What is a Military Exemption?

Any property owner who has been involved in full time active duty during a war or conflict, has been honorably discharged, and lives in Iowa qualifies for a military exemption. The applicable times of either a war or conflict are spelled out in Section 427.3 of the Code of Iowa. Though the wars date back to 1846, the ones generally in use now are for World War I through the Vietnam conflict. The amount of the exemption in taxable value for the most often used exemptions is $2,778 for WWI and $1,852 for any others after that. It is the responsibility of each person who qualifies for and wishes to receive a military exemption, to make application with the city or County Assessor and also have their discharge papers (DD214) recorded in the appropriate county. Application is to be made prior to July 1 of the claim year. National guardsmen and reserves are not eligible for the exemption is their only active duty was for training purposes. On some rare occasions there were guardsmen and reserves that were called into active duty other that training. In these cases the person is eligible for the exemption. See Code of Iowa Chapter 426A for more information

War	Service Must Have Been Between Following Dates	Amount of Exemption
World War I	Declared April 6, 1917 Terminated November 11, 1918	$2,778
World War II	Declared December 7, 1941 Terminated December 31, 1946	$1,852
Army of Occupation in Germany	November 12, 1918 to July 11, 1923	$1,852
American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia	November 12, 1918 to April 30, 1920	$1,852
Second Nicaraguan Campaign with the Navy or Marines in Nicaragua	August 27, 1926 to January 2, 1933	$1,852
Marines and several war ships ordered to Nicaragua	January 6, 1927 (Withdrawn 1933)	$1,852
Second Haitian Suppression's of Insurrections	1919 to 1920	$1,852
Navy and Marine Operations in China	Marines landed August 11, 1937 Terminated occupation July 1939	$1,852
Yangtze Service with Navy and Marines in Shanghai or in Yangtze Valley	1926 to 1927 and 1930 to 1932	$1,852
Korean Conflict	June 25, 1950 to January 31, 1955	$1,852
Vietnam Conflict (Dates changed in 1999)	February 28, 1961 to May 7, 1975	$1,852
Persian Gulf War	August 2, 1990 to Present	$1,852
Lebanon / Granada	August 24, 19882 to July 31, 1984	$1,852
Panama	December 20, 1989 to January 31, 1990	$1,852
Women's Air Corp. During WWII	December 7, 1941 to December 31, 1946	$1,852

Anyone who served in the National Guard or Reserves for 20 years after January 28, 1973, and is now retired / discharged, now qualifies for an exemption of $1,852.

To get copy of DD214 contact National Personnel Records Center:
GSA (Military Personnel Records)
9700 Page Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63132