Allen Markel, REALTOR® · Texas Premier Realty

Homeowner Resources

Every Texas property tax exemption, in plain English

What each one is, who qualifies, what it does to your bill, the free form, the deadline — and where to file it in Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Waller, Grimes and Austin counties.

This is information we collected and made easy to reach. We are not the governing body. Your county appraisal district and the Texas Tax Code have the last say on whether you qualify and for how much. Every statute cited here was checked on September 4, 2026; amounts change when the Legislature or a local governing body changes them. Read the full disclaimer.

Start here

Which of these might apply to you?

Pick the line that sounds like you. Each one jumps to the exemptions worth reading. Nothing on this page asks you to type anything.

Two numbers to know before anything else

Every Texas school district must take $140,000 off the value it taxes on your homestead, and another $60,000 if you are 65 or older or disabled. Both were raised by voters in November 2025 and apply from the 2025 tax year. Those two are statewide. Everything a county, city or district adds on top is a local choice — and that is what the county table below is for.

None of these cost anything to file. The forms are free from the Comptroller and from your appraisal district, and you file them yourself. Letters offering to file your homestead exemption — or to record a “homestead designation” — for $25, $50 or more are solicitations. The Texas Attorney General has warned about them. Never pay a filing service.

The exemptions

What each exemption is, who qualifies, and how to get it

Statewide law first, in the order most people need it. Anything labelled special appraisal is not an exemption; it is a different way of valuing land.

Your home

What is the general residence homestead exemption?

General residence homestead exemptionTax Code 11.13(a), (b), (n); 23.23Exemption

The one almost every owner-occupant qualifies for. It takes a fixed amount off the value your school district taxes, lets local governments take a percentage off on top, and caps how fast your appraised value can climb.

Who qualifies

  • You own the home (as an individual, or through a qualifying trust — not through a business entity).
  • You live in it as your principal residence. One homestead per person or married couple; you cannot also claim a homestead anywhere else, including outside Texas.
  • The home plus up to 20 acres of the land it sits on.
  • Your Texas driver's license or state ID shows the address of the home. The district can waive the match for active-duty military and their spouses, and for people in an address-confidentiality program or a care facility.
  • A temporary absence does not cost you the exemption if it is under two years and you intend to return, or if it is for military service or a stay in a health or aging facility.

What it does to your bill

  • $140,000 off the value your school district taxes. Set by state law, same everywhere in Texas. Voters raised it from $100,000 in November 2025, effective for the 2025 tax year.
  • $3,000 off the county's farm-to-market or flood-control tax, where the county collects one.
  • A local-option percentage — up to 20% of your appraised value, never less than $5,000 — from any county, city, college, hospital or special district that has chosen to adopt one. See which of our counties do, below.
  • The 10% appraisal cap: starting the year after you first qualify, your appraised value cannot rise more than 10% a year (plus new construction). In a rising market this is often worth more than the exemption itself.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-114, Residence Homestead Exemption Application
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
File between January 1 and April 30 of the tax year (the statute says “before May 1”). If you bought the home after January 1 and the seller did not already have the exemption for that year, you can get it for the rest of that year — but you must apply before the first anniversary of the date you bought.
Filing late
Missed a year? The chief appraiser must accept a late homestead application filed up to two years after the delinquency date for that year's taxes, and the collector refunds what you overpaid within 60 days of approval. Taxes go delinquent February 1 of the following year.
  • There is no fee. You never have to pay anyone to file this form.
  • Once granted it stays on the account. You do not re-file every year unless the chief appraiser asks, but you must tell the district in writing when you no longer qualify.
  • The exemption belongs to the owner, not the house. When you buy, the seller's exemption comes off. File your own.
Read the full homestead guide with a real cost example
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Age and disability

What do homeowners 65 or older get?

Age 65 or older homestead exemptionTax Code 11.13(c), (d), (q); 11.26; 11.261; 11.42(c)Exemption

An extra amount off your school taxes, a ceiling that stops your school taxes from rising, and — where a county or city has adopted one — a ceiling on those taxes too. It transfers when you move.

