Texas Benefits Guide for Disabled Veterans

Tax Exemptions and Financial Assistance

Texas runs two separate veteran property tax breaks that work in different ways, and a veteran can hold both at once. All applications go to the county appraisal district rather than the state.

Do Disabled Veterans Pay Property Taxes in Texas?

100% disabled Texas veterans do not pay property tax on their main home if they have a 100% service-connected disability rating from the VA or are rated as Totally Disabled due to Individual Unemployability (TDIU). Veterans rated below 100% are also partially exempt, through a different section of the Tax Code that works on any one property they own.

The 100% Property Tax Exemption

Tax Code Section 11.131 wipes out the entire appraised value of the homestead. The Texas Comptroller sets two conditions that must both be met: the VA has awarded 100% disability compensation, and the veteran is rated 100% disabled or has been found individually unemployable. Either route to 100% works, and a veteran does not need both.

The exemption covers the residence homestead only. Apply on Form 50-114 with a copy of the VA rating letter and proof of ownership and Texas residency, filed with the county appraisal district. The deadline is April 30, though this is one of the exemptions Texas lets you claim late: a veteran can still file up to five years after the taxes went delinquent. Qualifying partway through a year is fine too, since the exemption starts the moment eligibility begins, and it moves to a new house as soon as that house qualifies.

Surviving spouses keep this exemption if they have not remarried, the property was their homestead when the veteran died, and it remains their homestead. A spouse who later moves can carry the benefit to the next home, but the amount is frozen at the dollar figure from the last year they received it, so the new home may not come out fully exempt.

Partial Tax Exemptions

Texas veterans rated below 100% get a flat reduction under Tax Code Section 11.22. It’s more flexible than the 100% exemption because it can be applied to any one property the veteran owns, not just the house they live in. The deadline is April 30 but it’s also possible to file up to five years later, the same as for the full tax exemption.

Disabled Veterans Tax Exemption Amounts

• 10% to 29% disability rating: $5,000 off the property value
• 30% to 49% disability rating: $7,500 off the property value
• 50% to 69% disability rating: $10,000 off the property value
• 70% to 100% disability rating: $12,000 off the property value

Need help getting the rating you deserve for more benefits and monthly compensation? Get a free case evaluation here.

A separate $12,000 exemption goes to veterans who are 65 or older with at least a 10% disability rating, are totally blind in one or both eyes, or have lost the use of one or more limbs.

Tax exemptions reach survivors as well. An unmarried surviving spouse, or surviving children under 18, may claim a partial exemption. Where the service member died on active duty, the surviving spouse can take a $5,000 exemption on any one property they own.

Texas Property Tax Exemption for Disabled Persons

Any Texas resident, military service or not, who meets the Social Security Administration’s definition of disability may qualify for a homestead exemption. That requires being unable to engage in substantial gainful activity because of a physical or mental impairment expected to last at least 12 months or to end in death.

• It applies to the primary residence homestead only
• School districts exempt $140,000 of a homestead’s value generally, and add $60,000 more for an owner who is disabled or 65 or older, so up to $200,000 comes off before school taxes are figured
• Disability here is judged by the SSA standard, not by a VA rating
• The disabled and over-65 additional exemptions cannot be stacked, so an owner who qualifies for both picks one

Can Veterans Receive Both the Disabled Veteran Exemption and the Disabled Person Exemption?

Yes, provided each set of requirements is met on its own terms. The Comptroller is explicit that an eligible disabled veteran may hold both the Section 11.131 homestead exemption and the Section 11.22 exemption, because the two sit in different parts of the Tax Code and attach to property differently.

Does Texas Tax VA Disability Pay?

No. Texas has no personal income tax, so VA disability compensation, military retirement pay and Survivor Benefit Plan annuities all escape state income tax entirely.

Housing Assistance

Texas is unusual in running its own lending operation for veterans. The Veterans Land Board, part of the General Land Office, writes three kinds of loan, and a service-connected disability rating of 30% or greater earns a discounted interest rate on the home and home improvement programs.

Veterans Land Board Loan Programs

• Home loans of up to $832,750 at a fixed rate over 15, 20, 25 or 30 years, with little or no money down.
• Land loans of up to $200,000, or $275,000 where two eligible spouses buy together, on a 30-year fixed term with 5% down and a one-acre minimum.
• Home improvement loans of up to $50,000 over 2 to 20 years, or $7,500 to $10,000 over 2 to 10 years.

