SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1011        FILED ON: 2/9/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1934

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Michael O. Moore

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act granting property tax exemptions to disabled veterans.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1011        FILED ON: 2/9/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1934

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act granting property tax exemptions to disabled veterans.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Section 5 of chapter 59 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 Official Education, is hereby amended by inserting after clause twenty-second H the following clause:-

Twenty-second I. Real estate of soldiers and sailors who are veterans, as defined in clause Forty-third of section 7 of chapter 4, 65 years of age or older, and their spouses, who according to the records of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or of any branch of the armed forces of the United States by reason of injury received while in service and in the line of duty are partially or have a disability rating of 100 per cent; to the amount of the percentage equal to the percentage of the veteran’s permanent, service-connected disability as determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs; provided, however, that the veteran or spouse shall be a legal resident of the commonwealth, the veteran's last discharge or release from the armed forces was under other than dishonorable conditions and the veteran was domiciled in the commonwealth for at least 6 months prior to entering service or resided in the commonwealth for 2 consecutive years prior to the date of filing for exemption pursuant to this clause; provided, further, that the real estate is occupied as the veteran's domicile; provided, further, that if the property is greater than a single-family house, then only that value of so much of the house as is occupied by the person as the person's domicile shall be exempted; and provided, further, that an exemption pursuant to this clause shall continue unchanged for the benefit of the surviving spouse after the death of the disabled veteran as long as the surviving spouse of the qualified veteran shall remain an owner and occupant of a domicile subject to the exemption.

The amount of the exemption shall be borne by the commonwealth, and the state treasurer shall annually reimburse the city or town for the amount of the tax which otherwise would have been collected for this exemption.