1. A bona fide resident of the State of Nevada who has incurred a permanent service-connected disability and has been honorably discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States, or his or her surviving spouse, is entitled to an exemption.

2. The amount of exemption is based on the total percentage of permanent service-connected disability. The maximum allowable exemption for total permanent disability is the first $20,000 assessed valuation. A person with a permanent service-connected disability of:

(a) Eighty to 99 percent, inclusive, is entitled to an exemption of $15,000 assessed value.

(b) Sixty to 79 percent, inclusive, is entitled to an exemption of $10,000 assessed value.

For the purposes of this section, any property in which an applicant has any interest is deemed to be the property of the applicant.

3. The exemption may be allowed only to a claimant who has filed an affidavit with his or her claim for exemption on real property pursuant to NRS 361.155. The affidavit may be made at any time by a person claiming an exemption from taxation on personal property.

4. The affidavit must be made before the county assessor or a notary public and be filed with the county assessor. It must state that the affiant is a bona fide resident of the State of Nevada, that the affiant meets all the other requirements of subsection 1 and that the exemption is not claimed in any other county within this State. After the filing of the original affidavit, the county assessor shall, except as otherwise provided in this subsection, mail a form for:

(a) The renewal of the exemption; and

(b) The designation of any amount to be credited to the Gift Account for the Veterans Home in Southern Nevada or the Gift Account for the Veterans Home in Northern Nevada established pursuant to NRS 417.145,

to the person each year following a year in which the exemption was allowed for that person. The form must be designed to facilitate its return by mail by the person claiming the exemption. If so requested by the person claiming the exemption, the county assessor may provide the form to the person by electronic means in lieu of by mail. The county assessor may authorize the return of the form by electronic means in accordance with the provisions of chapter 719 of NRS.

5. Before allowing any exemption pursuant to the provisions of this section, the county assessor shall require proof of the applicant’s status, and for that purpose shall require the applicant to produce an original or certified copy of:

(a) An honorable discharge or other document of honorable separation from the Armed Forces of the United States which indicates the total percentage of his or her permanent service-connected disability;

(b) A certificate of satisfactory service which indicates the total percentage of his or her permanent service-connected disability; or

(c) A certificate from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or any other military document which shows that he or she has incurred a permanent service-connected disability and which indicates the total percentage of that disability, together with a certificate of honorable discharge or satisfactory service.

6. A surviving spouse claiming an exemption pursuant to this section must file with the county assessor an affidavit declaring that:

(a) The surviving spouse was married to and living with the veteran who incurred a permanent service-connected disability for the 5 years preceding his or her death;

(b) The veteran was eligible for the exemption at the time of his or her death or would have been eligible if the veteran had been a resident of the State of Nevada;

(c) The surviving spouse has not remarried; and

(d) The surviving spouse is a bona fide resident of the State of Nevada.

The affidavit required by this subsection is in addition to the certification required pursuant to subsections 4 and 5. After the filing of the original affidavit required by this subsection, the county assessor shall, except as otherwise provided in this subsection, mail a form for renewal of the exemption to the person each year following a year in which the exemption was allowed for that person. The form must be designed to facilitate its return by mail by the person claiming the exemption. If so requested by the person claiming the exemption, the county assessor may provide the form to the person by electronic means in lieu of by mail. The county assessor may authorize the return of the form by electronic means in accordance with the provisions of chapter 719 of NRS.

7. If a veteran or the surviving spouse of a veteran submits, as proof of disability, documentation that indicates a percentage of permanent service-connected disability for more than one permanent service-connected disability, the amount of the exemption must be based on the total of those combined percentages, not to exceed 100 percent.

8. If a tax exemption is allowed under this section to a person who qualifies for the exemption:

(a) As a veteran with a permanent service-connected disability, that person is not entitled to an exemption under NRS 361.090.

(b) Solely as the surviving spouse of a veteran with a permanent service-connected disability, the allowance of a tax exemption under this section does not affect the eligibility of that person for an exemption under NRS 361.090.

9. If any person files a false affidavit or produces false proof to the county assessor or a notary public and, as a result of the false affidavit or false proof, the person is allowed a tax exemption to which the person is not entitled, the person is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

10. Beginning with the 2005-2006 Fiscal Year, the monetary amounts in subsection 2 must be adjusted for each fiscal year by adding to the amount the product of the amount multiplied by the percentage increase in the consumer price inflation index from July 2003 to the July preceding the fiscal year for which the adjustment is calculated. The Department shall provide to each county assessor the adjusted amount, in writing, on or before September 30 of each year.

11. For the purposes of this section, “consumer price inflation index” means the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, West Region (All Items), as published by the United States Department of Labor or, if that index ceases to be published by the United States Department of Labor, the published index that most closely resembles that index, as determined by the Department.

(Added to NRS by 1973, 226; A 1975, 70; 1977, 1032; 1981, 1565; 1983, 472; 1985, 860; 1987, 813; 1989, 715; 1991, 2092; 1993, 89; 1995, 1087; 2001, 1525, 1526; 2003, 2754, 2756; 2005, 585, 2652; 2007, 1879; 2011, 3517; 2013, 2510; 2015, 3924)