Connecticut Veteran Benefits 2026

Income Tax Treatment

Connecticut has a state income tax.

Military Retirement Pay: Connecticut fully exempts military retirement pay with no age or income conditions (its AGI thresholds apply only to other pension income).

Active Duty Pay: Active duty pay is fully exempt from Connecticut income tax.

VA Disability Compensation: VA disability compensation is tax-free at both the federal and state level in all 50 states. Connecticut does not tax VA disability payments.

Property Tax Exemption for Disabled Veterans in Connecticut

Type: Full exemption at 100%

Connecticut now fully exempts the primary residence of a veteran with a 100% Permanent & Total service-connected disability rating (effective Oct 1, 2024); a separate, older income/age-graduated exemption gives smaller dollar amounts to veterans rated 10% or higher.

• Income limit: Full 100% P&T exemption: None. Older §12-81g graduated exemption: income-tested (e.g., $18,000 single / $21,000 married thresholds determine $10,500 vs $5,250 tiers).
• Age requirement: None for the 100% P&T exemption. The older graduated exemption's dollar amount can vary with age.
• Surviving spouse: For the 100% P&T exemption: if the veteran dies, the qualifying property of the unmarried surviving spouse (or the veteran's minor child) is exempt to the same extent the veteran was or would have been entitled. Municipalities may also opt (assessment years on/after Oct 1, 2025) to extend it to unmarried surviving spouses of veterans who died before the Oct 1, 2024 effective date.
• Counts being paid at 100% via unemployability (TDIU)? No — TDIU/unemployability does not qualify; a 100% schedular rating is required

Source: CGS §12-81(83) (100% P&T exemption); CGS §12-81(20), §12-81(21) & §12-81g (older graduated 10%+ veteran disability exemption); amended by PA 25-2 and PA 25-168 and a second official source. Verified June 2026 against primary sources.

To apply, contact your county assessor's office or the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs. You will typically need your VA disability rating letter (and often your DD‑214) and proof that the home is your primary residence.

Real estate vs. personal property: this benefit applies to real-estate (home/homestead) property tax. Personal-property taxes — such as the annual tax some states levy on vehicles — are separate and generally still apply, even at a 100% rating, unless your state specifically exempts them.

Check your exemption by rating & state →

Vehicle & Registration Benefits

Connecticut taxes vehicles as local property — and the 100% P&T exemption can cover one: Connecticut towns tax motor vehicles the same way they tax homes, so vehicle relief runs through the same statutes as the property-tax exemption above. Under CGS §12-81(83) (assessment years beginning on or after Oct 1, 2024), a veteran with a 100% permanent & total service-connected rating who does not own a dwelling gets one motor vehicle he or she owns and keeps in Connecticut fully exempted from property tax. If the veteran owns neither a dwelling nor a vehicle, the exemption may generally be applied toward a dwelling or vehicle belonging to (or held in trust for) the spouse, if they live together. Sources: the legislature’s OLR report on the P&T exemption (2024-R-0124) and its February 2026 mandatory property-tax relief report (2026-R-0027).

The older 10%+ graduated exemption can also be applied to a vehicle: the dollar exemption under CGS §12-81(20) for veterans rated 10% or higher “may be applied toward any property belonging to, or held in trust for, the veteran” — a motor vehicle included — and, if the veteran does not own enough property to use the full amount, toward property of a co-resident spouse (OLR 2024-R-0124). One exception: the additional severe-disability amount under §12-81(21) may only be applied toward the dwelling and its lot.

Municipal option for specially equipped vehicles: under CGS §12-81h, a town’s legislative body may vote to exempt a uniform percentage of the assessed value of one motor vehicle owned by a veteran who qualifies under §12-81(20), (21), or (83), provided the vehicle is specially equipped to adapt its use to the veteran’s disability (it cannot be stacked with the §12-81(83) vehicle exemption). Ask your town assessor whether your municipality has adopted it.

No registration fee & free Disabled Veteran plates — note the specific eligibility: under CGS §14-49(o), no registration fee is charged to a Connecticut-resident “disabled veteran” for up to three passenger, camper, or passenger-and-commercial vehicles owned or leased in any registration year (vehicles used for hire excluded). This is not an any-rating benefit: CGS §14-254 defines “disabled veteran” as a wartime veteran (per CGS §27-103) whose VA-certified service-connected disability is amputation or loss of use of an arm or leg, blindness, paraplegia, hemiplegia, or traumatic brain injury. Qualifying veterans also receive Disabled Veteran plates and an ID card at no charge, plus an overtime-parking privilege of up to 24 hours (it does not authorize handicapped-space parking), and a surviving spouse may keep the plates free for life or until remarriage. Per the DMV’s Disabled Veteran Registration (class code 14) guidance, apply with a VA letter verifying disabled-veteran status (first issuance in person at the DMV Wethersfield office); new registrations, transfers, and renewals are free, but title, lien, and Clean Air Act fees still apply.

