You asked for brief summaries of state-authorized fee exemptions for veterans and members of the armed forces.

SUMMARY

The law exempts veterans and members of the armed forces from several general, occupational, motor vehicle, education, and miscellaneous fees. To qualify for some of the exemptions, a veteran must have wartime service or a disability.

GENERAL FEE EXEMPTIONS

Members of the armed forces are exempt from annual and biennial license and registration fees and occupational taxes while they are on active duty and for one year after they are discharged (CGS § 27-102a).

OCCUPATIONAL LICENSES

The Department of Public Health (DPH) must waive the $ 5 renewal fee for any veteran whose hairdressing or cosmetology license expired while she was in the armed forces. The veteran must notify DPH of his intention to resume practice and provide any other information the department requires (CGS § 20-256).

Professional engineers and land surveyors are not required to pay license renewal fees while they are in the armed forces (CGS § 20- 306(a)(3)).

DPH may waive optician' license fees for veterans whose vocation was interrupted by World War II or the Korean War (CGS § 20-147).

MOTOR VEHICLE

The law grants free motor vehicle registration to former prisoners of war (POWs), Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, and disabled wartime veterans with certain service-connected disabilities. A disabled veteran is eligible for fee exemptions for up to three vehicles in the (1) passenger, (2) camper, or (3) combination passenger and commercial registration categories, whether he owns or leases them. The other two categories of veterans are eligible for exemptions on two vehicles. Spouses of Congressional Medal of Honor recipients and former POWs may retain the registration for life or until remarriage (CGS §§14-49(o) and 14-21d).

Disabled wartime veterans with certain Veterans' Administration (VA)-rated disabilities are entitled, upon application, to free special license plates. The plate exempts the veteran from overtime parking fines, provided he does not leave his vehicle at the same spot for more than 24 hours (CGS § 14-254).

A person in the active service of the armed forces is exempt from paying motor vehicle operator's license and examination fees. A veteran who applies within two years of receiving an honorable discharge is also exempt from the fees but only for one licensing period (CGS § 14-50c).

EDUCATION

Tuition Fees

The law requires the state's public colleges and universities to waive tuition (but not other fees) for wartime veterans. The waiver applies at community-technical colleges, the Connecticut State University, and the University of Connecticut. In order to be eligible, the veteran must:

1. have served during wartime or in either a combat or combat-support role in the Granada invasion, Panama invasion, or Lebanon peace-keeping mission;

2. have been accepted to an approved institution; and

3. be living in Connecticut when accepted.

A veteran's dependent children also qualify for tuition waiver if the veteran is declared missing in action or a POW while serving in the armed forces after January 1, 1960. The child must have been accepted to the institution and be a state resident when accepted (CGS §§ 10a-77(d), -99(d), and -105(e)).

State High School Diploma

War veterans and members of the armed forces are exempt from paying the $ 13 fee to take or retake the examination for the state high school diploma (general equivalency diploma or GED) (CGS § 10-5).

MISCELLANEOUS

Fishing License

The law grants free fishing licenses to blind veterans (CGS § 26-29).

Itinerant Vendor

Wartime veterans are entitled to an exemption from local itinerant vendors' fees (CGS § 21-30).

Probate Records

Copies of probate records are available free to veterans for determining eligibility for VA benefits (CGS § 45a-12).

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