disabled veteran hiring preference.

Arizona hires most state employees without scoring them, so the preference is usually in the form of a preference code on the application rather than as points added to an exam.

The Arizona Department of Administration limits the preference to candidates who do not already work for the state, and asks for a DD214 or a VA certification letter, with Form FL-802 or an equivalent retirement board letter from a disabled veteran. One upload to an azstatejobs.gov profile covers every later application.

A spouse or surviving spouse can receive 5 preference points if the veteran has a permanent and total service-connected disability (or died while rated P&T), died of a service-connected disability, or was listed for at least ninety days as missing in action, captured or forcibly detained.

Where Arizona Veterans Find Job Help

Veterans and their spouses hold priority of service at ARIZONA@WORK: they are served ahead of everyone else when job referrals, training or placement help are in short supply. Veterans programs like Jobs for Veterans State Grants (JVSG) offer personalized career and training services.

Professional Licensing Fee Waiver

Arizona licensing agencies charge no fee for a first license to a veteran who applies within two years of an honorable discharge, and to the spouse of an active duty service member, under A.R.S. 41-1080.01. The waiver applies the first time a person seeks that particular license in Arizona.

A veteran rated 100% service-connected gets into any Arizona state park free for the day, on presenting VA-certified proof of the rating at a park visitor center to collect the pass. Military retirees and veterans with a service-connected rating below 100% pay half the day-use entrance fee, as do active duty, reserve and National Guard members showing a military ID at the gate. Arizona State Parks extends the same rate to as many as three adults arriving with the pass holder.

The Arizona State Parks pass is good only for day entry. Camping, overnight parking, reservation charges, special event and special program fees, and the tours at Kartchner Caverns and Riordan Mansion all fall outside it. The pass stays with the person it was issued to, and staff ask for photo identification at the gate.

Do Disabled Veterans Get a Free Hunting and Fishing License in Arizona?

An Arizona resident of a year or more who receives compensation for a service-connected disability rated 100% disabling receives a complimentary license that carries hunting, fishing and community fishing privileges together.

Arizona Game and Fish handles these applications through its department offices, issues the paper license at no charge and asks $4 for a plastic card. If the VA has certified the 100% rating as permanent and closed to review, no fresh certification is needed at renewal; if a review is scheduled, the license expires three years after issue.

Discounts are available for other Arizona veterans with at least one year of residency. A veteran who receives compensation for a service-connected disability below 100% pays $42. A Purple Heart recipient pays $28 for a combined hunting and fishing license good for a year from the day it is issued.

Three VA systems provide health care services to Arizona veterans: the Phoenix VA Health Care System, the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System out of Tucson, and the Northern Arizona VA Health Care System at Prescott. Phoenix and Tucson each send a mobile medical unit to veterans who cannot travel to one of the existing medical centers and clinics.

VA Medical Centers in Arizona

• Carl T. Hayden Veterans’ Administration Medical Center: 650 East Indian School Road, Phoenix, AZ 85012
• Tucson VA Medical Center: 3601 South Sixth Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85723
• Bob Stump Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center: 500 Highway 89 North, Prescott, AZ 86313

VA Clinics in Arizona

The Phoenix system serves central and eastern Arizona through these clinics:

• Globe VA Clinic: 5860 South Hospital Drive, Suite 111, Globe, AZ 85501
• Mesa VA Clinic: 4135 South Power Road, Suite 103, Mesa, AZ 85212
• Northeast Phoenix VA Clinic: 11390 East Via Linda Road, Suite 105, Scottsdale, AZ 85259
• Northwest VA Clinic: 13985 West Grand Avenue, Suite 101, Surprise, AZ 85374
• Payson VA Clinic: 903 East Highway 260, Suite 2, Payson, AZ 85541
• Phoenix 32nd Street VA Clinic: 400 North 32nd Street, Phoenix, AZ 85008
• Phoenix Midtown VA Clinic: 5040 North 15th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85015
• Phoenix VA Clinic at the Community Resource and Referral Center: 1500 East Thomas Road, Suite 106, Phoenix, AZ 85014
• Show Low VA Clinic: 5171 Cub Lake Road, Suite C380, Show Low, AZ 85901
• Southwest VA Clinic: 9250 West Thomas Road, Suite 400, Phoenix, AZ 85037
• Staff Sergeant Alexander W. Conrad Veterans Affairs Health Care Clinic: 3285 South Val Vista Drive, Gilbert, AZ 85297
• Thunderbird VA Clinic: 9424 North 25th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85021

The Southern Arizona system serves the south of the state from Tucson:

