Homestead Exemption in Texas: Who Qualifies and How to Apply

The Texas homestead exemption cuts your property tax bill by removing $140,000 of your home’s appraised value from school district taxes, with extra reductions available if you are 65 or older, disabled, or a disabled veteran. You claim it by filing an application with the county appraisal district where your home is located, and once approved you generally do not have to reapply each year.

Who Qualifies

The home has to be owned by an individual, not a business entity like a corporation or LLC. Ownership through a qualifying trust also works if the trust instrument gives the beneficiary or settlor the right to live in the home as a principal residence at no cost for life or until the trust ends.¹ The property can be a traditional house, condo, townhouse, or manufactured home, on no more than 20 acres, and it has to be your principal residence.

You can only claim a homestead exemption on one property per year. That restriction applies even if you own homes in different Texas counties or in another state.¹ Appraisal districts confirm residency by matching the address on your Texas driver’s license or state ID to the property address, so your ID needs to show the home’s address before you apply. This is the single most common reason applications stall.

How Much You Save

School District Exemption

Every qualifying homeowner gets a $140,000 reduction in appraised value for school district taxes.² School districts have no discretion to reduce or eliminate the amount. At a typical school district tax rate around $1.00 per $100 of taxable value, the exemption is worth roughly $1,400 a year in school taxes alone.

Optional Local Exemptions

Counties, cities, and special districts can adopt their own additional exemptions of up to 20% of your home’s appraised value, with a floor of $5,000. If your home is appraised at $20,000 and your city offers a 20% exemption, you still receive the $5,000 minimum rather than the $4,000 that 20% would produce.³ Whether your local taxing units offer these optional exemptions varies. Check your county appraisal district’s website for the exemptions available at your address.

Extra Reductions for Homeowners 65 or Older, Disabled, or Disabled Veterans

Homeowners 65 or older, or who meet the state’s definition of disabled, qualify for an extra $60,000 reduction in appraised value for school district taxes on top of the standard $140,000.¹ That brings the combined school district exemption to $200,000. Local taxing units can also adopt an additional exemption of at least $3,000 for these homeowners, though many jurisdictions set the amount higher.

Qualifying for the over-65 or disability exemption also triggers a school tax ceiling. Once you qualify, a school district cannot charge you more in school taxes than it charged in the first full year you had the exemption. Adding improvements to the property is the only thing that lifts the cap, and only for the taxes attributable to those improvements.⁴ Even if your home’s value doubles, your school taxes stay frozen at the original amount.

Veterans rated 100% disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or classified as individually unemployable, receive a complete property tax exemption on their residence homestead. The entire appraised value comes off the rolls.⁵ A surviving spouse can keep receiving the exemption as long as they do not remarry and the property remains their homestead. Veterans with disability ratings below 100% qualify for partial exemptions that scale with the severity of the disability, and those can be combined with the general homestead exemption.

How to Apply

File the Application for Residential Homestead Exemption (Form 50-114) with the appraisal district in the county where your property is located.⁶ Most county appraisal districts also accept applications through an online portal. You will need:

A Texas driver’s license or state ID showing the property’s physical address. Active-duty military members can substitute a military ID with a recent utility bill for the property.
The property account number, which appears on prior tax statements and on your appraisal district’s property search.
Your Social Security number, used to prevent duplicate exemptions on multiple properties.
Ownership percentages for each non-spouse owner if more than one person owns the home.

The form asks you to select the specific exemption types you are claiming: general homestead, over-65, disability, or disabled veteran. Once the appraisal district approves the application, the exemption stays on the property until your eligibility changes or the district requests verification. You do not reapply each year.

Deadlines and Late Filing

The standard deadline is before May 1 of the tax year for which you want the exemption.⁷ For good cause, a chief appraiser can grant a one-time extension of up to 60 days.

Missed it entirely? You can still file a late application up to two years after the delinquency date for the taxes on that property.⁸ If the district approves the late application, the tax collector either deducts the exempted amount from your current bill or issues a refund for taxes already paid. Disabled veterans filing for the 100% exemption get a longer window: up to five years after the filing deadline.⁹

If you buy a home after January 1, you can receive the exemption for the remaining part of that tax year, provided the previous owner did not already claim the same exemption for that year. You must apply before the first anniversary of the date you acquired the property.² If the seller already had a homestead exemption on the property for the current tax year, you cannot also claim it until the following January 1.

The 10% Appraisal Cap

Once you have the homestead exemption, Texas law limits how fast the taxable value of your home can rise. The appraisal district cannot increase the appraised value used for taxation by more than 10% over the prior year’s appraised value, plus the market value of any new improvements.¹⁰ The home’s market value can climb higher on paper, but the number used to calculate taxes is held down.

The cap kicks in on January 1 of the tax year after the first year you qualify for the homestead exemption.¹⁰ So if you receive your exemption in 2025, the cap begins limiting appraisal increases starting January 1, 2026. In years when Texas real estate values rise 15% or 20%, this cap is often worth more than the exemption itself.

The cap does not reset downward if your home’s market value falls. The district appraises the property at market value each year and records both numbers. If market value falls below the capped value, the lower market value becomes your taxable number.

What Happens When You Move, Inherit, or Get Audited

The 10% appraisal cap does not transfer. When you sell your homestead and buy another, the new property starts fresh at its full market value, and a new cap cycle begins after your first year of exemption on the new home. Longtime homeowners who built up a large gap between capped value and market value often see sticker shock on the next tax bill.

The school tax ceiling for over-65 and disabled homeowners does transfer, but as a percentage of the school tax bill rather than a dollar amount.⁴ To move it, request a Tax Ceiling Certificate from the appraisal district where your former home was located and apply for the over-65 or disability exemption on the new one.

Heirs who inherit a home and live in it can claim the homestead exemption even without a formal deed in their name. Texas recognizes “heir property” acquired through a will, transfer-on-death deed, or intestate succession where at least one heir uses the home as a residence.² The application requires an affidavit establishing your ownership interest, the prior owner’s death certificate, a recent utility bill for the property, and any related court records. If other heirs live in the home, each must provide an affidavit authorizing the exemption application.¹

Since September 2023, appraisal districts must verify homestead exemptions at least once every five years, reviewing roughly one-fifth of unverified accounts each year.¹¹ If you receive an audit verification letter, you have 30 days to return it with a copy of your Texas driver’s license or state ID showing the property address. Ignoring it results in removal of the exemption. If the chief appraiser finds that an exemption was erroneously allowed in any of the preceding five years, the previously exempt value gets added back to the appraisal roll for each affected year and you owe back taxes.⁷ If a court finds the false exemption was intentional, a 50% penalty on top of the back taxes can apply, and the application form itself warns that a false statement can be prosecuted as a Class A misdemeanor or a state jail felony. Claiming the exemption on a rental or a second home you do not occupy is the scenario that most often triggers enforcement.

1
State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 11.13 – Residence Homestead
2
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Property Tax Exemptions
3
Harris Central Appraisal District. Property Tax Exemptions for Homeowners
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State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 11.26 – Limitation of School Tax on Homesteads of Elderly or Disabled
5
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. 100 Percent Disabled Veteran and Surviving Spouse Frequently Asked Questions
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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Residence Homestead Exemption Application
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State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 11.43 – Application for Exemption
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State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 11.431 – Late Application for Residence Homestead Exemption
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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Residence Homestead Exemptions
10
State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 23.23 – Limitation on Appraised Value of Residence Homestead
11
Bexar Central Appraisal District. Homestead Audit Verification