By Joe Nelson — Retired Air Force, Nelson Home Group Team Leader and Mortgage Loan Originator
Neither Missouri nor Kansas has the kind of broad disabled veteran property tax exemption that some states offer, and you should know that before you write an offer here. Missouri exempts a homestead only for a former prisoner of war who has a total service connected disability, while Kansas pays refunds through its Department of Revenue rather than exempting anyone. Both states do have real money on the table for veterans who qualify, and both have income limits that surprise people.
The veterans hub is the full guide to buying, selling and financing a home in Kansas City as a veteran, and this page is the tax piece of it.
Does Missouri have a property tax exemption for disabled veterans?
No. As of September 16, 2026, the only veteran related property tax exemption in Missouri sits in Article X, Section 6 of the Missouri Constitution, and it covers real property used as a homestead by a citizen of this state who is a former prisoner of war and who has a total service connected disability, a provision voters approved on November 2, 2010. The Missouri State Tax Commission says the same thing on its own frequently asked questions page. Notice what is not there, because a veteran rated 100 percent by the VA who was never held as a prisoner of war does not qualify. The general list of property exempt from Missouri taxation at RSMo 137.100 contains no veteran exemption at all, since this one lives in the constitution.
Did Missouri change the law recently, and is a broader exemption coming?
Not yet, and this is where stale advice does real damage. The Missouri Senate third read and passed SS SJR 46 on April 14, 2025, which would have asked voters to extend the POW exemption to all disabled veterans and their surviving spouses, but it stalled after House Rules reported it do pass on May 15, 2025 and never reached a ballot. In the 2026 session the House passed HCS HJR 115 and the Senate referred it to a select committee on April 21, 2026, where it also stopped short. The Senate’s own summaries note that nearly identical resolutions have been filed session after session going back to 2018, so treat any article telling you Missouri already exempts disabled veterans as wrong until voters approve a measure.
Can a 100 percent disabled veteran claim the Missouri Property Tax Credit?
Yes, and this is the program most Missouri veterans will actually use. The Missouri Property Tax Credit Claim, filed on Form MO-PTC and often called the circuit breaker, is defined at RSMo 135.010 through 135.030, and the statutory definition of a claimant expressly includes a veteran of any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or of this state who became one hundred percent disabled as a result of that service. There is no age requirement on that route, which matters, because the other qualifying paths require you to be 65, or 60 and receiving surviving spouse Social Security, or disabled under the Social Security standard. On the form that route is Box B, and the Department of Revenue’s qualification chart tells a 100 percent service connected disabled veteran not to include VA payments in household income, which is what makes the credit reachable for rated veterans whose compensation would otherwise blow past the limit.
What are the Missouri Property Tax Credit income limits and how much is it worth?
The limits went up substantially for the 2026 calendar year, so make sure you are looking at the right year. Under RSMo 135.030 as it now reads, for calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2026 the maximum upper limit is $42,200 for a single claimant who owned and occupied a homestead all year and $48,000 for married filing combined claimants who did the same, with lower limits of $38,200 and $41,000 for claimants who did not, and those figures adjust annually for inflation beginning January 1, 2027. The same statute raises the credit ceiling to $1,550 in actual property tax paid, as adjusted for inflation. For the 2025 claim year described in the Department of Revenue’s qualification chart, the owner limits were $30,000 single and $34,000 married filing combined with a maximum owner credit of $1,100. Form MO-PTC for 2025 was due April 15, 2026, and you may file up to three years from the due date and still receive the credit, so a veteran who missed it has room to fix that.
How does the Missouri POW homestead exemption actually get approved?
Through your county assessor, not through the state. Jackson County’s Assessment Department asks for three things: documents or a sworn affirmation that you occupy the homestead as your primary residence, a letter from the United States government or the Department of Veterans Affairs proving service connected total disability, and either a DD Form 214 showing ex prisoner of war status or a letter from the military personnel records center confirming it. Clay, Platte, Cass and every other Missouri county runs its own version of the same process, so call the assessor in the county where the house sits rather than assuming a neighboring county’s form applies. Jackson County’s application states that once approved the exemption applies to all future years.
Does Kansas exempt disabled veterans from property tax?
No, Kansas does not exempt disabled veterans from property tax, but it refunds property tax to them through claims filed with the Kansas Department of Revenue. The Homestead Property Tax Refund Act at K.S.A. 79-4501 sets up the first one, and K.S.A. 79-4502 defines a disabled veteran as a person who served in the active military, naval, air or space service and was discharged under honorable conditions, who received a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty, and who has a service connected evaluation percentage equal to or greater than 50 percent. That 50 percent threshold is the most important number on this page for Kansas veterans, because it is far more reachable than Missouri’s total disability standard, and K.S.A. 79-4502 also excludes veterans disability compensation from the income calculation.
What do the Kansas Homestead Refund and SAFESR actually pay?
