Property Tax Exemptions in Texas for Homeowners and Veterans

Texas property tax exemptions for homeowners start with a $140,000 reduction in the value your school district can tax on your primary residence, and build from there with extra benefits for seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, and surviving spouses. Because Texas collects no state income tax, these exemptions are the main lever you have to control what you owe each year. The rules sit mostly in Chapter 11 of the Texas Tax Code, and every exemption on this page flows from a single application: Comptroller Form 50-114, filed with your county appraisal district by April 30.

The General Residence Homestead Exemption

If you own your home and live in it as your primary residence, you qualify for the residence homestead exemption under Tax Code Section 11.13. The owner has to be a natural person, not an LLC or corporation. School districts must exempt $140,000 of your home’s appraised value from taxation, so a home appraised at $350,000 is taxed by the school district on $210,000.¹

Counties add a separate $3,000 exemption authorized by the Texas Constitution. On top of that, any local taxing unit (your county, city, or a special district) can adopt an optional percentage exemption of up to 20 percent of your appraised value. If that percentage would come out to less than $5,000 on your home, you get $5,000 instead.¹ Not every local entity has adopted the optional percentage, so ask your appraisal district what applies to your address.

Two rules trip people up. You can only claim the homestead on one property per year, and you must own and occupy the home as of January 1 of the tax year. Renting out a room or running a home business doesn’t shrink the exemption; the full homestead still applies to the whole property.

The 10 Percent Appraisal Cap

Once your homestead exemption is in place, Tax Code Section 23.23 limits how fast your appraised value can climb. The appraisal district cannot raise your homestead’s appraised value by more than 10 percent per year, plus the value of any new improvements you add. The cap compares against the lesser of current market value or 110 percent of the prior year’s appraised value.²

In a hot market this gets valuable fast. If market values jump 25 percent in a year, your taxable value can only go up 10. The gap grows over time, and it resets when you sell and buy somewhere new, so the longer you stay in a home the more the cap is worth.

If You’re 65 or Older, or Disabled

Homeowners who are 65 or older, or who meet the federal definition of disabled, get an additional $60,000 school district exemption stacked on the standard $140,000. Combined, that’s a $200,000 school district exemption. Local taxing units may add their own exemption for these groups, with a $3,000 floor and often more.¹

You cannot claim both the age-65 exemption and the disability exemption from the same taxing unit in the same year. If you qualify for both, compare which gives you the lower bill. The school district amounts are usually identical, but local optional exemptions can differ between the two categories.

The School Tax Ceiling

The biggest benefit for these homeowners is the school tax ceiling, often called the tax freeze. In the year you turn 65 or become disabled, the dollar amount of school district taxes you owe is locked in. Even if your home’s value rises later, your school bill cannot go above that frozen number unless you add new improvements like a room addition or a pool.³ Some cities and counties offer their own optional freezes as well.

If you sell and buy another home in Texas, a proportional share of the ceiling transfers to the new property. The new ceiling can end up higher or lower depending on the value of the new home, but you don’t lose everything you’ve accumulated.³

Surviving Spouses

If a homeowner who had the age-65 exemption dies, the surviving spouse can keep the same exemption from the same taxing unit if the spouse was at least 55 at the time of death, stays in the home, and does not remarry.⁴ Under the same conditions, the surviving spouse also inherits the school tax ceiling.³

Disabled Veterans and Military Surviving Spouses

Texas gives disabled veterans a tiered partial exemption based on the disability rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, under Tax Code Section 11.22:

10 to 29 percent disability: up to $5,000 off assessed value
30 to 49 percent: up to $7,500
50 to 69 percent: up to $10,000
70 percent or higher: up to $12,000

These apply to one property the veteran designates, and that property does not have to be a homestead.⁵

Veterans with a 100 percent disability compensation rating, or a VA determination of individual unemployability, qualify for a total exemption from property taxes on their residence homestead under Tax Code Section 11.131.⁶ That wipes out the entire bill, not a slice of it.

