The state of Idaho provides several veteran benefits. This page explains them.
Idaho Veteran Housing Benefits
There are three state veterans homes in Idaho: Boise, Lewiston, and Pocatello. The fourth Idaho veterans home, in Post Falls is scheduled to open in 2022.
Applicants may be peacetime or wartime veterans, with wartime veterans retaining priority admission status. Applicants must have been discharged under honorable conditions and be an Idaho resident. Applicants must be unemployable as a result of age, illness, or disability, and must apply for and be eligible for Medicaid benefits or must pay a monthly fee.
Idaho Veteran Financial Benefits
Income Tax
Military pay is tax free if stationed out-of-state.
Military retirement and SBP recipients can deduct up to $37,776 of their retirement/SBP income for a single filer or $56,664 for a joint filer. This amount changes annually and only applies to veterans or their un-remarried surviving spouses, age 65 or older, or disabled and age 62 or older.
Property Tax
Veterans with a 100% service-connected disability, or those rated unemployable by the VA may reduce the property on their home and up to one acre of land by as much as $1,500. The program doesn't have an income limit.
Veterans with at least a 10% service-connected disability may reduce the property tax on their home by up to $1,500 if they have income of $32,230 or less for 2021.
Grocery Tax Credit
Veterans age 65 or older, or disabled and age 62 or older, may claim the Grocery Tax Credit even when not required to file an income tax return if VA disability benefits are the veteran’s only income.
Financial Assistance
Provides up to a $1,000 grant, in cases of extreme emergency, to wartime veterans in need of assistance. Must have entered the military from Idaho, or lived within the state for at least 5 years. The event or emergency must have occurred within 90 days of the request.
Idaho Veterans Employment Benefits
State Employment Preference
Idaho state employment gives preference points for active duty veterans. Honorably discharged veterans get 5 preference points, disabled veterans get 10 preference points. Surviving spouses who have not remarried can get the same points as the veteran.
Occupational Licenses
Idaho offers military members and their families expedited processing for occupational licenses. They also accept credit for military training that is relevant to the occupational license/registration being applied for.
Idaho residents on active, reserve or guard duty do not have to pay any professional or occupational license or renewal fees while in the military. Also, service members holding an occupational or professional license will have that license's expiration date extended until six months after they leave the service.
The state of Idaho may accept your military education, training, and experience toward meeting the qualifications for a license, certification or registration. Idaho also expedites license applications of military spouses.
Idaho Veteran Recreation Benefits
Idaho State Parks Veterans Pass
Idaho resident 100% service-connected disabled veterans get free access and camping at Idaho State Parks.
Hunting & Fishing Licenses
Resident disabled veterans may be eligible for reduced fees for licenses and tags.
Nonresident disabled veterans with a VA disability rating of at least 40% are eligible for nonresident reduced fees for licenses and tags.
Idaho State Veterans Cemeteries
The Idaho State Veterans Cemeteries are located in Blackfoot and Boise. The eligibility requirements for burial at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery follow the National Veterans Cemetery eligibility requirements and Idaho law. There is no requirement to be a resident of the state of Idaho.
Visit the Idaho Division of Veterans Services website for more information on any of these programs.
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