Form BOE-261-G, Low-Income Disabled Veterans' Exemption Application – San Diego County, CA

The Low-Income Disabled Veterans' Exemption Application (Form BOE-261-G), printed on the form as the Claim for Disabled Veterans' Property Tax Exemption, is the County of San Diego Assessor's claim for the exemption on a veteran's or unmarried surviving spouse's home.

The exemption rests on Article XIII of the California Constitution, section 4(a), and Revenue and Taxation Code section 205.5. It applies to the home of a veteran who, because of injury or disease incurred in military service, is blind in both eyes, has lost the use of two or more limbs, or is totally disabled, and to the home of that veteran's unmarried surviving spouse in the cases the form lists.

There are two exemption levels: a basic exemption and one for low-income household claimants. Both are adjusted annually for inflation. The exemption does not apply to direct levies or special taxes. Once granted, the Basic Exemption stays in effect without annual filing until it is terminated, while the Low-Income Exemption requires a claim for each year. The schedule printed with the form lists the exemption amounts and household income limits by lien date, and it notes that the exemption is up to the amount listed, not a combination of the basic and low-income amounts.

The exemption also provides for cancellation or refund of taxes paid when a property becomes eligible after the lien date or upon a veteran's disability rating or death. The form package includes the claim pages, general information, instructions, the schedule and a Household Income Worksheet (AS-EX-2B) for Low-Income claimants.

The main group is veterans who own and occupy a home as their principal residence and who, because of service-connected injury or disease, are blind in both eyes, have lost the use of two or more limbs, or are totally disabled. A veteran checks one of boxes 3a, 3b or 3c.

Other claimants:

• Unmarried surviving spouses of a veteran who qualified (box 3d), or of a person who died of a service-connected injury or disease while on active duty or after discharge under other than dishonorable conditions (box 3e).
• Low-Income claimants, who complete item 4 and the household income worksheet. Anyone who received the exemption last year and files only to claim the Low-Income Exemption checks the box at the top of page 2 and goes to item 4.

The claimant must be an owner or co-owner, a veteran spouse of an owner, a purchaser named in a contract of sale, or a shareholder in a corporation whose shares entitle the holder to possess the home. The dwelling can be a house, multi-unit structure, condominium, cooperative unit, houseboat or manufactured home, among others the form lists. A dwelling that is, or is intended to be, rented, vacant and unoccupied, or the claimant's vacation or secondary home does not qualify.

The deadline depends on the event behind the claim, and the General Information page of the form sets each one.

• Alternative 1a (January 1 occupancy): the full Low-Income exemption is available if you file by 5 p.m. on February 15 of each year. A claim filed after that but by 5 p.m. on December 10 receives 90 percent; later claims receive 85 percent.
• Alternatives 1b, 1c and 1d (disability rating, move into an already-owned property, or veteran's death): the full exemption, prorated to the date of eligibility, is available if you file on or before January 1 of the year after the event, or within 90 days of the event, whichever is later. After that, 85 percent is allowed, subject to an eight-year statute of limitations.
• Alternative 2 (supplemental assessment): file by 5 p.m. on the 30th day after the notice of supplemental assessment. Later claims, up to the date the first installment of the supplemental bill becomes delinquent, receive 90 percent; after that, 85 percent. If no notice is received, file by the January 1 after the purchase.

Low-Income claims need a separate claim for each fiscal year. If the property later becomes ineligible, notify the Assessor by the following June 30 to avoid the 25 percent penalty.

The form is addressed to the San Diego County Assessor. It prints no separate mailing address, portal or drop-off rule, and the household income worksheet says to sign page 2 of the claim and return it, with the income statement, to the Assessor. The contact details printed on the form are:

• Assessor's office: 1600 Pacific Hwy., Suite 103, San Diego, CA 92101 (the last page prints 1600 Pacific Highway, Suite 103, San Diego, CA 92101-2480).
• Telephone: (619) 531-5772 on the claim page; (619) 236-3771 and fax (619) 557-4056 on the last page.
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.sdarcc.gov

Contact the Assessor to confirm how to deliver the signed claim. Attach proof of disability and the other documents your claim type requires. If you send original documents, the Assessor makes a copy and returns the originals to you. The certification on the form includes wording for claims submitted with an electronic signature. FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; submission follows the Assessor's channels above.