Volume 1 - Opinions of Counsel SBEA No. 76
Veterans’ exemption (ownership by corporation) - Real Property Tax Law, § 458:
Real Property owned by a corporation is not eligible for a veterans’ exemption under section 458 of the Real Property Tax Law even if all of the shares of such corporation are owned by the veteran or by the veteran and his wife.
Our opinion has been requested as to whether real property owned by a corporation is entitled to a veterans’ exemption where 50 of the 52 shares issued by the corporation are owned by a veteran, one share is owned by his wife, and a third party owns the other share.
Section 458 of the Real Property Tax Law authorizes an exemption on real property purchased with the proceeds of a pension, insurance or bonus granted by the United States government or the State of New York to a veteran by reason of his military service to the extent that such funds are actually used in the purchase of such property and provided such property is owned by the veteran, his wife, his unremarried widow, his minor children or his dependent parents (commonly referred to as the exempt class).
Since a corporation is not a member of the exempt class, real property owned by a corporation is not eligible for the exemption pursuant to section 458. Therefore, even if all of the shares are owned by the veteran or by the veteran and his wife, an exemption would not be authorized.
May 12, 1972