Who qualifies

  • You are 65 or older and the home is your residence homestead (you already qualify for, or are applying for, the general exemption).
  • You qualify for the whole tax year in which you turn 65 — the exemption is effective as of January 1 of that year. You do not have to be 65 on January 1.
  • If you are also disabled, you may take the 65+ exemption or the disabled-person exemption from a given taxing unit, not both. Pick whichever that unit makes larger.
  • Surviving spouse: if your spouse had this exemption when they died and you were 55 or older, the exemption and the school-tax ceiling continue for you on the same home.

What it does to your bill

  • An additional $60,000 off the value your school district taxes, on top of the $140,000 general amount. Raised from $10,000 by voters in November 2025 (tax year 2025 forward).
  • Any taxing unit may add its own 65+ exemption of at least $3,000. Several in our area go far higher; it varies by unit.
  • The school-tax ceiling: your school district cannot collect more than it did in the first year you qualified, unless you add improvements (repairs do not count). Rates can fall below the ceiling but not rise above it.
  • Counties, cities and junior-college districts may adopt the same kind of ceiling for their own tax. Not all do.
  • Portability: when you move to a new Texas homestead, the ceiling transfers as a percentage — you pay the same share of the full school tax on the new home that you were paying on the old one. Ask the old district for the transfer certificate.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-114, Residence Homestead Exemption Application
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
Check the “Person Age 65 or Older” box on Form 50-114 and file it as soon as you turn 65 — many districts describe the deadline as one year from the date you qualify. If the district already has proof of your age on file, the law tells it to add the exemption without a new application; do not count on that, confirm it.
Filing late
This is an 11.13 exemption, so the two-year late-application window and the refund rule apply to it as well.
  • Separate from any exemption: a 65+ or disabled homeowner may also defer paying the taxes on their homestead; interest accrues (currently 5% a year) and it comes due when the home changes hands. That is a loan against the house, not a discount. Ask the tax office before you rely on it.
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Age and disability

What is the disabled person exemption, and who counts as disabled?

Disabled person homestead exemptionTax Code 11.13(c), (d), (m); 11.26Exemption

The same extra school exemption and school-tax ceiling as the 65+ exemption, for homeowners who meet the Social Security disability standard.

Who qualifies

  • The home is your residence homestead.
  • You are under a disability for purposes of federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance — the Social Security disability standard. A Social Security award letter is the usual proof.
  • Disability payments from other programs — including VA disability compensation — do not automatically qualify you here. If you are a veteran, look at the two veteran exemptions below; they are separate and often larger.
  • If you are also 65 or older, you choose one of the two from each taxing unit; you cannot stack them from the same unit.

What it does to your bill

  • An additional $60,000 off the value your school district taxes, on top of the general $140,000.
  • Any taxing unit may add its own disabled-person exemption of at least $3,000.
  • The same school-tax ceiling as the 65+ exemption, with the same transfer rule when you move.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-114, Residence Homestead Exemption Application
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
Check the “Disabled Person” box and attach your proof of disability. File as soon as you qualify.
Filing late
An 11.13 exemption: the two-year late window and the refund rule apply.
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Veterans and military families

Does a 100% disabled veteran pay any property tax on their home — even school taxes?

100% disabled veteran homestead exemptionTax Code 11.131; 11.439; Comptroller 100% DV FAQExemption

No. The statute exempts the total appraised value of the veteran's residence homestead, and it does not limit that to any one taxing unit. School district, county, city, MUD, emergency services district, college, hospital district — every property tax levied on the homestead's value goes to zero.

Who qualifies

  • The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded you 100 percent disability compensation for a service-connected disability, AND
  • your VA rating is either 100 percent disabled, or individual unemployability (IU / TDIU) — the second one counts even if the schedular rating is below 100.
  • The property is your residence homestead: the home you own and live in, plus up to 20 acres. Other property you own is NOT covered by this section — see the partial exemption below, which you can hold at the same time on a different property.
  • Surviving spouse: if you have not remarried, the home was the veteran's homestead when they died, and it is still your homestead, the total exemption continues for you. If you later move, the new homestead gets an exemption equal to the DOLLAR amount you last received, not automatically the whole value.