Borrowers must be at least 18 and Texas residents, and must be serving on active duty, in the Texas National Guard, in a reserve component with 20 qualifying years, or be a veteran with at least 90 days of active duty, unless discharged sooner because of a service-connected disability. Honorable, general and medical discharges all qualify. Surviving spouses of veterans who died in service or remain missing in action can use the land loan program.

Programs for Homeless Veterans in Texas

Veterans at risk of losing housing are served by the VA’s national homeless programs. HUD-VASH pairs a housing voucher with VA support services for permanent housing, SSVF handles homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing and is built around the whole household rather than the veteran alone, HCHV runs outreach and contracted residential treatment, and the Grant and Per Diem program funds transitional housing. The National Call Center for Homeless Veterans answers around the clock, free and confidential, on 877-424-3838. The Texas Veterans Commission can also connect veterans to the right program.

Transportation Benefits

Driver License and ID Cards

A veteran with a service-connected disability of at least 60% who receives VA compensation pays nothing for a Texas driver license or ID card. The waiver does not extend to commercial licenses. Applicants show either a signed VA disability letter or documents establishing the honorable discharge, the rating and the compensation, and once that is on file the fee-exempt transactions can be done online. Texas will also print a VETERAN or DISABLED VETERAN designation on the card. More info here.

Do Veterans Get Free Car Registration in Texas?

Disabled veteran plates qualify a veteran with a service-connected disability of at least 50%, or at least 40% following amputation of a lower extremity, who is drawing compensation for that disability. The first set costs $3 and no annual registration fee is charged after that. Other military plates carrying registration relief include:

• Disabled Veteran
• Congressional Medal of Honor
• Purple Heart
• Former POW

A vehicle showing disabled veteran plates parks free at meters operated by a governmental authority.

Apply at the county tax assessor-collector’s office with proof of the disability and of VA compensation. The plates carry over to a surviving spouse, who pays $3 for the first set and nothing for any set after that. More info at TxDMV.

Do Veterans Pay Sales Tax on Vehicles in Texas?

Usually yes, because Texas ties this exemption to the vehicle rather than to military service. Motor vehicle sales tax is waived where the vehicle has been, or will be within two years, modified so an orthopedically handicapped person can drive it or ride in it. The driver or passenger must use the vehicle for at least 80% of its operating time, and sight and hearing impairments do not count as orthopedic handicaps. Buyers file Form 14-318. See the Texas Comptroller’s tax exemptions for people with disabilities.

Education Benefits

Does Texas Pay for Veterans’ College?

Yes, through the Hazlewood Act, which covers up to 150 credit hours of tuition and most fee charges at Texas public colleges and universities. It is a tuition benefit rather than a full ride: living expenses, books and supply fees are not included.

To qualify, a veteran must have been a Texas resident when entering the service, have served at least 181 days of active duty beyond initial entry training, hold an honorable or general under honorable conditions discharge, and currently live in Texas. Apply through the institution’s financial aid office with the Hazlewood application and a copy of the DD214.

Hazlewood Legacy Act for Children

Hours a veteran does not use need not go to waste. Under the Legacy Act, unused Hazlewood hours can be handed to a child, who then studies tuition-free on the veteran’s entitlement. The child has to finish using the benefit before turning 26, after which it lapses.

Hazlewood for Spouses and Dependents

Spouses and dependent children can hold Hazlewood entitlement of their own, worth the same 150 credit hours, and each dependent qualifies on their own record. The veteran must have entered service from Texas and must additionally be rated 100% permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition, hold an individual unemployability rating, have died of service-related injuries, or be listed as missing in action or killed in action. Families of Texas National Guard members killed on state or federal active duty, or rated 100% permanent and total or individually unemployable, may also qualify.

Employment Benefits

Workforce Solutions offices across Texas give veterans priority service, and many keep veterans representatives on staff to work through individual cases. Specialists (DVOP and LVER) are available to help veterans.

• Disabled Veterans Outreach Program Specialist (DVOP): works one to one with disabled veterans and those facing the biggest barriers to work, on job searching, resumes and interview preparation.
• Local Veterans Employment Representatives (LVER): works the employer side, pressing companies to hire veterans and connecting job seekers to those openings.

