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With the Indiana Veteran Property Tax Reform 2026, Hoosier veterans could see some relief with their property taxes next year, but they have to register by Dec. 30 to get the tax credits.
At Tuesday’s Kosciusko County Commissioners meeting, Veteran Service Officer Darryl McDowell spent about 15 minutes going over the reforms and how it could help veterans in the state.
“I wanted to make everybody aware, including our veteran community, of what’s occurred. Working very closely with our auditor’s office, trying to work out certain things, discussing how we’re going to handle this whole event,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s the veterans’ or the widows’ responsibility to make sure they register before the 30th of December this year to get tax credit for 2026. Tax credit, not deductions, to be paid in 2027.”
The past deductions no longer exist this year, he said.
“The bottom line is, this bill, first of all, was designed to ... the total property tax relief for 100% service connected and individually unemployable veterans is now 100% tax free. That did not exist in the old,” McDowell said. “The second is, it eliminates the assessed value, which penalized a lot of veterans because there was a catch: If you owned a home more than $240,000, you were not able to take advantage of this, particularly our peace-time veterans. Those that served during a period of time where we were not at war.”
He said the bill is supposed to simplify the structure of the tax relief by presenting tax credits versus deductions.
“That’s not totally true, because as I’ve told you before, 100% is a deduction. They pay, if they meet that eligibility requirement, no property tax at all. So that’s a total deduction. The others I’m going to discuss are tax credits,” he said.
The old tax code had two categories that veterans could fall under. There was a $14,000 deduction for honorably discharged individuals service connected with a 10% or higher and over the age of 62. The veterans had to meet that just to get started. There was a property value assessment cap of $240,000.
“In this case, it did not matter whether you were peace-time or war-time,” he said.
The second category “like we all know, and the majority of the folks know, is the 24960. That is a veteran - didn’t matter what age he or she was - if they had a 10% or higher, they got it. And they served during a war-time period. Doesn’t mean they had to be there at war, they had to serve during that period,” McDowell said.
The new bill has three annual property tax credits and one deduction.
To get the $250 annual property tax credit, a veteran must have a current Veterans Administration (VA) Service Connected Disability rating of 10-90% and be over the age of 62. It doesn’t matter if she or he served during peace-time or war-time.
“This is to correct the $14,000 discrepancy. It eliminates that property value cap, so a veteran in peace-time that is under the age of 62 right now - we have several - would not have been able to claim anything until now for a tax credit,” McDowell stated.
To get the $350 annual property tax credit, a veteran must have a Current VA Service Connected Disability rating of 10-90% and must have served in war-time.
The $600 annual property tax credit “kind of combines the first and the second one,” McDowell said. “So if you meet both criteria, you get the $600 tax credit.”
To get the 100% annual property tax deduction, a veteran must have a Current VA Service Connected Disability rating of 100% and “the VA has rated them an Individual Unemployability (IU) rating of 100%. And this also applies to any of our widows that are in receipt of a Service Connected - what we call a DIC, Dependent Indemnity Compensation - they would get zero assessed as property tax.”
For anyone to register, however, McDowell said they’re waiting on two things: The state hasn’t updated the forms yet to apply for the tax credits or deductions. July 1 is the projected date when it’s expected the forms will be updated and available. McDowell said he’s working with the auditor’s office to come up with one or two days a week where they can streamline the process.
“The key is, the veterans must know, there is no grandfather clause. There is no rollover. If they don’t file by (Dec. 30), if they don’t register for this, they’re not going to get any cut from their taxes. That is currently. There is no ‘I’m a veteran’ excuse after that,” he said.
As the filing opportunity gets closer, McDowell said a letter will be sent out to veterans currently receiving tax deductions.
“So there will be letters sent out. There will be media presentations to get that (out there), but the important part is, it’s ultimately the veteran’s or the surviving spouse’s responsibility to make sure that gets done,” McDowell stated.
Commissioner Cary Groninger asked if there was a cap for the 100% property tax deduction. McDowell said there were no.
“There is no cap on any of this where there was before,” McDowell said, adding that the veterans or their surviving spouse have to prove they qualify.
Military Veteran Stand Down
McDowell also provided information on the 2026 Military Veteran Stand Down.
It will take place in Kosciusko County from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST May 16 at the Manahan Orthopedic Capital Center, 610 Wooster Road, Winona Lake.
In Elkhart County, it will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST June 13 at Ox Bow Park, 23033 CR 45, Goshen.
In St. Joseph County, it’ll be 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST July 11 at the Century Center, 120 S. Doctor MLK Jr. Blvd., South Bend.
La Porte County, it’ll be 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. CST Aug. 15 at the La Porte Civic Auditorium, 1001 Ridge St., La Porte.
Porter County’s will be 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. CST Sept. 19 at the Ivy Tech Community College Valparaiso, 3100 Ivy Tech Drive, Valparaiso.
And in Marshall County, it will be 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST Oct. 24 at the Autopark Sports Complex, 2923 Vanvactor Drive, Plymouth.
Veterans should bring their DD214, military ID, VA Health Care Card to receive services.
