The Break On Your Tax Bill
Va. Code 58.1-3210 — a local exemption or deferral for owners at least 65, or permanently and totally disabled
A local option. The governing body of any locality may by ordinance provide for the exemption from, or deferral of, taxation of real estate, on the conditions and in the amount the ordinance prescribes.
Who it reaches. The real estate is owned by, and occupied as the sole dwelling of, someone at least 65 years of age, or if the ordinance provides, someone permanently and totally disabled. A dwelling jointly held by a married couple with no other joint owners may qualify if either spouse is 65 or over or permanently and totally disabled.
The increase only. The ordinance may exempt or defer only the part of the tax representing the increase since the year the taxpayer reached 65 or became disabled, or the year the ordinance took effect, whichever is later.
Trusts and life estates. Real property held by the eligible person and spouse as tenants for life or joint lives, or in a revocable trust they control, or in an irrevocable trust in which they hold a life estate or continuing right of use, counts as owned. A leasehold or term of years does not.
The ordinance itself sets the conditions and the amount. Other exemptions and credits, and the forms and proof the assessor asks for, are set out in other sections that are not on this page. Whether a particular home qualifies is a question for the assessor's office or a licensed Virginia attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- Va. Code 58.1-3210 — Local exemption or deferral for elderly and disabled owners
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Virginia attorney.