The Texas homestead exemption is a property tax break for homeowners who live in their property as a principal residence. For the 2026 tax year, it removes $140,000 from your home’s appraised value for school district taxes, with an additional $60,000 available if you are 65 or older or disabled.1State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Section 11.13 – Residence Homestead It also caps how quickly your appraised value can rise each year and, separately, puts your home on record as a homestead protected from most creditors under the Texas Constitution. You claim it with a single application to your county appraisal district, and once granted it renews automatically until you move or your eligibility changes.
Who Qualifies
You must own the property and live in it as your principal residence. Texas law defines a qualifying homestead as a residential structure, together with up to 20 acres of land, occupied by the owner. Mobile homes count. Corporations, partnerships, and other business entities do not qualify; only individuals do, either through direct ownership or a beneficial interest in a qualifying trust.1State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Section 11.13 – Residence Homestead
Occupancy is generally measured as of January 1 of the tax year. If you buy after January 1, you can still receive the exemption for the rest of that year, provided the previous owner did not already claim the same exemption for that year.2Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Property Tax Exemptions You can hold only one homestead exemption at a time, in Texas or anywhere else. Claiming two in the same year can trigger penalties and back taxes.
Temporary absence does not automatically end the exemption. You can be away for up to two years without losing it, as long as you don’t establish a principal residence somewhere else and you intend to return. If you are on military duty or living in a health care facility, the two-year limit doesn’t apply.3Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Property Tax Residential Homestead Exemptions
Co-owners who aren’t spouses each qualify only for a proportional share of the exemption. Own half the property, receive half the exemption. Married couples holding community property don’t face this reduction; the full exemption applies as if one spouse owned the entire interest.4State of Texas. Tax Code Chapter 11 – Taxable Property and Exemptions
How Much You Save
The dollar value depends on which taxing entities assess your property. Every homeowner with a homestead exemption receives the mandatory school district reduction, and additional savings may be available from your county, city, or other local taxing units.
- School district exemption: $140,000 off your home’s appraised value. On a home appraised at $350,000, the school district taxes you as though the home is worth $210,000.1State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Section 11.13 – Residence Homestead
- County farm-to-market or flood control exemption: $3,000 off the assessed value, required in counties that collect these taxes.5Justia. Texas Constitution Article 8 Section 1-b – Residence Homestead Exemption
- Optional local exemptions: Any taxing unit can adopt an additional exemption of up to 20 percent of the appraised value, with a $5,000 floor.2Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Property Tax Exemptions
Whether your county or city offers the optional percentage exemption varies. Check with your local appraisal district. Where local governments adopt it, the combined savings across all taxing entities can be substantial, especially on higher-valued homes.
The 10 Percent Appraisal Cap
The exemption also limits how quickly your appraised value can rise. Under Tax Code Section 23.23, the appraisal district cannot increase your home’s appraised value by more than 10 percent per year, plus the value of any new improvements.6State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Section 23.23 – Limitation on Appraised Value of Residence Homestead The cap applies regardless of local market movement. If comparable homes in your neighborhood jump 25 percent in a year, your taxable value can still climb only 10 percent.
The cap starts in the second year you hold the exemption, because the appraisal district needs a prior-year baseline. It applies only to the land and existing structure; when you build an addition or finish a garage, the market value of the new work is added on top of the capped figure.7Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Valuing Property That timing is why filing promptly matters. Every year you delay is a year without the cap, and a sharp market increase during the gap becomes your new baseline.
Extra Exemptions for Seniors, Disabled Homeowners, and Veterans
Age 65 or Older
Homeowners 65 or older receive an additional $60,000 exemption from school district taxes on top of the standard $140,000, for a total school district exemption of $200,000.1State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Section 11.13 – Residence Homestead Local taxing units that adopt the optional over-65 exemption must set it at a minimum of $3,000, and many set it higher.
The larger benefit is the school district tax ceiling. Once you qualify, the school district freezes the dollar amount of school tax you owe. If your appraised value later rises within the 10 percent cap, or the district raises its rate, your school tax bill stays locked at the amount you owed in your first qualifying year.8State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Section 11.26 – Limitation of School Tax on Homesteads of Elderly or Disabled A voter-approved bond issue is the only thing that can push it higher, and only proportionally. County and city taxes are not frozen unless those entities voluntarily adopt their own ceiling.
If an over-65 homeowner dies, a surviving spouse who is at least 55 at the time of death can keep the tax ceiling on the same property.
Disabled Homeowners
Homeowners who meet the federal Social Security disability standard receive the same additional $60,000 school district exemption and the same tax ceiling as those over 65.1State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Section 11.13 – Residence Homestead You do not need to be currently receiving disability payments; meeting the medical eligibility standard is enough. If you are both over 65 and disabled, you can claim only one additional exemption, not both.
