Virginia
Virginia fully exempts 100 percent permanent and total disabled veterans (and surviving spouses) from all real estate taxes on the primary residence, gives free hunting and fishing licenses to resident veterans rated 70 percent or higher, in state tuition at Virginia public colleges, and free state park admission for qualifying veterans.
Virginia Department of Veterans AffairsProperty tax exemption
Full exemption from real estate tax on the primary residence. Transfers to the surviving spouse who has not remarried.
State income tax
Virginia does not tax VA disability compensation. Virginia's Military Benefits Subtraction lets retirees subtract up to $40,000 of military retirement pay (and Survivor Benefit Plan benefits) for the 2025 tax year and after, with no age requirement and no income phase-out.
Disabled veteran plates & registration
Virginia issues free Disabled Veteran license plates to veterans rated 100% permanent and total service-connected (or with loss of use of a limb or VA-rated blindness), and exempts one vehicle from the state sales-and-use tax for 100% P&T veterans.
Public employment preference
Virginia gives veterans hiring preference for state agency jobs - roughly 5-10% added when a scored test is used, with an additional boost for veterans who have a service-connected disability. The Virginia Values Veterans (V3) program also supports veteran hiring.
In state tuition
Under 38 USC 3679(c) (originally Section 702 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act), every public college that accepts Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill students must charge in state tuition to covered students using their GI Bill, regardless of state residency. The old requirement to enroll within 3 years of separation was removed by the Isakson and Roe Act effective August 1, 2021, so there is no longer a time limit after discharge. State specific extensions to this rule are noted below where applicable. Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program (VMSDEP) waives tuition and fees for spouses and children of service connected veterans.
Dependent / survivor education (VMSDEP)
The Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program (VMSDEP) waives tuition and mandatory fees for up to eight semesters at Virginia public colleges for the spouses and children of veterans rated 90%+ from combat operations or 100% permanent and total, or who were killed/MIA/POW; a stipend may also be available.
Hunting and fishing license
Free Disabled Veteran Hunting and Fishing License.
State park entrance
Free annual Virginia State Parks Disabled Veteran Pass.
Camping & recreation
Veterans rated 100% service-connected qualify for Virginia's free Veteran Disability Passport, giving free admission and parking at state parks, free boat-launch/horse-trailer parking, and 50% off camping, swimming, and equipment rentals.
State veterans cemetery
Virginia operates state veterans cemeteries (Amelia, Suffolk, and Dublin) offering open burial space for eligible veterans and their spouses, with the veteran's interment provided at no cost.
Virginia ranks 16 of 51 for rural veterans' access to accredited help: 8.57 accredited representatives per 10,000 veterans, with 24.4 percent of its veterans living rural.
Email me the Virginia benefit checklist
A clean, printable checklist of every Virginia 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 Virginia 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.
Developers: this record is available as structured data VBD:STATE:VA