Arkansas
Arkansas exempts the homestead from all state and local property taxes for veterans rated 100 percent service connected or permanently and totally disabled, gives free hunting and fishing licenses to disabled veterans rated 100 percent, and offers in state tuition to resident veterans.
Arkansas Department of Veterans AffairsProperty tax exemption
Complete exemption from all state and local property taxes on the homestead. Transfers to the surviving spouse who has not remarried.
Source: Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs, State BenefitsState income tax
Arkansas does not tax VA disability compensation, and military retirement pay is fully exempt from Arkansas income tax (full exemption since the 2018 tax year).
Source: Arkansas Department of Finance and AdministrationDisabled veteran plates & registration
Arkansas issues a free Disabled Veteran license plate (a $1 annual renewal) to veterans rated 100% permanent and total, or receiving Special Monthly Compensation for loss of use of a limb or blindness.
Source: Arkansas DFA - Free Disabled Veteran platePublic employment preference
Arkansas gives honorably discharged veterans a 5-point preference on state hiring exams, and a 10-point preference for disabled veterans (30%+), their spouses, and Purple Heart recipients.
Source: Arkansas Department of Veterans AffairsIn state tuition
Under 38 USC 3679(c) (the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act Section 702), every public college that accepts Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill students must charge in state tuition to veterans using their GI Bill, regardless of state residency, if the veteran enrolled within 3 years of separation. State specific extensions to this rule are noted below where applicable.
Source: Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs, EducationDependent / survivor education
Arkansas waives tuition and fees at state-supported colleges and technical schools for the spouses and children of veterans who are 100% permanently and totally disabled, killed in action, MIA, or POW.
Source: Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs - Tuition waiverHunting and fishing license
Free lifetime resident combination hunting and fishing license.
Source: Arkansas Game and Fish, Disabled Veterans LicenseState park entrance
Free day use entry to Arkansas State Parks; reduced camping fees.
Source: Arkansas State Parks, DiscountsCamping & recreation
Resident veterans rated 100% permanent and total get half-price camping at all Arkansas State Parks, plus near-free ($1.50) lifetime resident hunting and fishing licenses.
Source: Arkansas State Parks - Veteran camping discountState veterans cemetery
Arkansas operates two state veterans cemeteries (North Little Rock and Birdeye) with free burial for eligible veterans; a dependent fee applies for a spouse or child.
Source: Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs - State Veterans CemeteriesEmail me the Arkansas benefit checklist
A clean, printable checklist of every Arkansas benefit on this page - with the eligibility threshold and official source for each - sent straight to your inbox.
State legislatures revise thresholds and dollar amounts every session. The figures above are sourced from the state agency that administers each program, but the latest year is the state's word, not ours. Before you file an application, click the source link in each section and verify the current threshold.
Writing about Arkansas veteran benefits? You are welcome to reference this guide. Copy the citation below and link back so your readers can verify each program against the state source, or download the benefits table.