Kansas vehicle tax
The Kansas military car tax exemption
Kansas charges motor vehicle property tax on a vehicle every year. If you are stationed here on orders and your home of record is another state, 50 U.S.C. § 4001 says that car is not Kansas's to tax. Here is the form that stops the bill, what it asks for, and the mistake that voids it.
The form
TR-601 Military Personnel Affidavit for Motor Vehicle Property Tax Exemption
- Published by
- Kansas Department of Revenue, Division of Vehicles
- Where it is granted
- A state agency grants it
- The tax it stops
- motor vehicle property tax
- How often you claim it
- Proof required again at every registration renewal
- State authority
- K.S.A. 79-5107(e)(1)
- Verified
- 2026-08-28, on the issuing agency's own site
The deadline
Tied to registration: the conditions are tested "on the date of individual’s application for registration," so the affidavit travels with the registration rather than a calendar date.
What Kansas wants from you
- Completed TR-601 naming service branch, duty station and unit
- Permanent resident state exactly as shown on your LES
- Make, year, model, VIN and plate number for each vehicle claimed
How the Kansas claim actually works
Kansas is the most generous state in this cluster, and it is the only one that runs two separate eligibility tracks on a single form. The non-resident track is the familiar one: Kansas is not your permanent resident state, your name or your spouse’s name is on the title, you are in full-time regular military service, you are absent from your home state on orders with the property located outside that home state, and the vehicle is not used in a trade or business.
The Kansas-resident track is the unusual one, and most servicemembers never learn it exists. A Kansas resident qualifies if they are in full-time military service and absent from the state on orders, if they are mobilized or deployed, if they are full-time military stationed in Kansas, if they are a current member in good standing of the reserve forces, or if they are a current member in good standing of the Kansas Army or Air National Guard. That last pair matters: Kansas extends a property tax exemption to drilling reservists and Guard members in good standing, with no deployment required.
The cap is two vehicles. The form says plainly that not more than two motor vehicles may qualify, and it gives you exactly two blocks to list them, so choose the two carrying the highest assessed value rather than the two you drive most.
A recreational vehicle titled as an RV is handled outside this form. The affidavit points to a separate exemption granted by the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals under K.S.A. 79-5121(e), which is a different body and a different application.
What trips people up here
- Two vehicles is a hard ceiling, not a default. A third car stays fully taxable no matter your status.
- The Guard and Reserve track has no deployment or activation requirement, only current membership in good standing, which is a materially broader test than the federal SCRA rule this cluster otherwise runs on.
- The permanent resident state must match what your LES shows. A mismatch between the form and the LES is the fastest way to a denial.
Spouses are covered in Kansas
The non-Kansas-resident section accepts a title in your name and/or your spouse’s name, so a jointly titled or spouse-titled car is not automatically disqualified.
Sources
Keep going
Other states
Each state names this tax differently and grants the exemption through a different office.
Heads up: SCRA Saver publishes general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws change and every situation differs. Confirm details with your installation legal assistance office (free for service members) or a licensed professional.