Carrying Your Tax Ceiling to a New Home
If you sell and buy another home, the ceiling follows you, but not dollar for dollar. The appraisal district recalculates it using a formula that compares what you were paying at your old home to what you would have paid without the freeze. To start the transfer, request Form 50-311 from the appraisal district where your previous home was located. That district certifies your old ceiling data, and you file the completed form with the appraisal district in the county where your new home sits.9Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Tax Ceiling Certificate for Homeowner Age 65 or Older, Disabled or Surviving Spouse Age 55 or Older Submit it at the same time as your new homestead application to avoid a gap.
Disabled Veterans
Veterans with a 100 percent service-connected disability rating from the VA pay no property taxes on their homestead.10State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Section 11.131 – Residence Homestead of 100 Percent or Totally Disabled Veteran Veterans rated as individually unemployable also qualify. A surviving spouse keeps the full exemption on the same property as long as they don’t remarry and continue to live there. If the surviving spouse moves, the exemption carries over as a fixed dollar amount equal to what was exempted in the last year at the former property.
Veterans with lower disability ratings qualify for a partial exemption under a separate provision, ranging from $5,000 off the assessed value for a 10 to 29 percent rating up to $12,000 for a 70 percent or higher rating.
Heir Property
If you inherited a home without formal probate and you live there as your principal residence, you can still qualify. The law treats you as the sole recipient of the exemption regardless of how many other heirs share an interest, whether you received the property through a will, a transfer-on-death deed, or intestate succession.1State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Section 11.13 – Residence Homestead
Documentation is heavier than a standard filing. If your name isn’t on a recorded deed, submit Form 50-114-A (an affidavit establishing your ownership interest), a copy of the prior owner’s death certificate, and a recent utility bill for the property. Include any related court records. Every other heir who also lives in the home must sign an affidavit authorizing your application.11Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Application for Residence Homestead Exemption
How to Apply
The single form for all homestead exemption types is Form 50-114, available from the Texas Comptroller or from your county’s central appraisal district.11Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Application for Residence Homestead Exemption You will need your property’s legal description or appraisal district account number (both appear on prior tax statements), your Social Security number, and ownership details. If part of the property is used for business, the form asks you to identify that portion; only the residential share qualifies.
Pay attention to the checkboxes. The form covers the general, over-65, disabled, and veteran exemptions in one document. Missing the box for your age or disability category means you receive the standard exemption but lose the additional savings you’re entitled to. You can amend later, but it is easier to file correctly the first time.
Texas law requires that the address on your driver’s license or state-issued ID card match the physical address of the property. If they don’t match, the chief appraiser must deny your application. Update your license with the Department of Public Safety before you file; processing takes several weeks, and this mismatch is the single most common reason applications get rejected.
File with the central appraisal district in the county where the property is located. Most districts accept applications by mail, in person, or through an online portal. After the chief appraiser reviews your application, you receive a written notice granting or denying the exemption, or requesting additional documentation.
Once approved, you do not refile each year. The exemption automatically renews until you sell, stop using the home as your primary residence, or your eligibility changes, such as when a spouse whose age qualified the household passes away and you don’t independently qualify.
Filing Deadlines
The standard deadline is April 30 of the tax year, and you can submit starting January 1.2Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Property Tax Exemptions If you miss April 30, you can still file a late application up to two years after the deadline.3Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Property Tax Residential Homestead Exemptions In 2026, that means you could retroactively file for the 2024 tax year if you never claimed the exemption. Late filing applies to all categories, including over-65 and disabled.
Late filing is a fallback, not a plan. Every month you delay is a month where the 10 percent appraisal cap isn’t protecting you, and if your home’s value spiked during the gap, you have permanently lost the lower baseline. Filing on time in your first year of ownership delivers the most long-term value.
Protection From Forced Sale Is Separate
Texas also provides some of the strongest homestead protections in the country against creditors, but this comes from the state constitution rather than the tax exemption itself. Under Article XVI, Section 50, your homestead generally cannot be seized and sold to pay most debts, and there is no dollar cap on the protection.12Justia. Texas Constitution Article 16 Section 50 The exceptions are narrow: the purchase-money mortgage, property taxes owed on the home, home equity loans that meet strict constitutional requirements, mechanic’s liens for contracted construction, and reverse mortgages. A credit card issuer, medical debt collector, or judgment creditor generally cannot force the sale of your Texas homestead. This protection exists on its own, but filing for the tax exemption is often what puts your property on record as a homestead with the appraisal district.