Disabled Veterans in Connecticut need new form or lose tax breaks

System Snafu

Disabled Veterans Must Seek Form To Keep Tax Break
By ANN MARIE SOMMA
October 1, 2008
Thousands of disabled state veterans will lose a tax break if they don't contact the federal Department of Veterans Affairs requesting proof of their disability.

The VA on Monday told Gov. M. Jodi Rell that because of a computer system change in July, the agency will not mail forms to veterans that verify their disability ratings for local tax purposes. The forms must be filed with local tax assessors today.

The last-minute announcement left state officials on Tuesday scrambling to get the word out to more than 20,000 disabled veterans and stunned veterans' advocates.

"This is going to be a big problem because veterans really count on the tax break," said Al Church, executive director of the Connecticut chapter of Disabled American Veterans.


Eligible veterans get exemptions on the assessed value of their homes and cars, based on their disability rating. Veterans must declare their service-connected disabilities annually. Historically, every September the VA has mailed a 20-5455 form that veterans use to verify service-connected disabilities.

David Leonard, director of the VA's Hartford regional office, said the VA converted to a new payment records system that no longer allows the form to be issued to disabled veterans, excluding retired veterans. Veterans must now request the form from the federal VA. The change affects disabled veterans in nine states that provide state and local state tax relief for the veterans and surviving spouses.
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