What it does to your bill

  • Why it is all taxing units: the general homestead sections say an amount is exempt “from taxation by a school district.” Section 11.131 says the veteran is entitled to “an exemption from taxation of the total appraised value of the veteran's residence homestead” — no unit named, so every unit that taxes that value is included. The Comptroller describes it the same way: a total exemption on the residence homestead.
  • What it does not touch: anything on the bill that is not an ad valorem tax on the homestead's value. Some special assessments (a PID assessment, for example) are collected on the same statement but are not property taxes. If a line survives on your bill, ask the district what it is.
  • Value beyond the homestead — a second lot, acreage over 20 acres, a rental — is taxed normally, though the partial disabled-veteran exemption can apply to one of them.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-114, Residence Homestead Exemption Application
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
Check the “100 Percent Disabled Veteran (or Surviving Spouse)” box on Form 50-114 and attach your VA award letter showing 100 percent compensation. The exemption applies immediately on qualification for the rest of that tax year — you do not wait for January.
Filing late
A veteran (not a surviving spouse) can file this one up to FIVE years after the delinquency date under Tax Code 11.439, with a refund of what was paid, including penalties and interest, within 60 days of approval.
  • If your rating changes, tell the district. If you lose the 100% or IU status the total exemption ends, but the partial exemption by rating still applies.
  • Nothing to pay, ever, to file this. Veterans are heavily targeted by paid “filing services.” The form and the district's help are free.
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Veterans and military families

What does a veteran with a rating under 100% get?

Disabled veteran partial exemption (any one property)Tax Code 11.22; 11.439Exemption

A fixed dollar amount off the assessed value of ONE property the veteran chooses — it does not have to be the home — scaled to the VA disability rating. A 100% veteran can hold this on a second property in addition to the total homestead exemption.

Who qualifies

  • You are a veteran of the U.S. armed services, classified as disabled by the VA (or your service branch), and the disability is service-connected.
  • You are a Texas resident and you owned the property on January 1 of the tax year.
  • Surviving spouse: an unremarried surviving spouse keeps the amount the veteran had at death. Surviving children under 18 split it if there is no spouse.
  • The surviving spouse or children of a service member who dies on active duty get a $5,000 exemption under the same section.

What it does to your bill

  • $5,000 for a rating of 10 to 29 percent.
  • $7,500 for 30 to 49 percent.
  • $10,000 for 50 to 69 percent.
  • $12,000 for 70 percent and up.
  • $12,000 regardless of rating if you are 65 or older with a rating of at least 10 percent, are totally blind in one or both eyes, or have lost the use of one or more limbs.
  • The amount comes off the assessed value for every taxing unit, and it stacks with the homestead exemptions if the property you pick is your home. But it applies to only one property, and it must be the same property for every taxing unit — you designate it on the form.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-135, Disabled Veteran's or Survivor's Exemption Application
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
File before May 1 with documentation from the VA or your service branch showing your most recent rating. Do not use this form for the 100% homestead exemption — that one goes on Form 50-114.
Filing late
A veteran can file up to five years after the delinquency date (Tax Code 11.439). The five-year window does not extend to surviving spouses.
  • Ratings change. Ask your district whether it wants an updated rating letter; some re-check it.
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Veterans and military families

What if a charity donated the veteran's home?

Donated homestead of a partially disabled veteranTax Code 11.132Exemption

When a charitable organization gives a disabled veteran a home, the veteran's homestead gets a percentage exemption equal to their disability rating — a 70% veteran pays tax on 30% of the value.

Who qualifies

  • You are a disabled veteran with a rating below 100 percent.
  • A charitable organization (a 501(c)(3)) donated the home to you at no cost, or for not more than 50 percent of the good-faith estimate of its market value (cash, a mortgage, or both).
  • It is your residence homestead.
  • Surviving spouse: unremarried, same home, same percentage. On a later homestead, the dollar amount of the last exemption carries over.

What it does to your bill

  • A percentage of the appraised value equal to the disability rating, applied by every taxing unit.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-114, Residence Homestead Exemption Application
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
Check the “Donated Residence of Partially Disabled Veteran” box on Form 50-114 and enter the rating. File before May 1.
Filing late
A veteran can file up to five years after the delinquency date under Tax Code 11.439.
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Veterans and military families

What does the surviving spouse of a service member killed in the line of duty get?