Professional Licensing Assistance

Texas runs a dedicated military track through its licensing agencies, with separate application, renewal and transfer routes for service members on active duty, for veterans, and for military spouses, handled on a military supplemental form. Because the terms differ by profession, check with the agency that licenses your trade. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation military page is the starting point for the trades it regulates.

Veterans Employment Preference in Texas

Chapter 657 of the Government Code sets up a veteran’s employment preference that state agencies and their local counterparts must apply, and it is written to reach past the veteran to certain family members. The spouse of someone serving on active duty in the armed forces or the Texas National Guard is covered. So is the spouse of a veteran rated at least 70% service-connected disabled, or found individually unemployable, where that spouse brings in most of the household income. Check the statute or ask the hiring agency which category applies to you. Texas Veterans Commission job seeker resources

Recreation Benefits

Texas Parklands Passport

Texas issues four military versions of the Parklands Passport, all free and all picked up at any state park:

• Disabled Veterans passport: for a veteran with a service-connected disability of 60% or more, or loss of a lower extremity. This is the only one of the four that also admits a companion free of charge.
• Veterans passport: free entry for any honorably discharged veteran, whatever their rating, covering the holder alone.
• Active Duty passport: free entry for anyone currently serving, including Reserve and National Guard members.
• Gold Star Family passport: free entry for a surviving spouse, parent, child or sibling of someone who died while serving.

Bring photo ID plus proof of service, such as a military ID card, a DD 214, or a Veterans Health Identification Card. Disabled veterans can instead show a Texas disabled veteran plate receipt, a VA award letter or a tax exemption letter.

Hunting and Fishing Licenses for Veterans

The Disabled Veteran Super Combo Hunting and All-Water Fishing Package costs nothing. It goes to a veteran who has lost the use of a foot or leg, or holds a disability rating of 50% or more, and who receives compensation for that disability. The package covers:

• A hunting license
• An all-water fishing license
• Five state endorsements

Residents and non-residents both qualify. The package has to be picked up in person at a license retailer, and proof of disability issued by the VA within the last 12 months, or a Texas driver license carrying the disabled veteran designation, must be shown each year. Visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department website for more.

Healthcare Benefits

Federal care in Texas runs through a set of regional VA health care systems, and the state layers its own long-term care network on top. The Texas Veterans Commission connects veterans to both, and its claims counselors work for free.

VA Medical Centers in Texas

• Dallas VA Medical Center, one of three medical centers in the North Texas system: 4500 South Lancaster Road, Dallas, TX 75216
• Garland VA Medical Center: 2300 Marie Curie Boulevard, Garland, TX 75042
• Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans Center: 1201 East 9th Street, Bonham, TX 75418
• Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, hub of 13 locations across southeast Texas: 2002 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030
• Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans’ Hospital, South Texas: 7400 Merton Minter Boulevard, San Antonio, TX 78229
• Olin E. Teague Veterans’ Center, Central Texas: 1901 Veterans Memorial Drive, Temple, TX 76504
• Doris Miller VA Medical Center: 4800 Memorial Drive, Waco, TX 76711
• Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center: 6010 Amarillo Boulevard West, Amarillo, TX 79106
• George H. O’Brien, Jr. VA Medical Center, West Texas: 300 Veterans Boulevard, Big Spring, TX 79720
• VA El Paso Health Care System: 5001 North Piedras Street, El Paso, TX 79930
• VA Texas Valley Health Care System, eight clinics plus two mobile units across the Valley and Coastal Bend: 2601 Veterans Drive, Harlingen, TX 78550

Each system runs community-based outpatient clinics and Vet Centers well beyond these addresses. Use the VA facility locator to find the closest one, or call the VA at 800-698-2411.

Texas State Veterans Home Locations

The Veterans Land Board runs ten state veterans homes providing long-term nursing care to veterans, spouses and Gold Star parents. A veteran rated 70% or higher service-connected lives there at no cost. Admission runs on Texas Administrative Code Title 40 together with the VA’s medical, financial and military service standards, so the exact paperwork is best confirmed with the admissions coordinator at the home you are applying to.