• Casa Grande VA Clinic: 1876 East Sabin Drive, Suite 15, Building A, Casa Grande, AZ 85122
• Pinal County VA Clinic: 1179 East Cottonwood Lane, Casa Grande, AZ 85122
• Cochise County VA Clinic: 157 North Coronado Drive, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635
• Sierra Vista VA Clinic: 101 North Coronado Drive, Suite A, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635
• Green Valley VA Clinic: 380 West Vista Hermosa Drive, Suite 140, Green Valley, AZ 85614
• Northwest Tucson VA Clinic: 3920 West Linda Vista Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85742
• Southeast Tucson VA Clinic: 7395 South Houghton Road, Suite 129, Tucson, AZ 85747
• Safford VA Clinic: 355 North 8th Avenue, Safford, AZ 85546
• Yuma VA Clinic: 3111 South 4th Avenue, Yuma, AZ 85364

The Northern Arizona system serves the high country and the tribal nations:

• Anthem VA Clinic: 41810 North Venture Drive, Building B, Anthem, AZ 85086
• Chinle VA Clinic: Highway 191 and Hospital Drive, Chinle, AZ 86503
• Cottonwood VA Clinic: 501 South Willard Street, Cottonwood, AZ 86326
• Flagstaff VA Clinic: 1300 West University Avenue, Suite 200, Flagstaff, AZ 86001
• Kayenta VA Clinic: US Highway 160, half a mile south of mile post 394.4, Kayenta, AZ 86033
• Kingman VA Clinic: 2668 Hualapai Mountain Road, Kingman, AZ 86401
• Lake Havasu City VA Clinic: 145 Park Avenue, Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403
• Page VA Clinic: 801 North Navajo Drive, Suite B, Page, AZ 86040
• Tuba City VA Clinic: 167 North Main Street, Tuba City, AZ 86045

Vet Centers in Arizona

Vet Centers offer counseling, peer support and readjustment help to combat veterans, survivors of military sexual trauma and their families, at no cost and in confidence.

• Phoenix Vet Center: 4020 North 20th Street, Suite 110, Phoenix, AZ 85016 | Phone: 602-640-2981
• Mesa Vet Center: 1303 South Longmore, Suite 5, Mesa, AZ 85202 | Phone: 480-610-6727
• Tucson Vet Center: 2525 East Broadway Boulevard, Suite 100, Tucson, AZ 85716 | Phone: 520-882-0333
• Prescott Vet Center: 3180 Stillwater Drive, Suite A, Prescott, AZ 86305 | Phone: 928-778-3469
• Yuma Vet Center: 1450 East 16th Street, Suite 103, Yuma, AZ 85365 | Phone: 928-271-8700
• Lake Havasu Vet Center: 1720 Mesquite, Suite 101, Lake Havasu, AZ 86403 | Phone: 928-505-0394

Arizona State Veteran Homes

Arizona keeps four state veteran homes, each a Medicare certified skilled nursing facility with a memory care unit. The homes care for elderly and chronically ill veterans alongside dependent and surviving spouses.

• Phoenix, 104 beds: 4141 North Silvestre Herrera Way, Phoenix, AZ 85012 | Phone: 602-248-1550, admissions 602-248-1594
• Tucson, 120 beds: 555 East Ajo Way, Tucson, AZ 85713 | Phone: 520-638-2150, admissions 520-638-2159
• Flagstaff, 80 beds: 2100 North Gemini Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86004 | Phone: 928-637-0600, admissions 928-637-0607
• Yuma, 80 beds: 6051 East 34th Street, Yuma, AZ 85365 | Phone: 928-247-8300

Admission is open to an honorably separated veteran or the spouse of a veteran who needs skilled nursing care in a physician’s judgment, with documentation showing no tuberculosis. Each home has its own admissions coordinator, listed with the application forms on the Arizona State Veteran Homes pages.

National Guard Members Injured on State Active Duty

Under A.R.S. 26-158, an Arizona National Guard member serving more than thirty consecutive days of state active duty ordered by the governor or the adjutant general counts as a state employee for insurance purposes and, if the legislature has appropriated the money, becomes eligible for health and accident coverage that reaches dependents too.

Arizona State Veterans Memorial Cemeteries

The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services maintains three state veterans memorial cemeteries, each offering casket burial, urn burial in the ground and columbarium niches. Those buried there receive the plot, the opening and closing of the grave, a concrete liner for casket burials, a government marker and perpetual care at no cost. Staff assign spaces when the need arises rather than reserving them in advance.