Surviving spouse of a service member killed in the line of dutyTax Code 11.133 (and 11.136)Exemption

A total exemption on the residence homestead — every taxing unit — for as long as the surviving spouse does not remarry.

Who qualifies

  • Your spouse was a member of the U.S. armed services and was killed or fatally injured in the line of duty.
  • You have not remarried since.
  • The home is your residence homestead.
  • If you later move, the new homestead gets an exemption equal to the dollar amount of the exemption on the old one in its last year; the chief appraiser gives you a certificate to carry over.

What it does to your bill

  • The total appraised value of the homestead is exempt.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-114, Residence Homestead Exemption Application
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
Check “Surviving Spouse of an Armed Services Member Killed or Fatally Injured in the Line of Duty” on Form 50-114. File before May 1; the exemption applies immediately on qualification.
Filing late
The general two-year late-application rule; ask the district.
  • Form 50-114 also carries a box for the “Surviving Spouse of Certain Qualifying Veteran” (Tax Code 11.136), a newer total exemption. We have not reproduced its text here; if you are the surviving spouse of a veteran and none of the boxes above fit, ask the district about 11.136.
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First responders

What does the surviving spouse of a first responder killed in the line of duty get?

Surviving spouse of a first responder killed in the line of dutyTax Code 11.134; Government Code ch. 615Exemption

The same total exemption on the residence homestead, for the surviving spouse of a peace officer, firefighter, EMS worker or other public servant listed in Government Code 615.003 who was killed in the line of duty.

Who qualifies

  • Your spouse was a “first responder” as listed in Government Code 615.003 — peace officers, jailers, probation and parole officers, paid and volunteer firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, certain corrections and state field personnel, and department chaplains, among others.
  • The Employees Retirement System of Texas has determined you are an eligible survivor under Government Code chapter 615.
  • You have not remarried since the death.
  • The home is your residence homestead. It applies no matter when the death occurred, as long as the other conditions are met.
  • If you move, the dollar amount of the last exemption carries to the new homestead.

What it does to your bill

  • The total appraised value of the homestead is exempt.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-114, Residence Homestead Exemption Application
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
Check “Surviving Spouse of a First Responder Killed in the Line of Duty” on Form 50-114. File before May 1.
Filing late
The general two-year late-application rule; ask the district.
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Your home

Which local governments in our six counties add their own exemption?

Local-option homestead exemptionsTax Code 11.13(n), (d); 11.261Exemption

The school amounts above are statewide. Everything else is a local decision, unit by unit — a county, a city, a college district, a MUD or an emergency services district can each adopt a percentage off your homestead (up to 20%, at least $5,000) and a flat 65+/disabled amount. You get them automatically once your homestead exemption is on file; there is nothing extra to apply for.

Who qualifies

  • Anyone with a residence homestead exemption in a taxing unit that has adopted one.

What it does to your bill

  • What each of our six counties has adopted for its own county tax is in the table below, with the page we read it on. Cities, school districts and special districts inside each county set their own — your tax bill lists every unit that taxes you, and the appraisal district can tell you what each one gives.

How and when to apply

Form
None — it rides on your homestead exemption
Where
Nowhere. File the general homestead exemption and every local-option exemption you are entitled to is applied by the district.
Deadline
Same as the general homestead exemption.
Filing late
Same as the general homestead exemption.
  • Do not trust a page — including this one — that quotes one percentage as if it applied to everyone. Governing bodies change these, sometimes every year.
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Land

What is an “ag exemption,” really?

Agricultural (1-d-1 open-space) appraisalTax Code ch. 23, subch. D (23.51–23.57)Special appraisal — not an exemption

Not an exemption. It is a different way of valuing the land: on what it can produce as farmland or pasture instead of what it would sell for. On land near Houston the gap between the two is enormous, which is why it matters so much in Waller, Grimes and Austin counties.

Who qualifies

  • The land is currently devoted principally to agricultural use — cultivating, producing crops, raising or keeping livestock, and a list of other uses in the statute, including wildlife management.
  • To the degree of intensity generally accepted in the area. Each appraisal district publishes its own intensity standards (how many head per acre, minimum acreage and so on). They differ between our counties — get the standard from the district for the county the land is in.
  • It has been devoted principally to agricultural or timber use for five of the preceding seven years. Land inside a city has extra hurdles.
  • A related but different program, 1-d (Tax Code 23.41), is for owners whose primary occupation and income is farming; it has to be re-filed every year and is rarely the better choice.