• Ussery-Roan Texas State Veterans Home, Amarillo: 1020 Tascosa Road, Amarillo, TX 79124 | Phone: 806-322-8387
• Lamun-Lusk-Sanchez Texas State Veterans Home, Big Spring: 1809 North Highway 87, Big Spring, TX 79720 | Phone: 432-268-8387
• Clyde W. Cosper Texas State Veterans Home, Bonham: 1300 Seven Oaks Road, Bonham, TX 75418 | Phone: 903-640-8387
• Ambrosio Guillen Texas State Veterans Home, El Paso: 9650 Kenworthy Street, El Paso, TX 79924 | Phone: 915-751-0967
• Frank M. Tejeda Texas State Veterans Home, Floresville: 200 Veterans Drive, Floresville, TX 78114 | Phone: 830-216-9456
• The Tuskegee Airmen Texas State Veterans Home, Fort Worth: 2200 Joe B. Rushing Road, Fort Worth, TX 76119 | Phone: 817-502-6001
• Richard A. Anderson Texas State Veterans Home, Houston: 14041 Cottingham Street, Houston, TX 77048 | Phone: 346-293-9600
• Alfredo Gonzalez Texas State Veterans Home, McAllen: 301 East Yuma Avenue, McAllen, TX 78503 | Phone: 956-682-4224
• William R. Courtney Texas State Veterans Home, Temple: 1424 Martin Luther King Jr. Lane, Temple, TX 76504 | Phone: 254-791-8280
• Watkins-Logan Texas State Veterans Home, Tyler: 11466 Honor Lane, Tyler, TX 75708 | Phone: 903-617-6150

Burial and Survivor Benefits

Texas veterans have two systems to choose between. The Veterans Land Board runs four state veterans cemeteries offering burial plots, columbarium niches and perpetual care, with a fifth under development in Lubbock. Alongside them the VA National Cemetery Administration operates six national cemeteries in Texas.

Eligibility for the state cemeteries rests on a discharge under honorable or general conditions plus a service-length test, and it extends to a spouse and dependent children. Members of the Texas Military Forces killed on state active duty may be buried there even without prior federal service.

Texas State Veterans Cemeteries

• Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery, Killeen: 11463 Fort Hood Street, Killeen, TX 76542 | Phone: (254) 616-1770
• Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery, Corpus Christi: 9974 IH 37 Access Road, Corpus Christi, TX 78410 | Phone: (361) 248-4830
• Rio Grande Valley State Veterans Cemetery, Mission: 2520 Inspiration Road, Mission, TX 78572 | Phone: (956) 583-7227
• Texas State Veterans Cemetery at Abilene: 7457 West Lake Road, Abilene, TX 79601 | Phone: (325) 673-4446

National Cemetery Resources

• Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, open: 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway, Dallas, TX 75211 | Phone: (214) 467-3374
• Fort Bliss National Cemetery, open: 5200 Fred Wilson Avenue, El Paso, TX 79906 | Phone: (915) 564-0201
• Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, open: 1520 Harry Wurzbach Road, San Antonio, TX 78209 | Phone: (210) 820-3891
• Houston National Cemetery, open: 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77038 | Phone: (281) 447-8686
• Kerrville National Cemetery, closed to new gravesites but later interments in existing ones are still possible: 3600 Memorial Boulevard, Kerrville, TX 78028 | Phone: (210) 820-3891
• San Antonio National Cemetery, cremated remains only: 517 Paso Hondo Street, San Antonio, TX 78202 | Phone: (210) 820-3891

Neither system charges the family for the burial itself. The cemetery provides the plot, opens and closes the grave, sets a concrete liner for casketed burials, and supplies a headstone or marker, military honors, a flag and perpetual care; cremated remains can go into a columbarium niche, into the ground, or into a scattering garden.

Families only pay the funeral home, the casket or cremation, and the viewing and transporting the remains, though where the death was service-connected the VA may reimburse up to $2,000 of those costs. Eligible spouses and dependent children can be buried in either system, even if they die first.

Survivor Benefits

Widows and widowers of Texas veterans may qualify for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, a Survivors’ Pension, CHAMPVA health coverage, accrued benefits, and Chapter 35 Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance. Find out more about burial benefits and other VA benefits survivors are entitled to receive.

On the state side, the total homestead exemption passes to the surviving spouse of a veteran who qualified at death, for as long as that spouse stays unmarried and the house remains their homestead. Texas survivors also keep the disabled veteran license plates and, through Hazlewood, may hold tuition entitlement of their own.

