Texas · Property tax exemptions · Updated Oct 2026
Texas property tax exemptions
Homestead, senior, veteran, disability and surviving-spouse breaks in Texas: what each one is worth, who qualifies, how to apply and the deadline, in plain English.
$140,000homestead exemption
Yessenior break
Full exemption (100% rating)disabled veterans
April 30homestead deadline
1.49%median tax rate
Exemptions by group
Every break for one group on one page, with step-by-step instructions and the tools set for that group.
Age 65 or Older or Disabled Residence Homestead Exemption, School Tax Ceiling (tax freeze) for Age 65 or Older or Disabled, Tax Deferral for Age 65 or Older, Disabled, or Disabled Veteran Homeowners
Age 65 or Older or Disabled Residence Homestead Exemption, School Tax Ceiling (tax freeze) for Age 65 or Older or Disabled, Tax Deferral for Age 65 or Older, Disabled, or Disabled Veteran Homeowners
Surviving Spouse Exemptions (armed services member, first responder, or qualifying veteran), Age 65 or Older or Disabled Residence Homestead Exemption, School Tax Ceiling (tax freeze) for Age 65 or Older or Disabled …
Where to apply in Texas
The appraisal district in your county (for example, the Harris Central Appraisal District) decides all homestead and veteran exemptions. You apply to that appraisal district, not to the state comptroller.
Some amounts depend on where you live. In Texas, some of these breaks or their amounts are set or adjusted by your county, city or town, as each exemption below explains. Ask your local assessor for the figure that applies to your home.
Property tax exemptions in Texas
Homestead
General Residence Homestead Exemption
$140,000 off your home's value for school district taxes. Counties that collect farm-to-market road or flood control taxes must also take off $3,000. Any city, county, school district or special district may also choose to take off up to 20% of the value (at least $5,000).
Who qualifies
You own the home and live in it as your principal residence, and you do not claim a homestead exemption on any other home in or outside Texas. If you buy after January 1, you can get it for the rest of that year if the seller did not have the same exemption.
How to apply
File Form 50-114 with the appraisal district in the county where the home is. Attach a copy of your Texas driver's license or state ID; its address must match the home's address. Many appraisal districts also take the application online. Heirs not named on the deed also file Form 50-114-A affidavits, the prior owner's death certificate and a recent utility bill.
Generally by April 30 (before May 1) of the tax year (Tax Code §11.43(d)). You can file a late application up to two years after the date that year's taxes become delinquent (usually February 1 of the next year), Tax Code §11.431.
Renewal
One-time. You do not reapply each year unless the appraisal district asks you to. Tell the appraisal district in writing before May 1 of the year after you stop qualifying.
Age 65 or Older or Disabled Residence Homestead Exemption
An extra $60,000 off your home's value for school district taxes (so $200,000 in all with the general exemption). Cities, counties and other local units may add their own extra exemption of at least $3,000. You can get either the age 65 or the disability exemption from a school district, not both.
Who qualifies
You are 65 or older (it counts for the whole year in which you turn 65), or you meet the Social Security disability definition, and you own and live in the home. A surviving spouse who was 55 or older when the qualifying spouse died can keep the 65+ exemption if the home stays his or her homestead.
How to apply
Check the age 65 or the disabled box on Form 50-114 and file it with your county appraisal district. Bring a driver's license or state ID. Disabled applicants may need proof of disability (for example, a Social Security award letter). If you already have the homestead exemption and the district has your birth date, you may not need to apply when you turn 65.
Apply no later than one year after the date you turn 65 or become disabled (Tax Code §11.43(k)); if you already have the homestead exemption and the appraisal district has your birth date, it may add the 65+ exemption without a new application (§11.43(m)). You can file a late application up to two years after the date that year's taxes become delinquent (usually February 1 of the next year), Tax Code §11.431.
Renewal
One-time, unless the appraisal district asks you to reapply.
School Tax Ceiling (tax freeze) for Age 65 or Older or Disabled
Your school district tax on the home cannot go above the amount you paid in the first year you got the 65+ or disabled exemption. The ceiling rises only if you add improvements (like a new room). Counties, cities and junior college districts may also adopt a freeze.
