Property Tax for Seniors in Texas: Exemptions, Ceiling, and Deferrals

If you are a Texas homeowner who is 65 or older, property tax for seniors in Texas gives you four stacked benefits: an extra $60,000 school district exemption on top of the standard $140,000, a permanent cap on your school taxes at the dollar amount you owe the year you qualify, the right to defer all property tax payments while you live in the home, and the option to pay your bill in four installments instead of a single lump sum. Every one of these starts with the same form filed at your county appraisal district.

Who Qualifies

Eligibility begins in the calendar year you turn 65. A July birthday still qualifies you for that full year’s exemption as of January 1.¹ You must own the property and use it as your primary residence. Own more than one home? The senior benefits attach only to the one you actually live in.

In a married household, only one spouse needs to be 65. If the qualifying spouse dies, the surviving spouse keeps both the exemption and the school tax ceiling, provided they were at least 55 at the time of death, hold an ownership interest, and continue living in the home.² The surviving spouse should contact the appraisal district directly to confirm the benefits stay active.

If you inherited the home and live in it but your name isn’t on a recorded deed, you can still qualify. You’ll file an heir-property affidavit (Form 50-114-A) along with the standard application.³

The $200,000 School District Exemption

Every Texas homeowner gets $140,000 knocked off their home’s appraised value for school district tax purposes. That base amount rose from $100,000 effective January 1, 2025. Seniors add another $60,000, for a total school district exemption of $200,000.¹ On a home appraised at $350,000, the school district taxes only $150,000 of that value.

One boundary matters here. These exemptions apply only to the school district portion of your bill. County, city, and special district taxes follow separate rules, though school taxes are usually the largest single line item on a Texas tax statement.

The School Tax Ceiling

This is the most valuable senior benefit and the one most often misunderstood. The year you first qualify for the over-65 exemption, your school district taxes are permanently capped at the dollar amount you owed that year. The district cannot charge you more than that amount no matter how much your home’s value climbs or how high the district raises its tax rate.⁴

The ceiling can go down but not up. If the district cuts its rate and your bill drops below the ceiling, that lower figure becomes your new cap. The only thing that raises the ceiling is a physical improvement to the home, like a room addition or major renovation, and the adjustment reflects only the added value.

Here is where people get tripped up: the ceiling covers school taxes only. Your county, city, and special district taxes are not automatically frozen. Some local taxing units voluntarily adopt their own senior tax ceiling; many don’t. Call your appraisal district to find out which units in your area have one.

Optional Local Exemptions

Beyond the mandatory school district amounts, counties, cities, and other local taxing units can offer additional exemptions for residents 65 and older. When they do, the exemption must be at least $3,000, and many jurisdictions set theirs well above that floor.⁵

Local units may also adopt a general homestead exemption of up to 20 percent of appraised value (minimum $5,000) that applies to all homeowners.¹ These stack with the senior amounts. Your annual tax statement itemizes which exemptions each taxing entity is applying.

Moving to a New Home in Texas

Selling your homesteaded property and buying another one in Texas does not cost you the school tax ceiling. You can transfer a proportional ceiling to the new home. The transferred figure is recalculated based on the ratio of what you paid at the old home to what taxes would be at the new one, so it isn’t a straight dollar-for-dollar carryover, but the protection follows you.⁴

To request the transfer, check “Yes” for the tax limitation transfer question on Form 50-114 when you apply for a homestead exemption on the new property, and give the address and county of the previous home so the new appraisal district can pull your ceiling certificate.³ File with the appraisal district in the new county, not with the Comptroller.

Deferring Property Taxes

If the annual bill is a hardship, any homeowner 65 or older who owns and lives in the home can postpone payment on all property taxes by filing a tax deferral affidavit with the appraisal district.⁶ The deferral covers every taxing unit on your statement, not just the school district.

Once it’s in place, no taxing unit can sue for delinquent taxes or foreclose over unpaid property taxes. The taxes keep accruing, and interest runs at 5 percent per year, well below the standard delinquency rate.⁶ The tax lien stays on the property the whole time.

The deferral holds as long as you own and live in the home. When the home is sold or you move out, the taxing unit issues a delinquency notice and the full balance plus interest comes due. Foreclosure cannot start until the 181st day after that notice is delivered.⁶ A surviving spouse who is 55 or older, owns an interest in the property, and was living there at the time of death can continue the deferral.⁷

One caution. Deferral is powerful for staying in your home, but the bill does not disappear. Years of accumulated taxes at 5 percent interest can eat significantly into the home’s equity, and heirs sometimes discover a substantial tax balance they didn’t expect.

Paying in Four Installments

Seniors who want to spread payments out instead of deferring them entirely can pay in four equal installments. To qualify you must have both a homestead exemption and an over-65 exemption on the property.⁸

The schedule:

First installment before February 1 (the normal delinquency date), submitted with written notice that you intend to pay in installments
Second installment before April 1
Third installment before June 1
Fourth installment before August 1

No penalty or interest applies if each installment is paid on time. Miss a deadline and a 6 percent penalty plus standard interest apply only to that missed installment, not the whole remaining balance.⁸ You can pay more than the required amount at any installment, and the excess carries forward as a credit.

How to Apply

Every senior benefit starts with the Residence Homestead Exemption Application, Form 50-114, available on the Texas Comptroller’s website or at your appraisal district office.³ Check the box for “Age 65 or Older” and enter the property account number assigned by your county appraisal district.

Include a copy of your Texas driver’s license or state-issued ID card, and the address on the ID must match the property address. Limited exceptions exist for active-duty military and spouses, residents of health or assisted-living facilities, participants in the Attorney General’s address confidentiality program, and certain other categories.³

Submit the form and documents to the appraisal district in the county where the property sits. Most districts accept online submissions, and mail works too. The deadline is April 30 of the tax year you want the exemption applied to.¹ Miss it and you can still file late for up to two years after the original due date and receive the exemption retroactively.⁹ Processing typically takes up to 90 days, and approved exemptions show up on the October tax statement.

Don’t Ignore Your Appraised Value

A school tax ceiling is not a reason to skip reviewing your appraisal notice. County and city taxes are still calculated on the appraised value, and unless those units have adopted their own senior freeze, every appraisal increase flows straight through to your bill. You can protest the appraised value, the exemptions applied to your account, or other actions of the appraisal district with the appraisal review board.¹⁰

The protest deadline is generally May 15 or 30 days after your notice of appraised value was mailed, whichever is later. Hearings are informal enough that most homeowners handle their own. Bring comparable sales, photos of any condition problems the district may not know about, and your appraisal notice. The decision applies to that tax year only, so a win doesn’t carry forward automatically, but every year you knock the value down you save on every non-frozen bill on the property.

1
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Property Tax Exemptions
2
Collin Central Appraisal District. Do Both My Spouse and I Have to Be Over 65 Years of Age to Qualify for the Over 65 Exemption
3
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Residence Homestead Exemption Application
4
State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 11.26 – Limitation of School Tax on Homesteads of Elderly or Disabled
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Harris Central Appraisal District. Property Tax Exemptions for Homeowners
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State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 33.06 – Deferred Collection of Taxes on Residence Homesteads
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Harris Central Appraisal District. Tax Deferral for Homeowners
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State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 31.031 – Installment Payments of Certain Homestead Taxes
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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Residence Homestead Exemptions
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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Appraisal Protests and Appeals