What it does to the valuation

  • The land is appraised at its productivity value rather than market value. The house and the acre or so around it (the homesite) are still valued and taxed normally — and can carry your homestead exemption.
  • The cost of leaving: if the use changes to something non-agricultural, a rollback tax comes due equal to the difference between what was paid and what market value would have cost, for each of the three preceding years, plus interest. Buyers of ag land inherit that exposure — ask before you close.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-129, Application for 1-d-1 (Open-Space) Agricultural Use Appraisal
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
Before May 1 of the year you want it. For good cause the chief appraiser can extend that by up to 60 days. Once approved you do not re-apply yearly unless ownership or eligibility changes — but a new owner must file their own.
Filing late
The statute says land is ineligible for that year if a valid application is not filed on time; some districts accept a late application with a penalty until the appraisal roll is approved. Ask the district; do not assume.
  • The district can ask you to prove the use — leases, receipts, head counts, photographs. Keep records from day one.
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Land

Can I keep the ag valuation if I manage the land for wildlife instead of cattle?

Wildlife management use appraisalTax Code 23.51(7); Comptroller wildlife guidelines; TPWD plan form PWD 885-W7000Special appraisal — not an exemption

Yes. Wildlife management is a recognized agricultural use, so land that already has 1-d-1 (or timber) appraisal can switch to a wildlife plan and keep its productivity valuation without running livestock.

Who qualifies

  • The land qualified for 1-d-1 open-space (or timber) appraisal the year before you switch. You cannot start from raw market-value land.
  • You actively use it in at least three of the seven listed practices: habitat control, erosion control, predator control, providing supplemental water, providing supplemental food, providing shelter, and making census counts — to sustain a breeding, migrating or wintering population of native wild animals.
  • You file a written wildlife management plan on the Texas Parks and Wildlife form with the appraisal district, and many districts require an annual report (PWD 888) of what you did.
  • Minimum-acreage rules apply when a tract is subdivided; the district will tell you the threshold.

What it does to the valuation

  • The same productivity valuation as 1-d-1. The same rollback rules apply if the use ends.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-129 plus a TPWD wildlife management plan (PWD 885-W7000)
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
Before May 1, same as 1-d-1. Waller CAD and HCAD post their own plan and annual-report forms; Austin CAD links the TPWD forms directly.
Filing late
Same as 1-d-1.
Back to the finder

Land

What about timber?

Timberland appraisalTax Code ch. 23, subch. ESpecial appraisal — not an exemption

The timber version of 1-d-1: land used principally to grow timber for commercial harvest is valued on its capacity to produce timber. Same idea, its own form and its own intensity standards.

Who qualifies

  • Land devoted principally to producing timber or forest products with the intent to sell, to the degree of intensity accepted in the area, for five of the preceding seven years.

What it does to the valuation

  • Productivity valuation instead of market value, with rollback exposure on change of use.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-167, Application for 1-d-1 (Open-Space) Timber Land Appraisal
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
Before May 1.
Filing late
Ask the district.
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Energy

Do solar panels raise my property taxes?

Solar or wind-powered energy device exemptionTax Code 11.27Exemption

Not if you file. The value a solar or wind device adds to your property is exempt when the device is primarily for producing energy used on-site.

Who qualifies

  • You own real property whose appraised value went up because of a solar or wind-powered energy device installed on it, or you own the device itself.
  • The device is used primarily to produce and distribute energy for use on the property — a rooftop array powering the house, a well pump, a barn.
  • Solar energy device includes thermal, mechanical and electrical conversion, and storage and distribution equipment — not just panels.

What it does to your bill

  • The amount of appraised value attributable to the device is removed for every taxing unit. It does not reduce the rest of the home's value.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-123, Exemption Application for Solar or Wind-Powered Energy Devices
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
Before May 1 of the year after installation. Include the installation cost and description the form asks for.
Filing late
Once allowed it generally stays on the account (it is on the list of exemptions that need not be claimed every year). Ask the district if you are filing late.
  • Many districts already exclude the panels when they value the house; filing makes it a matter of record instead of an appraiser's habit.
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Organizations

Are churches and charities exempt?

