New York VA Disability Benefits & Resources

State benefit details verified against official state sources on September 27, 2026.

Overview

New York’s veteran benefits are administered by the New York State Department of Veterans’ Services (DVS), but the most valuable one, the property tax exemption, is local. Each county, city, town, village and school district chooses whether to offer it and sets its own caps. A significant change starts now: a new exemption for veterans rated 100% permanent and total takes effect on assessment rolls with taxable status dates on or after October 1, 2026. New York also doesn’t tax military pensions, and it gives disabled veterans $5 sporting licenses and tuition awards equal to SUNY tuition.

Key benefits at a glance

Property tax relief

New York has three veteran exemptions. You can receive only one of them, and none is automatic (NYS Tax):

• Alternative Veterans Exemption (RPTL 458-a): for wartime veterans or expeditionary medal recipients, on their primary residence. It reduces assessed value by 15%, plus 10% more for combat zone service, plus an amount equal to one-half of the VA service-connected rating (Pub. 1093). Each piece is capped at limits set locally. DVS says it’s offered in more than 95% of counties, cities, towns and villages, and school districts can opt in as well.
• Cold War Veterans Exemption (RPTL 458-b): a local option for Cold War-era veterans, with extra reductions for service-connected disabilities.
• Eligible Funds Exemption (RPTL 458): a partial exemption for property bought with military pension, bonus or insurance money.

New for 2026: P&T veterans exemption. The Department of Taxation and Finance reports that RPTL 458-a(11), enacted by Laws of 2025, chapter 672 and amended by Laws of 2026, chapters 59 and 77, creates a new exemption for veterans the VA considers permanently and totally disabled from service. It applies to assessment rolls with taxable status dates on or after October 1, 2026. As of this update, the state had not posted the application, so check with your assessor before your community’s next taxable status date.

Deadline: the taxable status date is March 1 in most communities, but confirm it with your assessor. Surviving spouses who have not remarried and, where the community allows, Gold Star parents can hold title and qualify.

State income tax

New York doesn’t tax military pensions. On the IT-201, pensions from the United States government, “including the military,” are subtracted on line 26 (IT-201 instructions). Pay for active service in a combat zone is exempt from New York State, New York City and Yonkers income tax (DVS). VA disability compensation is excluded from federal gross income (IRS Publication 525) and isn’t taxed by New York.

Vehicle registration, tolls and parks

• Registration fee exemption: veterans with disabilities who received a vehicle under federal Title 38, and those who qualify for Medal of Honor or former POW plates, are exempt from registration and plate fees (DVS).
• Free Thruway travel: the Thruway Authority’s Disabled Veterans E-ZPass program gives free, unlimited Thruway travel to anyone with a fee-exempt DMV registration (DVS).
• Lifetime Liberty Pass: free entry to state parks, DEC day-use areas, boat launches and historic sites, plus free golf at state park courses and camping discounts, for New York resident veterans who meet the service and discharge rules. A DMV license with the Veteran designation works in place of the pass at staffed sites (State Parks).

Hunting and fishing licenses

The Department of Environmental Conservation charges New York residents with a service-related disability of 40% or more $5 for the first hunting, fishing or trapping license each calendar year. Additional licenses that year are free, and bowhunting and muzzleloading privileges are free (a base hunting license is required). Bring a VA letter with your case number stating the 40% rating.

Education benefits

• Veterans Tuition Awards (VTA): up to the annual SUNY in-state undergraduate tuition (or actual tuition, if less) for New York residents of 12 months with at least four years of active duty or combat service and a discharge other than dishonorable. Part-time awards are prorated, and applications are accepted year-round after the FAFSA and TAP (HESC).
• MERIT Scholarship: for children, spouses and financial dependents of service members who died or became severely and permanently disabled in service (DVS).
• Regents Awards for Children of Deceased and Disabled Veterans: up to $450 a year when the veteran served during specified wartime periods and died, has a 40% or higher rating, or was MIA or a POW.

State veterans homes

New York has five state veterans homes (DVS):

• St. Albans Veterans’ Home, 178-50 Linden Blvd., Jamaica (Queens)
• Batavia Veterans’ Home, 220 Richmond Ave., Batavia
• Oxford Veterans’ Home, 4211 State Highway 220, Oxford
• Montrose Veterans’ Home, Route 9A, Montrose
• Long Island State Veterans Home, 100 Patriots Road, Stony Brook (run by SUNY Stony Brook)

Blind Annuity

DVS pays an annual annuity to legally blind veterans (20/200 or worse in the better eye with correction, or a field of vision limited to 20 degrees) who served at least 90 days during wartime or earned a qualifying expeditionary medal. The blindness doesn’t have to be service-connected. Unremarried surviving spouses can qualify too. Mail the application and Report of Legal Blindness to DVS, 2 Empire State Plaza, 17th Floor, Albany, NY 12223 (DVS). DVS also runs a Gold Star annuity program for families.

Employment preference

Veterans get additional credits on New York civil service exams: 5 for veterans and 10 for disabled veterans. Under a 2014 constitutional amendment, a veteran who used non-disabled credits and was later certified as disabled by the VA can claim 10 credits minus the credits already used on a later exam (Department of Civil Service).

How to apply in New York

1. Call a DVS Veterans Benefits Advisor at 1-888-838-7697. Their help with state benefits and VA claims is free.
2. Property tax: ask your assessor which exemption your county, town and school district offer, and file before the taxable status date (usually March 1). Watch for the new P&T exemption application.
3. Licenses: buy through DEC with your 40% VA letter.
4. VTA: file the FAFSA and TAP, then the VTA application through HESC.

VA regional offices and medical centers

New York has two VA regional benefit offices: the Buffalo VA Regional Benefit Office at 130 South Elmwood Ave., Suite 601, Buffalo, NY 14202, and the New York VA Regional Benefit Office at 201 Varick Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10014.

VA medical centers include the Margaret Cochran Corbin campus (Manhattan), Brooklyn and St. Albans (VA NY Harbor), James J. Peters (Bronx), Northport, Castle Point and Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Montrose (Hudson Valley), Samuel S. Stratton (Albany), Syracuse, Buffalo and Batavia (Western New York), and Bath and Canandaigua (Finger Lakes), plus dozens of clinics.

Filing a federal VA claim

Claims follow one federal process: see how to file a VA claim, check your claim status, and current compensation rates. With New York’s new exemption tied to a permanent and total rating, make sure your decision letter states permanence.

If you are in crisis, call 988 and press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line.