• Southern Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery: 1300 S Buffalo Soldier Trail, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635 | Phone: 520-458-7144
• Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery at Marana: 15950 North Luckett Road, Marana, AZ 85653 | Phone: 520-638-4869
• Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery at Camp Navajo: 14317 Veterans Drive, Bellemont, AZ 86015 | Phone: 928-214-3475

Burial at an Arizona state cemetery is open to serving members of the armed forces, the National Guard and the reserves, and to veterans discharged from active duty under honorable conditions. Spouses, an unremarried widow or widower, minor children and, in some circumstances, unmarried adult dependent children also qualify, and an eligible spouse may be buried there even if they die first.

VA National Cemeteries in Arizona

• National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, taking both casketed and cremated remains: 2929 East Pinnacle Peak Road, Phoenix, AZ 85024 | Phone: 480-513-3600
• Prescott National Cemetery, with columbarium space for cremated remains: 500 North Highway 89, Prescott, AZ 86313 | Phone: 928-445-4860

Survivor Benefits

Several federal programs support the family of an Arizona veteran after a death: Dependency and Indemnity Compensation when a service-connected condition caused or contributed to the death, Survivors Pension for the unremarried spouse and unmarried children of a wartime veteran within income and net worth limits, accrued benefits the VA still owed the veteran, and Chapter 35 education assistance for a spouse or child. Read more about survivor benefits.

At state level, two Arizona veteran benefits carry over to a surviving spouse. If the veteran’s home was receiving the full property tax exemption, the spouse keeps it while unmarried, and the vehicle license tax and registration exemption continues on one vehicle until the spouse remarries or dies.

• Tax-free monthly compensation scaled to the disability rating (calculate it here)
• VA medical care, mental health treatment and counseling
• Aid and Attendance, Special Monthly Compensation and other added payments
• Home loan guaranties and housing grants
• Veteran Readiness and Employment services
• GI Bill education benefits
• Benefits for survivors
• Federal hiring preference

The rating decides which of these a veteran can reach. Follow the links below to see what opens up at each level.

• 50% VA disability benefits
• 60% VA disability benefits
• 70% VA disability benefits
• 80% VA disability benefits
• 90% VA disability benefits

100% Disabled Veteran Benefits

A 100% rating opens the widest set of federal benefits an Arizona veteran can hold, among them:

• Compensation at the full monthly rate
• VA health care at the top priority group
• Dental treatment
• Grants for adaptive equipment

See every federal benefit a 100% disabled Arizona veteran can claim

100% Disabled Veteran Benefits for Spouse and Dependents

• CHAMPVA health coverage
• Chapter 35 education assistance
• Dependency and Indemnity Compensation after the veteran’s death
• The continued Arizona property tax exemption

A veteran who served where the ground or water was contaminated, and who later developed a related illness, may be owed VA disability compensation. Arizona installations carry documented histories of PFAS from firefighting foam, trichloroethylene and other industrial solvents, petroleum waste, asbestos and 1,4-dioxane, and several sit on the EPA Superfund program’s books.

Arizona Military Bases with Known Toxins

• Luke Air Force Base (Glendale)
• Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (Tucson)
• Air Force Plant 44 (Tucson)
• Fort Huachuca (Sierra Vista)
• Camp Navajo (Bellemont)
• Picacho Aviation Training Site (Picacho)
• Silverbell Army Heliport (Marana)
• Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (Yuma)
• Yuma Proving Ground (Yuma)

If you served at a base in a different state, check its history of toxic contamination and potential health effects using the Military Base Toxic Exposure Map or get in touch with us for a free evaluation of your claim.

A VA claim asks a lot of a veteran, and nobody has to face it unaided. State benefit counselors, county service officers, veteran organizations and experienced VA lawyers are available to assist Arizona veterans.

Free Guide to Claiming and Winning Benefits

Attorney Matthew Hill has written THE book on how to get VA disability compensation and benefits. And it’s yours free of charge.

Arizona Legal Aid and Resources

• Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services, for benefit counseling, health and housing help and state programs: 1688 West Adams Street, Phoenix, AZ 85007 | Phone: 602-255-3373. Find your nearest office.
• County Veteran Service Offices, for filing claims, gathering evidence and pursuing appeals
• Veterans Treatment Courts, which can route an Arizona veteran facing charges into treatment instead of jail.

Attorneys Specialized in VA Disability Law

Our VA-accredited attorneys represent Arizona veterans the VA denied or underrated, and we charge nothing upfront. Contact us for a free evaluation, and even if your case is not one we take on, we will point you somewhere useful.

Hill & Ponton has successfully represented thousands of disabled veterans in Arizona and nationwide. We assist veterans wherever they are, from the most remote areas to the major cities.

• Phoenix VA lawyers
• Tucson VA lawyers