Charitable and religious organization exemptionsTax Code 11.18 (charitable); 11.20 (religious)Exemption

Property owned by a qualifying charitable organization and used exclusively for its charitable functions, and property used primarily as a place of regular religious worship, can be fully exempt. These are organization-level applications with their own tests; this is only a pointer.

Who qualifies

  • Charitable (11.18): an organization that is organized exclusively for one or more of the listed charitable functions (medical care without regard to ability to pay, housing for low- and moderate-income families, care of orphans or the elderly, museums, libraries, youth athletics and a long list of others), operates without private profit, and uses the property exclusively for that function.
  • Religious (11.20): an organization organized and operated primarily for religious worship. Exempt property includes the place of regular worship and what is reasonably necessary for it, a clergy residence on up to one acre that produces no revenue, and land held for expansion within time limits (contiguous land for up to ten years; non-contiguous for three).

What it does to your bill

  • The qualifying property is fully exempt from every taxing unit.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-115 (charitable) or Form 50-117 (religious)
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
Before May 1. Once allowed, these need not be re-claimed every year unless the chief appraiser requires it.
Filing late
Ask the district.
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Business

Is there anything for business inventory?

Freeport and goods-in-transit (business inventory)Tax Code 11.251; 11.253Exemption

One line, because it is a business matter: inventory that leaves Texas (freeport) or moves on to another location (goods-in-transit) within 175 days can be exempt where the taxing unit allows it. Forms 50-113 and 50-758, filed with the appraisal district each year.

Who qualifies

  • Businesses holding qualifying inventory; the exemption is unit-by-unit and some units opt out.

What it does to your bill

  • The qualifying inventory is removed from the business personal property account for units that grant it.

How and when to apply

Form
Form 50-113 (freeport) / Form 50-758 (goods-in-transit)
Where
With the appraisal district of the county where the property sits (never the Comptroller, the tax office, your lender or your title company). Contacts for all six of our counties are below. Jump to the six offices
Deadline
Annual application, before May 1.
Filing late
Ask the district.
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County by county

What has each of our six counties adopted?

The county's own line only. Your bill has more lines than that.

What each county government has adopted for its own county tax line, read from an official page on September 4, 2026. Cities, school districts and special districts inside each county set their own; examples are in the notes. Where we could not find an official page, the row says so.
CountyCounty homestead percentageCounty 65+ / disabledNotes and source
HarrisHarris County: 20% of appraised value (minimum $5,000).County 65+/disabled amount: not on the page we read — ask HCAD or read your bill.Example inside the county: Cypress-Fairbanks ISD adds a 20% local option and a $75,000 65+/disabled exemption on top of the state amounts (cfisd.net, tax year 2025). The City of Houston's figures could not be confirmed on a city page and are not published here. HCAD — Property Tax Exemptions for Homeowners
Fort BendFort Bend County: 20% of appraised value or $5,000, whichever is greater.County 65+/disabled: $100,000.Cities inside the county set their own (2025 county worksheet): Katy 20%, Sugar Land 15%, Fulshear 14%, Missouri City 2.5%, several others 20% or none. Every school district in the county shows the state $140,000 and $60,000 amounts. Fort Bend County Tax Office — 2025 Tax Rates and Exemptions
MontgomeryMontgomery County: NOT VERIFIED. News reports since 2017 describe a 10% county homestead exemption; we could not confirm the current figure on an official county or MCAD page. Call MCAD.County 65+/disabled amount: not verified — ask MCAD.MCAD's site is an application, not a plain page, so we could not read its published amounts. The county tax office confirms MCAD (not the tax office) decides exemptions. Montgomery County Tax Office — Exemptions / Tax Deferral
WallerWaller County: 20% of appraised value (minimum $5,000). Waller County FM/road tax: 20% plus a $3,000 65+ exemption.See the district's entity table — amounts differ by unit.City of Katy (Waller side) 20%; City of Waller 5%; Brookshire, Hempstead and Prairie View flat 65+/disabled amounts. Hempstead, Katy, Royal and Waller ISDs show the state $140,000 and $60,000. Waller CAD posts its own ag application and wildlife annual report. Waller CAD — Exemptions Offered by the Various Entities
GrimesGrimes County: no percentage local-option exemption (the district's table shows “-0-” for every unit).County 65+: $12,000; county disabled: $12,000. City of Navasota 65+: $12,000.Anderson-Shiro, Iola, Navasota, Richards and Madisonville ISDs show the state $140,000 and $60,000. The district's page states there is no fee to file. Grimes CAD — Exemptions
AustinAustin County: 3% of appraised value (minimum $5,000), per the district's exemptions page.County 65+/disabled: a June 2024 commissioners-court vote reported in local news raised it to $25,000; the CAD page we read did not list the county amount, so confirm it with the district.Sealy ISD adds a 10% local option and Brazos ISD 5%; several emergency services districts add 1%. All on the district's page. Austin CAD states there is no charge to file. Austin CAD — Exemptions

