State veteran benefits · KS
Kansas Veteran Benefits
Kansas freezes property taxes at a base-year level for homeowners with a 50% or greater service-connected rating through the K-40SVR refund, and never taxes military retired pay.
By Mario Bailey, U.S. Air Force veteran · current Air National Guard member. Data updated 2026-07-10.
What Kansas adds, benefit by benefit
Your federal VA benefits travel with you to any state. Everything below is the second stack: what Kansas itself offers, each item checked against the state's own official source on the date shown.
Property tax relief for disabled veterans
The K-40SVR claim refunds a disabled veteran homeowner the amount by which the current year's property tax exceeds the base-year tax, effectively freezing the bill. Eligibility requires a service-connected evaluation of 50% or greater, 2025 household income of $58,041 or less, and a home valued at no more than $350,000 in the base year.
An alternative Homestead refund (K-40H) also covers disabled veterans rated 50% or more, with its own dollar cap and a tighter income test set each year. Only one refund can be claimed per year, and the state's free WebFile software automatically computes which of the homestead programs pays the most.
SOURCE: Kansas Department of Revenue · retrieved 2026-07-10
Income tax on military retired pay
Kansas exempts retirement benefits received for service in the United States Armed Forces from state income tax; the federally taxed amount is subtracted on Kansas Schedule S as exempt retirement benefits. VA disability compensation is never taxed, in Kansas or any state.
SOURCE: Kansas Department of Revenue · retrieved 2026-07-10
Kansas Military Service Scholarship
Kansas residents who served after September 11, 2001 in international waters or on foreign soil receiving hostile fire pay for at least 90 days, or fewer because of injury, get tuition and fees paid at the six state universities, Washburn University, and Kansas community and technical colleges, for up to four academic years of undergraduate study.
The scholarship is restricted aid that pays tuition directly, so Post-9/11 GI Bill users should note the VA's last-payer rule: the scholarship covers tuition and the veteran still receives the Chapter 33 housing allowance and book stipend. Apply via FAFSA and the State of Kansas Student Aid Application by the April 1 priority deadline.
SOURCE: Kansas Board of Regents · retrieved 2026-07-10
State hiring preference
Veterans verified under K.S.A. 73-201 who meet the minimum qualifications of a Veterans Preference Eligible state position must be granted an interview, after submitting a DD-214 to the Kansas Department of Administration for verification. The preference guarantees the interview, not the job.
SOURCE: Kansas Department of Administration · retrieved 2026-07-10
State veterans homes
Kansas operates two state veterans homes: the Kansas Soldiers' Home at Fort Dodge, near Dodge City, and the Kansas Veterans' Home in Winfield, about 35 miles southeast of Wichita, which opened in 2000 on a 148-acre campus.
SOURCE: Kansas Office of Veterans Services · retrieved 2026-07-10
Free hunting and fishing licenses
Kansas resident veterans with an honorable or general discharge and a certified service-connected disability of 30% or more receive free annual hunting, fishing, and combination licenses through the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, with a copy of the VA determination letter required and a fresh application each year.
SOURCE: Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks · retrieved 2026-07-10
State veterans cemeteries
Kansas maintains four state veterans cemeteries, at Fort Dodge near Dodge City, Fort Riley near Manhattan, WaKeeney, and Winfield, all VA grant-funded, state-operated, and currently with open burial space.
SOURCE: VA National Cemetery Administration · retrieved 2026-07-10
Kansas rewards the veteran who reads instructions. Its property tax relief is not an exemption you file once; it is a menu of three refund claims, and picking the wrong one costs real money. The K-40SVR freeze is usually the strongest play for a 50%+ rated homeowner because it compounds: every mill levy increase after your base year comes back to you as a refund, while the older K-40H homestead route carries a lower cap and a tighter income test. You cannot take both in the same year. The state’s own WebFile software compares the programs and files the biggest one, which makes it one of the rare cases where the government tool is genuinely the right answer.
Notice what the freeze is not: it is not a wipeout, and it carries income and home-value ceilings that a full-exemption state like Illinois or Maryland does not impose. A 100% P&T veteran with a working spouse pushing household income past the limit gets nothing from it. That is the structural weakness in the Kansas stack, and it is why the pension exemption carries so much weight here; a military retiree keeps every dollar of retired pay regardless of income, and disability compensation is untouchable everywhere, as covered in is VA disability taxable.
The education benefit has sharper edges than its plain name suggests. Because the Military Service Scholarship is restricted tuition aid, the VA pays tuition last, meaning a Post-9/11 GI Bill user at K-State effectively converts Chapter 33 into a housing allowance and book stipend while the state covers tuition. Done deliberately, that preserves months of federal entitlement value; done accidentally, it just confuses the certifying official. Talk to the school’s veterans office before certifying the semester.
Also easy to miss: the free 30%+ hunting and fishing licenses must be re-applied for every single year, by mail, and the state hiring preference gets you a guaranteed interview rather than points, a different and separate mechanism from federal veterans’ preference. Kansas gives steadily rather than spectacularly, but only to the veteran who files, annually, on time.
Where to apply
State benefits are administered by the state, not by VA, so the applications above run through Kansas Office of Veterans Services or the specific agency named in each source link. A free VA-accredited representative or VSO in Kansas will know both stacks, the federal claim and the state paperwork, and charges nothing to help with either.