The surviving spouse of a veteran with a Section 11.22 partial exemption keeps the same exemption amount the veteran held at death, as long as the spouse remains unmarried.⁵ The surviving spouse of a service member killed or fatally injured in the line of duty gets a total exemption on a residence homestead, provided the spouse hasn’t remarried. If that surviving spouse later moves, the dollar amount of the exemption carries over to the new property.⁷

Deferring Property Taxes Entirely

Homeowners who are 65 or older, disabled, or disabled veterans can postpone paying property taxes on a homestead altogether. Filing an affidavit with your county’s chief appraiser under Tax Code Section 33.06 stops any collection lawsuit or tax lien foreclosure for as long as you own and live in the home.⁸

Deferral is a delay, not forgiveness. The taxes keep accumulating as a lien against the property, with 5 percent annual interest. Late-payment penalties don’t apply during deferral, but when you move out, sell, or die, the whole balance comes due. A surviving spouse age 55 or older who was living in the home can continue the deferral.⁸ This keeps people on fixed incomes in their homes, at the cost of equity your heirs will eventually see.

Heirs Property

If you inherited the home you live in but never put a deed in your name, you can still claim the full homestead exemption. The appraisal district accepts the prior owner’s death certificate, a recent utility bill for the property, and a completed ownership affidavit (Form 50-114-A) in place of a recorded deed. Include any probate records you have. The appraisal district cannot demand a recorded deed or affidavit of heirship as a condition of granting the exemption.⁹ If other heirs also live in the home, they’ll need to sign an affidavit authorizing you to file on behalf of everyone.

Temporary Exemption After a Disaster

When the governor declares a disaster area and your home sustains significant damage, Tax Code Section 11.35 provides a temporary reduction on the structure’s value (not the land). The damage level the appraisal district assigns sets the exemption percentage:

Level I (15 to 29 percent damage): 15 percent exemption
Level II (30 to 59 percent): 30 percent
Level III (60 to 99 percent): 60 percent
Level IV (100 percent destruction): 100 percent

You have 105 days from the governor’s declaration to file Form 50-312 with your appraisal district. The amount is prorated based on days remaining in the tax year, and the exemption expires on January 1 of the first year the property is reappraised.

How to Apply

One form covers all residence homestead exemptions: Comptroller Form 50-114, from the Comptroller’s website or your appraisal district.⁹ You’ll give the property address, ownership details, the date you began occupying the home, and the categories you’re claiming. Veterans and disabled applicants include supporting documentation from the VA or the relevant federal agency.

A copy of your Texas driver’s license or state-issued ID is required, and the address on the ID must match the property address. Active-duty military members and their spouses can request a waiver of the address-match rule, as can participants in the Attorney General’s address confidentiality program. The form has a dedicated waiver section.⁹

Deadlines and Late Filing

The standard deadline is April 30 of the tax year, by mail, in person, or through your appraisal district’s online portal. If you miss it, file anyway. The general late window is two years after the original due date. Disabled veterans filing for the Section 11.131 total exemption get five years after the delinquency date, and a disabled veteran’s surviving spouse gets two.⁹ A retroactive approval produces a corrected bill or a refund for the covered years, so a late filing often still pays.

If Your Exemption Is Denied

You can protest a denial to your local Appraisal Review Board; the Comptroller lists exemptions among the issues subject to the formal protest process.¹⁰ The denial notice from your appraisal district includes filing instructions, and the hearing is where you bring documentation showing you qualify.

When an Exemption Is Granted in Error

If the chief appraiser finds that a homestead exemption was granted in error at any point in the prior five years, the exempted value gets added back to the tax roll for each affected year. That can arrive as a lump-sum bill covering several years, plus the usual interest and late-payment penalties. Filing an application with a false statement is also a criminal offense under the Texas Penal Code, and the application itself carries that warning.¹¹

The usual problem isn’t fraud. It’s forgetting to tell the appraisal district when you move out or turn the property into a rental. Report the change when it happens, rather than letting years of exemption pile up and come back as a single bill.

1
State of Texas. Texas Code 11.13 – Residence Homestead
2
State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 23.23
3
State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 11.26
4
State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 11.13
5
State of Texas. Texas Code 11.22 – Disabled Veterans
6
State of Texas. Texas Code 11.131 – Residence Homestead of 100 Percent or Totally Disabled Veteran
7
State of Texas. Texas Code 11.133 – Residence Homestead of Surviving Spouse of Member of Armed Services Killed in Action
8
State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 33.06
9
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Residence Homestead Exemption Application
10
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Appraisal Protests and Appeals
11
State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 11.43 – Application for Exemption