Where to file

Where do I file in my county?

Always the appraisal district of the county the property is in. Not the tax office, not the Comptroller, not your lender.

Property in a different county? The Comptroller's directory lists every appraisal district in Texas.

Quick answers

Common questions

A veteran told me the 100% exemption only covers school taxes. Is that right?
No. Section 11.131 exempts the total appraised value of the residence homestead and does not name a taxing unit, so the county, city, school district, MUD, ESD, college and hospital district all tax zero value on that home. The confusion comes from the general homestead amounts, which really are school-district-only.
Does it cost anything to file any of these?
No. Every application on this page is free, and you file it yourself with the county appraisal district. Official-looking letters that offer to file for a fee — or to record a “homestead designation” for a fee — are solicitations. Two of our six districts print “no fee” on their own pages, and the Texas Attorney General has issued a consumer alert about the letters.
Can I have both the 65+ exemption and the disabled-person exemption?
Not from the same taxing unit in the same year. The statute says you may choose either. Because the units set different local amounts, the better choice can differ from one line of your bill to the next — ask the district to apply whichever is larger for each unit.
I moved. Does my exemption move with me?
No exemption transfers; you file again on the new home. What does transfer is the 65+/disabled school-tax ceiling, as a percentage, and the dollar amount of a surviving-spouse total exemption. Ask the old district for the certificate before you close.
I am on Social Security disability and I am also a disabled veteran. Which do I use?
Possibly all of them. The disabled-person exemption is a homestead exemption on the Social Security standard; the veteran exemptions are separate and based on the VA rating. A 100% or IU veteran does not need the others on the homestead because the total exemption covers it, but can still hold the partial exemption on a different property.
My county is not one of these six.
Every Texas county has an appraisal district, and the Comptroller keeps a directory of all of them with addresses and phone numbers. The state-law sections on this page apply everywhere in Texas; only the local-option amounts change.

Please read this part

This page is information only. We collected it from the Texas Tax Code, the Texas Comptroller and the six appraisal districts so that it is in one place and easy to read. We are not the governing body. The appraisal district for your county decides whether you qualify, for which exemptions, and for how much, and the Tax Code as it stands in the year you apply is what controls — not this page. If anything here disagrees with your appraisal district or the statute, they are right and we will fix this page.

I am a REALTOR®. I am not a CPA, a tax advisor or an attorney, and nothing here is tax or legal advice for your situation. Nothing here promises any dollar amount, any refund or any outcome. The figures change: the Legislature and voters change the statewide amounts, and every county, city and district can change its local amounts, sometimes every year. Every statute and every office listed was checked on September 4, 2026. Where we could not verify a local figure on an official page, the page says so instead of guessing. If real money is on the line for you, talk to a tax professional or an attorney — and call the appraisal district, because they are the ones who decide.

Where these facts come from

Every statement above was checked against a primary source before it was published. Check them yourself:

Related reading: the homestead exemption case study, the exemption savings calculator and the property tax lookup.

Not sure which of these you have, or which you are missing? Ask.

Schedule time with Allen

Or call (832) 709-2540. Allen Markel, REALTOR® · Texas Premier Realty · TREC #0658294