Who qualifies
Anyone who gets the age 65 or older or disabled homestead exemption. A surviving spouse 55 or older keeps the ceiling.
How to apply
Automatic once you get the age 65 or disabled exemption on Form 50-114.
Your whole home is exempt from property tax (100% of the value).
Who qualifies
A veteran who gets 100% VA disability compensation for a service-connected disability and has a 100% rating or individual unemployability. A surviving spouse who has not remarried keeps it if the home was his or her homestead when the veteran died.
How to apply
Check the 100 Percent Disabled Veteran box on Form 50-114 and file it with your county appraisal district, with your VA rating and compensation letter and your driver's license or state ID.
April 30 in general. A disabled veteran can file late up to five years after the delinquency date for the taxes (Tax Code §11.439). A surviving spouse can file late up to two years after the delinquency date (Tax Code §11.431).
Renewal
One-time, unless the appraisal district asks you to reapply.
Up to $5,000 off the value for a 10-29% rating, $7,500 for 30-49%, $10,000 for 50-69%, and $12,000 for 70-100%. Also $12,000 if you are 65 or older with at least a 10% rating, totally blind in one or both eyes, or have lost use of a limb. It can go on any one property you own, not only your home.
Who qualifies
A Texas resident veteran with a service-connected disability rating of at least 10%. The unmarried surviving spouse and children under 18 of a disabled veteran may also qualify.
How to apply
File Form 50-135 with your county appraisal district, with your VA or military disability rating letter.
Surviving Spouse Exemptions (armed services member, first responder, or qualifying veteran)
Your whole home is exempt from property tax (100% of the value).
Who qualifies
You have not remarried and you are the surviving spouse of: a U.S. armed services member killed or fatally injured in the line of duty; a first responder killed or fatally injured in the line of duty; or a veteran who died from a condition presumed service-connected under the federal PACT Act.
How to apply
Check the matching surviving spouse box on Form 50-114 and file it with your county appraisal district, with the death certificate and proof of the death's cause (for example, a Department of Defense or VA letter).
Tax Deferral for Age 65 or Older, Disabled, or Disabled Veteran Homeowners
You can postpone paying property tax on your home for as long as you own and live in it. The tax is not forgiven: it stays a lien on the home and grows at 5% interest a year. It comes due 181 days after the tax office sends a delinquency notice once the home is no longer your homestead (for example, after you move or die, unless a surviving spouse continues the deferral).
Who qualifies
Homeowners 65 or older, disabled (Social Security definition), or disabled veterans who qualify under Tax Code §11.22, on their residence homestead. No income limit.
How to apply
Sign Form 50-126 (Tax Deferral Affidavit) in front of a notary and file it with your county appraisal district.
Partly. If you have the age 65 or disabled school tax ceiling and buy a new home in Texas, you can carry over the same percentage of school tax: for example, if your ceiling meant you paid 25% of the full school tax, you pay 25% on the new home (Tex. Tax Code §11.26(h); Comptroller publication 96-1425). The homestead exemption itself does not move; you apply again for the new home. A surviving spouse with a 100% disabled veteran exemption who moves keeps the same dollar amount of exemption on the new home.
Is there a cap on value increases?
Yes. Once your home has a homestead exemption, its appraised value for taxes cannot go up more than 10% a year, plus the value of new improvements (Tex. Tax Code §23.23). The cap starts on January 1 of the tax year after the first year you qualify.
Good to know in Texas
Texas voters raised the school homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000 (Proposition 13) and the extra age 65/disabled exemption from $10,000 to $60,000 (Proposition 11) in November 2025, starting with tax year 2025.
There is no state property tax in Texas: every exemption is claimed from your county appraisal district, which alone decides if you qualify.
Your driver's license or state ID address must match the home, or the appraisal district can deny the homestead application.
Savings estimate for Texas
Roughly what an exemption could save you a year: the value it takes off, times your tax rate.