The Homestead Refund on Form K-40H pays up to $700 and, for the 2025 claim year, required Kansas residency for all of 2025, ownership and occupancy, household income of $43,389 or less and a home valued under $350,000, with the claim due April 15, 2026. Form K-40SVR under K.S.A. 79-4508a is built specifically for seniors and disabled veterans and works as a freeze rather than a flat refund, paying the difference between your current year property tax and your base year property tax, with the base year no earlier than 2021 and the base year appraised value capped at $350,000. For 2025 its household income limit was $58,041, and there is no age requirement on the disabled veteran route, so a 45 year old veteran rated 50 percent can claim it. SAFESR, at K.S.A. 79-32,263 and Form K-40PT, refunds 75 percent of property taxes paid but requires you to be 65 or older for all of 2025 with household income of $25,380 or less. The Department of Revenue is explicit that a claimant may receive only one refund, so you pick the best of the three.
Where do you file, what are the deadlines and who is the state agency?
File the Missouri POW exemption with your county assessor, file Form MO-PTC with the Missouri Department of Revenue and file all three Kansas claims with the Kansas Department of Revenue rather than with a county. That distinction trips people up, because Kansas relief is a refund claim processed in Topeka while the Missouri POW exemption is an assessor decision made at your courthouse. The deadline for Form MO-PTC and for the Kansas claims is April 15 following the tax year, and Kansas allows late claims within four years when good cause exists. Kansas veterans work with the Kansas Office of Veterans Services at kovs.ks.gov, renamed in July 2024 from the Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs Office, and Missouri veterans work with the Missouri Veterans Commission at mvc.dps.mo.gov.
Who this applies to and who it does not
This helps a Kansas homeowner with a 50 percent or higher service connected rating and household income under the published limit, and it helps a Missouri homeowner rated 100 percent as a result of military service whose income after excluding VA payments lands under the limit. It does not help a veteran whose income exceeds the limits no matter how high the rating is, it does not create a Missouri exemption for anyone who was not a prisoner of war and it does nothing until you close, because every one of these programs requires that you own and occupy the home. Missouri counties may separately adopt a credit for residents 62 and older under RSMo 137.1050 that freezes real property tax liability at a base year amount, so an older veteran should ask whether the county adopted it. None of this changes what you qualify to borrow or how a lender treats your compensation, which is covered in how VA disability is counted as qualifying income. I am a Realtor and a licensed mortgage originator, not a tax advisor or a CPA, and this is not tax advice. Confirm every figure here with your county assessor and a tax professional before you rely on it.
Frequently asked questions about disabled veteran property tax relief in Missouri and Kansas
Do I have to reapply every year?
It depends on the program. The Missouri Property Tax Credit and all three Kansas refund claims are filed every year, because each one is calculated from that year’s income and that year’s property tax. The Missouri prisoner of war homestead exemption is different, and Jackson County’s application states that once the exemption is approved it applies to all future years, so ask your own county assessor how they handle renewals.
Does a VA rating below 100 percent help in Missouri?
Not for the property tax credit. The Missouri statute at RSMo 135.010 reaches a veteran who became one hundred percent disabled as a result of military service, and a lower rating does not satisfy that definition. A veteran rated below 100 percent may still qualify for the Missouri Property Tax Credit through one of the other routes, such as being 65 or older, but the income limit then counts income the veteran route would have excluded.
I own property in Missouri and in Kansas. Can I claim relief in both?
Not on both houses at once. Every one of these programs is tied to the homestead you own and actually occupy as your primary residence, and Kansas additionally requires that you be a Kansas resident for the entire claim year. In practice you claim in the state where you actually live, and a second property in the other state gets no relief. Talk to a tax professional if you split time between the two.
Does a surviving spouse keep the benefit?
In Kansas, yes for the seniors and disabled veterans refund. K.S.A. 79-4508a lets the surviving spouse of a qualified claimant continue receiving the refund until the spouse remarries. Missouri is less clear, because the constitutional exemption is written around the former prisoner of war and does not describe a surviving spouse, so a widow or widower should ask the county assessor directly. Missouri’s property tax credit does have its own separate route for a claimant 60 or older who receives surviving spouse Social Security benefits.
Where can I see homes for sale and current prices in Kansas City?
You can browse active listings and recent pricing across the Kansas City metro on our featured communities pages, which cover both the Missouri and Kansas sides of the line county by county. If you are weighing a move to one state over the other partly for tax reasons, start there, then call us and we will walk through what the actual tax bill looks like on specific addresses.
Ready to make the move?
Ready to make the move? Work with the top-rated team serving Kansas City veterans — or call us at 816-680-6624.
Equal Housing Opportunity
Nelson Home Group is committed to the Fair Housing Act. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. School district and neighborhood information on this page is provided for factual informational purposes only and does not constitute a recommendation to purchase in any particular area. All buyers are encouraged to independently research neighborhoods, schools, and communities to determine the best fit for their individual needs.
Joe Nelson is a licensed Realtor in Missouri and Kansas, and a licensed mortgage originator in Missouri and Kansas (NMLS #2547018). Joe cannot serve as both Realtor and loan officer on the same transaction. This page is educational and is not an offer of credit or a commitment to lend. Loan products, rates and qualification are subject to underwriting and may change. Eligibility determinations are made by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.