Missouri Does Not Exempt Disabled Veterans From Property Tax. Here Is What It Actually Does.
Program and regulatory figures verified October 10, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
Most sites will tell a Missouri veteran about a property-tax exemption. We are a lender and we would rather tell you the truth before you build a budget on it.
★★★ The thing you were probably told
Search for "Missouri disabled veteran property tax exemption" and you will find page after page describing one. Many of them are summarising a bill.
★★★ Missouri's actual constitutional exemption, Mo. Const. art. X, § 6, covers "all real property used as a homestead as defined by law of any citizen of this state who is a former prisoner of war, as defined by law, and who has a total service-connected disability."
★★★ That is the whole class. A veteran rated 100% service-connected who was never a prisoner of war is not covered. The full picture, and why it keeps being misreported.
★★ And why a bill cannot fix it
The same constitutional section ends: "All laws exempting from taxation property other than the property enumerated in this article, shall be void."
★★ So the legislature cannot extend the exemption by statute. It takes a constitutional amendment: a joint resolution through both chambers and then a vote of the people. That is why the same proposal keeps reappearing, 2022, 2024, 2025 and again in 2026, and never arrives. What the exemption does cover.
★★ What Missouri gives instead, and the part that is genuinely good news
The Missouri Property Tax Credit, RSMo 135.010 to 135.030. A veteran qualifies if they "became one hundred percent disabled as a result of such service", and there is no age requirement on that route.
★★★ H.B. 594 & 508 (2025), effective 28 August 2025 with the figures biting from 1 January 2026, rewrote it:
| Figure | Through 2025 | ★ From 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Max actual property tax counted | $1,100 | ★★ $1,550 |
| Max rent constituting property tax | $750 | ★★ $1,055 |
| Income limit, single | $27,500 | ★★ $38,200 |
| Income limit, single + owned and occupied all year | $30,000 | ★★ $42,200 |
| Income limit, married filing combined | $27,500 | ★★ $41,000 |
| Income limit, married combined + owned and occupied all year | $30,000 | ★★★ $48,000 |
| Minimum base | $14,300 | $14,300 |
| ★★★ Phase-out above the minimum base | 1/16% per $300, rising to 4% | ★★★ 1/16% per $495, rising to only 2% |
★★★ Look at the last row. The phase-out ceiling halved, from 4% to 2%, and the income increment widened from $300 to $495. That is the change with the biggest effect and the least coverage: the credit does not merely start higher, it survives much further up the income range. Old against new, in full.
★★ One place Missouri is unambiguously generous
Mo. Const. art. X, § 25, adopted 2 November 2010: the state, counties and other political subdivisions are "prevented from imposing any new tax, including a sales tax, on the sale or transfer of homes or any other real estate."
★★ Put that beside the neighbours. Ohio caps its combined transfer charge at 0.40%. Philadelphia charges 4.578%. Missouri is barred from introducing a new one at all. The precise scope of that bar.
The federal side, which is the same everywhere
All 115 Missouri jurisdictions sit at $832,750 and Missouri has no high-cost county. With full entitlement the VA says you have "no loan limit" anyway. Why it is 115 and not 114.
★★★ And a Missouri advantage in the data itself
When we built the Ohio site, the most VA-relevant market in that state, Dayton, around Wright-Patterson, had no row at all in the national metro series.
★★★ Missouri is the opposite. Fort Leonard Wood has a metro row named after the base, at $233,313, +5.0%. Whiteman Air Force Base sits in the Warrensburg metro at $284,975, +4.4%. For once the published data covers the places veterans actually buy. All 25 metros.
★ Our lane
We are a lender. We underwrite and close the loan. We do not grant exemptions, administer the credit, or decide your disability rating, and we are not affiliated with the VA or any government agency. We raise the tax questions because property tax is escrowed into the payment we underwrite.
Mike Certo, NMLS #260555. (480) 296-6513 · mcerto@cfmtg.com.
Frequently asked questions
Does Missouri exempt disabled veterans from property tax?
Not generally. Article X, section 6 of the Missouri Constitution exempts the homestead of a citizen who is a former prisoner of war and has a total service-connected disability. A veteran rated 100 percent service-connected who was not a prisoner of war is not covered by that exemption.Is Missouri about to exempt all disabled veterans from property tax?
No bill has become law. Joint resolutions proposing it were introduced in 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026. As checked on 10 October 2026, SJR 88 had been second read and referred to the Senate Select Committee on Property Taxes and the State Tax Commission, had not passed either chamber, and was not on any ballot. Because article X, section 6 voids any exemption not enumerated in that article, an extension needs a constitutional amendment approved by the voters, not a statute.What property tax help does a disabled veteran get in Missouri?
The Missouri Property Tax Credit under RSMo 135.010 to 135.030. A veteran who became one hundred percent disabled as a result of service qualifies with no age requirement. From 1 January 2026 it counts up to $1,550 of actual property tax, with income limits from $38,200 for a single claimant to $48,000 for a married couple owning and occupying a homestead all year.Does Missouri have a real estate transfer tax?
Article X, section 25 of the Missouri Constitution, adopted 2 November 2010, prevents the state, counties and other political subdivisions from imposing any new tax on the sale or transfer of homes or any other real estate. The provision bars new taxes from that date rather than repealing an existing one.What is the VA loan limit in Missouri?
All 115 Missouri jurisdictions in the FHFA 2026 county file carry a one-unit limit of $832,750, and Missouri has no high-cost county. For a borrower with full entitlement the VA states there is no loan limit at all, subject to affordability, the appraisal and lender approval.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about VA home loan financing, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax or financial advice. Cornerstone First Mortgage is a private lender and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or acting on behalf of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or any government agency. VA entitlement, funding-fee exemption and disability ratings are determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Missouri's property tax exemption for former prisoners of war is established by article X, section 6 of the Missouri Constitution, and the Missouri Property Tax Credit is governed by sections 135.010 to 135.030 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri and administered by the Missouri Department of Revenue, not by Cornerstone. Proposed constitutional amendments described on this site are proposals and are not law. Figures here carry the date we verified them against primary sources. All loans are subject to borrower, property and program qualification.