Property Tax Exemptions in Texas
Homestead:
This is an exemption you should definitely look into if you haven’t already, as it’s the most common form of savings for a Texas Homeowner! It’s available to all Texas primary residence owners who have occupied their home since January 1st of the current year, and the deadline for filing and receiving the current year benefits is April 30th (if you wait until after this date, then the Homestead Exemption will go into effect the NEXT tax year).
Benefits of the Homestead Exemption:
10% Cap: The county can only increase the assessed (taxable) value of the home by 10%. All increases larger than 10% will result in a CAPPED value.
Tax Credits: Each taxing jurisdiction can issue an additional credit at the end of the year that will exempt more of the property value that the homeowner does not need to pay property taxes on.
Learn more about the Homestead Exemption here.
65 or Older:
To qualify for the age 65 or older local option exemption, the owner must be...you guessed it...age 65 or older and live in the house. If the age 65 or older homeowner passes away, the surviving spouse may continue to receive the local option exemption if the surviving spouse is age 55 or older at the time of death and lives in and owns the home and applies for the exemption.
This exemption (Tax Code Section 11.13(c)) requires school districts to offer an additional $10,000 residence homestead exemption and (Tax Code Section 11.13(d)) allows any taxing unit the option to decide locally to offer a separate residence homestead exemption. This local option exemption cannot be less than $3,000.
In simpler terms, this 65 or Older Exemption puts a ceiling on your taxable property value. Learn more here.
Disabled:
A disabled person must meet the definition of disabled for the purpose of receiving disability insurance benefits under the Federal Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance Act.
An eligible disabled person age 65 or older may receive both exemptions in the same year, but not from the same taxing units. For more information on this exemption, head here.
Veterans:
Tax Code Section 11.131 entitles a disabled veteran who receives 100 percent disability compensation due to a service-connected disability and a rating of 100 percent disabled or of individual unemployability to a total property tax exemption on the veteran's residence homestead.
This exemption extends to a surviving spouse who was married to a disabled veteran who qualified or would have qualified for this exemption if it has been in effect at the time of the veteran's death provided:
the surviving spouse has not remarried;
the property was the residence homestead of the surviving spouse when the veteran died and;
the property remains the residence homestead of the surviving spouse.
Tax Code Section 11.133 entitles a surviving spouse of a member of the U.S. armed services killed in action to a total property tax exemption on his or her residence homestead if the surviving spouse has not remarried since the death of the armed services member.
Learn more about this exemption here.
Solar & Wind-Powered Energy Device:
To receive the solar or wind-powered energy devices exemption, a property owner must file the Comptroller Form 50-123, Exemption Application for Solar or Wind-Powered Energy Devices, which is available on the Comptroller’s website. The form requires information necessary for the chief appraiser to determine whether the property meets the exemption requirements.
Tax Code Section 11.27 defines solar and wind-powered energy devices for purposes of this exemption as follows:
A solar energy device is “an apparatus designed or adapted to convert the radiant energy from the sun, including energy imparted to plants through photosynthesis employing the bioconversion processes of anaerobic digestion, gasification, pyrolysis, or fermentation, but not including direct combustion, into thermal, mechanical, or electrical energy; to store the converted energy, either in the form to which originally converted or another form; or to distribute radiant solar energy or the energy to which the radiant solar energy is converted.” *PHEW* say that 3 times fast.
A wind-powered energy device is “an apparatus designed or adapted to convert the energy available in the wind into thermal, mechanical or electrical energy; to store the converted energy either in the form to which originally converted or another form; or to distribute the converted energy.” Again, that was quite scientific.
All-in-all, if you qualify for this exemption, it makes sure your solar and wind-powered energy devices are 100% exempt from a tax increase.
Learn more about these exemptions here.
Charitable Organizations and Businesses:
Property owned by qualified charitable organizations is exempt. An organization must meet requirements regarding how it is organized, what it does and how it uses its property.
Exemptions for charitable organizations require the property owner to have a charter or bylaws dedicating property to particular purposes. The bylaws must pledge the group’s properties to charitable purposes. The organization may not allow anyone to realize private gain from the organization’s activities.
This exemption applies to property (buildings and land on which the buildings are located and personal property) owned by the charitable organization. The property must be used exclusively by the organization or other equally qualified organizations.
*All of this exemption information is available in greater detail on the Comptroller Website.
DISCLAIMER: Texas Tax Protest is not able to file ANY exemptions on your behalf. To file, the property owner must fill out the necessary forms and submit them to their CAD on their own. This blog is strictly for informational purposes.