Federal Benefits Available to Texas Veterans

Besides Texas-specific benefits, disabled veterans also get various federal VA disability benefits. Whether you qualify for some of these federal benefits depends on your disability rating percentage. Federal VA benefits include:

• Monthly tax-free compensation payments based on disability rating (calculate it here)
• Medical care, including mental health services and counseling
• Home loans and housing benefits
• Vocational rehabilitation and employment services
• Education benefits through the GI Bill
• Survivor benefits
• Federal hiring preference

Eligibility for some of these benefits depends on the disability rating percentage. Use the links below to see what federal benefits Texas veterans can get with a rating of 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, etc.

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

100% Disabled Veteran Benefits

Veterans with a 100% disability rating receive the highest level of federal VA benefits, including:

• Full monthly VA compensation
• Full VA healthcare coverage
• Dental care
• Adaptive equipment grants

See all federal benefits for a 100% disabled Texas veteran →

100% Disabled Veteran Benefits for Spouse and Dependents

Spouses and family members of 100% disabled veterans may also be able to get several benefits:

• CHAMPVA healthcare
• DIC eligibility
• Education benefits, including Hazlewood entitlement of their own
• A continued property tax exemption, which in Texas runs until the surviving spouse remarries
• Access to Texas state resources

Benefits for Toxic Exposure

A veteran who developed a disability after being exposed to environmental hazards in service may be entitled to VA compensation. Texas installations have been identified as sources of exposure to PFAS (in firefighting foam), industrial solvents, fuel spills, explosives residue and buried hazardous waste.

Texas Military Bases with Known Toxins

• Dyess Air Force Base (Abilene): groundwater carrying industrial cleaning solvents and fuel
• El Campo Training Site (El Campo): pollutants left behind by earlier training activity
• Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base (Houston): PFAS from firefighting foam alongside other industrial chemicals
• Fort Bliss (El Paso): hazardous waste disposal and suspected groundwater contamination
• Fort Hood (Killeen): PFAS, fuel spills and hazardous waste across a very large footprint. The post carried the name Fort Cavazos from 2023 until the Army restored Fort Hood in 2025
• Goodfellow Air Force Base (San Angelo): suspected groundwater contamination traced to historic waste disposal
• Grand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve Complex (Grand Prairie): contamination tied to the handling of dangerous materials
• Joint Base San Antonio (San Antonio): several installations under one command, including Lackland and Fort Sam Houston, with solvent and fuel contamination in groundwater
• Lackland Air Force Base (San Antonio): groundwater contamination from industrial activity on base
• Laughlin Air Force Base (Del Rio): fuel leaks and other hazardous waste
• Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant (Bowie County, west of Texarkana): an EPA Superfund site, contaminated by decades of explosives disposal
• Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant (Karnack): an EPA Superfund site covering more than 8,000 acres beside Caddo Lake, contaminated by munitions work
• Naval Air Station Corpus Christi (Corpus Christi): fuel leaks, industrial solvents and suspected PFAS
• Reese Air Force Base (Lubbock): a trichloroethylene plume that reached public and private wells off base, plus PFOS and PFOA, with the Air Force installing carbon treatment systems in scores of affected households
• Sheppard Air Force Base (Wichita Falls): fuel leaks, industrial solvents and suspected PFAS

If you served at a base in a different state, you can check its history of toxic contamination and potential health effects using the Military Base Toxic Exposure Map.

Getting VA Disability in Texas

Free Guide to Filing and Winning a VA Disability Claim

Attorney Matthew Hill has written THE book on how to get VA disability compensation and benefits. And it’s yours free of charge. We also offer a free ebook for easy, immediate access.

Texas State Legal Aid and Resources

Several services exist to help Texas veterans handle legal problems and reach the benefits they earned.

• Texas Veterans Commission: the state agency for veterans, with claims counselors who file and track VA claims at no charge, plus education, employment and grant programs.
• Family Support Services: the Texas Military Department office running family and youth programs, resilience and suicide prevention work, job search help, counseling, and support for service members and survivors.
• Veteran Treatment Courts: judge-supervised courts that steer veterans away from jail and toward the treatment and benefits they earned, offering a route built around recovery rather than punishment.

Help from Experienced Lawyers

Our VA-accredited lawyers proudly represent Texas veterans who were denied or underrated by the VA, with no upfront costs. Find out more:

• El Paso VA Lawyers
• Houston VA Lawyers
• Killeen VA Lawyers
• San Antonio VA Lawyers