Jim
Fausone
Veterans
Disability Lawyer
Michigan
Governor Rick Snyder recently signed into law P.A. 161 of 2013. This Act amends
MCL 211.7b regarding Veterans Exemptions to read as follows:
Sec.
7b. (1) Real property used and owned as a homestead by a disabled veteran who
was discharged from the armed forces of the United States under honorable
conditions or by an individual described in subsection (2) is exempt from the
collection of taxes under this act. To obtain the exemption, an affidavit
showing the facts required by this section and a description of the real
property shall be filed by the property owner or his or her legal designee with
the supervisor or other assessing officer during the period beginning with the
tax day for each year and ending at the time of the final adjournment of the
local board of review. The affidavit when filed shall be open to inspection.
The county treasurer shall cancel taxes subject to collection under this act
for any year in which a disabled veteran eligible for the exemption under this
section has acquired title to real property exempt under this section. Upon
granting the exemption under this section, each local taxing unit shall bear
the loss of its portion of the taxes upon which the exemption has been granted.
(2)
If a disabled veteran who is otherwise eligible for the exemption under this
section dies, either before or after the exemption under this section is
granted, the exemption shall remain available to or shall continue for his or
her unremarried surviving spouse. The surviving spouse shall comply with the
requirements of subsection (1) and shall indicate on the affidavit that he or
she is the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran entitled to the exemption under
this section. The exemption shall continue as long as the surviving spouse
remains unremarried.
(3)
As used in this section, “disabled veteran” means a person who is a resident of
this state and who meets 1 of the following criteria:
(a)
Has
been determined by the United States department of veterans affairs to be
permanently and totally disabled as a result of military service and entitled
to veterans’ benefits at the 100% rate.
(b)
Has
a certificate from the United States veterans’ administration, or its successors,
certifying that he or she is receiving or has received pecuniary assistance due
to disability for specially adapted housing.
(c)
Has
been rated by the United States department of veterans affairs as individually
unemployable.
The
State has told tax assessors that:
This
exemption is only available to disabled veterans or, if the veteran has died,
to their unremarried surviving spouse who own and use the home as their
homestead.
The
disabled veteran or their surviving spouse must be a resident of the State of
Michigan.
Assessors
are advised that eligible disabled veterans will be able to apply for a 2013
exemption at the December 2013 Board of Review. An exemption will cancel the
July and December 2013 taxes, but will not cancel any taxes levied before 2013.
The
Act requires an Affidavit be filed but does not require this Affidavit to be an
official State of Michigan form. A standard Affidavit is not planned to be
developed at this time.
If
you qualify do not miss out on this tax break for those who became 100%
disabled serving the country.
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