Active-duty registration fee waivers: the CT DMV military registration page waives new and renewal registration fees, the temporary plate fee, the safety plate fee, and the Clean Air Act fee for Connecticut residents serving on active duty (and within two years of an honorable discharge) — file form B-276. Title and lien fees, sales tax, and special-plate fees still apply.

Vehicle sales tax — no veteran exemption: the Department of Revenue Services’ list of sales and use tax exemptions contains no veteran- or disability-rating-based exemption for buying a vehicle, so a disabled veteran’s purchase is taxed normally. The list does exempt special equipment installed in a motor vehicle for the exclusive use of a person with physical disabilities — tax is computed on the purchase price minus the portion attributable to that equipment (CGS §12-412).

Recreation: Parks, Hunting & Fishing

Parking is already free for Connecticut plates: under the Passport to the Parks program, all visitors arriving in Connecticut-registered vehicles park free of charge at every CT state park and forest, year-round — veteran or not (see DEEP’s Special Passes page). The veteran-specific benefit below covers the parks that charge per-person admission on top of parking.

Free Disabled Veteran Pass (life use): Connecticut residents with a VA service-connected disability (DEEP’s page states no minimum rating) can get a free Disabled Veteran Pass from DEEP. It admits the passholder free at Gillette Castle, Dinosaur, and Fort Trumbull State Parks (companions pay the normal fee); it does not cover camping or separately ticketed events, and it is non-transferable. Get one in person at listed DEEP offices and parks, or by mail by sending a photocopy of your CT driver’s license (or other proof of residency) plus your VA card or VA benefits letter showing a service-connected disability to DEEP Disabled Veteran Pass, 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 06106-5127.

Hunting & fishing — Connecticut has no rating-based veteran discount: unlike many states, current Connecticut law does not offer free or discounted hunting or fishing licenses keyed to a VA disability percentage (some aggregator sites claim otherwise; nothing of the sort appears in CGS chapter 490 or on DEEP’s license pages). What does exist: under CGS §26-29b, any resident — veteran or civilian — whose disability is the loss of one or more limbs or the permanent loss of use of one or more limbs receives free lifetime hunting, sport fishing, and trapping licenses (certification by a licensed physician, PA, or APRN; DEEP notes permits and stamps are not included). Under CGS §26-29, a person who is blind gets a free lifetime fishing license, with proof furnished by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in a veteran’s case.

Active duty: any active full-time member of the armed forces — resident or not — may buy Connecticut hunting and fishing licenses at resident rates under CGS §26-34a; carry your military credentials while hunting or fishing.

Education & Other Connecticut Benefits

Tuition waived for wartime veterans at CT public colleges: Connecticut law requires UConn (CGS §10a-105(e)), the Connecticut State Universities (CGS §10a-99(d)), and the community colleges (CGS §10a-77(d)) to waive tuition for undergraduate and graduate degree programs for any veteran who performed service in time of war. Under CGS §27-103 that means 90 or more cumulative days of active service during a period of war (or the entire period, if it lasted less than 90 days), unless separated earlier because of a line-of-duty injury or a VA-rated service-connected disability; time at a service academy does not count, and Connecticut’s “period of war” definition includes the federal periods plus specific windows such as the Vietnam Era (Feb 28, 1961–Jul 1, 1975), Lebanon, Grenada, Operation Earnest Will, Panama, Afghanistan (Oct 24, 2001–Aug 30, 2021), and Iraq (2003–2011 and 2014–2021). The veteran must have been discharged honorably or under honorable conditions (an other-than-honorable discharge can qualify with a “qualifying condition” such as PTSD or TBI diagnosed at a VA facility, or military sexual trauma) and be domiciled in Connecticut when accepted for admission — domicile for less than a year counts.

What the waiver covers: per the CT Office of Higher Education, waivers pay only the cost of tuition on eligible for-credit courses — not course fees, books, parking, or room and board (Charter Oak State College offers a 50% waiver). By statute the waiver is reduced by any employer education reimbursement, and veterans using Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits have the waiver applied to tuition in excess of the federal tuition benefit. Active members of the Connecticut Army or Air National Guard in good standing (certified by the Adjutant General) also qualify for tuition waivers at the community colleges and state universities under the same statutes.

VA Healthcare in Connecticut

Connecticut has approximately 1 VA medical center along with community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) throughout the state. Veterans enrolled in VA healthcare can receive care at any VA facility nationwide.

To find the nearest VA facility, visit VA.gov Facility Locator.

Official Connecticut Veterans Resources

• Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs
• CT DEEP — Special Passes (Disabled Veteran Pass)
• CT DEEP — Fisheries Licenses & Permits
• CT DMV — Military Vehicle Registration
• CT DRS — Sales & Use Tax Exemptions
• CT Office of Higher Education — Veteran Education Benefits
• VA Facility Locator
• 2026 VA Disability Compensation Rates