Eligibility finder for Texas
Answer a few questions to see which property tax breaks may fit you. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere.
Document checklist for Texas
Pick the breaks you plan to apply for. You get a checklist of forms, documents, steps and deadlines to print or keep on your phone.
Questions about property tax exemptions in Texas
Is there a homestead exemption in Texas?
Yes: the General Residence Homestead Exemption. $140,000 off your home's value for school district taxes. Counties that collect farm-to-market road or flood control taxes must also take off $3,000. Any city, county, school district or special district may also choose to take off up to 20% of the value (at least $5,000). Who qualifies: You own the home and live in it as your principal residence, and you do not claim a homestead exemption on any other home in or outside Texas. If you buy after January 1, you can get it for the rest of that year if the seller did not have the same exemption.
When is the deadline to apply for the homestead exemption in Texas?
Generally by April 30 (before May 1) of the tax year (Tax Code §11.43(d)). You can file a late application up to two years after the date that year's taxes become delinquent (usually February 1 of the next year), Tax Code §11.431.
Do I have to reapply for the homestead exemption every year in Texas?
One-time. You do not reapply each year unless the appraisal district asks you to. Tell the appraisal district in writing before May 1 of the year after you stop qualifying.
Are there property tax breaks for seniors in Texas?
Age 65 or Older or Disabled Residence Homestead Exemption: An extra $60,000 off your home's value for school district taxes (so $200,000 in all with the general exemption). Cities, counties and other local units may add their own extra exemption of at least $3,000. You can get either the age 65 or the disability exemption from a school district, not both. School Tax Ceiling (tax freeze) for Age 65 or Older or Disabled: Your school district tax on the home cannot go above the amount you paid in the first year you got the 65+ or disabled exemption. The ceiling rises only if you add improvements (like a new room). Counties, cities and junior college districts may also adopt a freeze. Tax Deferral for Age 65 or Older, Disabled, or Disabled Veteran Homeowners: You can postpone paying property tax on your home for as long as you own and live in it. The tax is not forgiven: it stays a lien on the home and grows at 5% interest a year. It comes due 181 days after the tax office sends a delinquency notice once the home is no longer your homestead (for example, after you move or die, unless a surviving spouse continues the deferral).
Do disabled veterans get a property tax exemption in Texas?
100 Percent Disabled Veteran Residence Homestead Exemption: Your whole home is exempt from property tax (100% of the value). Disabled Veteran's Partial Exemption: Up to $5,000 off the value for a 10-29% rating, $7,500 for 30-49%, $10,000 for 50-69%, and $12,000 for 70-100%. Also $12,000 if you are 65 or older with at least a 10% rating, totally blind in one or both eyes, or have lost use of a limb. It can go on any one property you own, not only your home.
Can I move my exemption to a new home in Texas?
Partly. If you have the age 65 or disabled school tax ceiling and buy a new home in Texas, you can carry over the same percentage of school tax: for example, if your ceiling meant you paid 25% of the full school tax, you pay 25% on the new home (Tex. Tax Code §11.26(h); Comptroller publication 96-1425). The homestead exemption itself does not move; you apply again for the new home. A surviving spouse with a 100% disabled veteran exemption who moves keeps the same dollar amount of exemption on the new home.
Is there a limit on how fast my home's taxable value can rise in Texas?
Yes. Once your home has a homestead exemption, its appraised value for taxes cannot go up more than 10% a year, plus the value of new improvements (Tex. Tax Code §23.23). The cap starts on January 1 of the tax year after the first year you qualify.
Where do I apply for property tax exemptions in Texas?
The appraisal district in your county (for example, the Harris Central Appraisal District) decides all homestead and veteran exemptions. You apply to that appraisal district, not to the state comptroller.
Think your home’s assessed value is too high? An exemption and an appeal are separate: you can do both.
Median effective tax rate: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2020–2024 5-year estimates, tables B25103 (median real estate taxes paid, owner-occupied homes) and B25077 (median value, owner-occupied homes). The rate is the median tax paid divided by the median home value.