You are eligible to apply for a homestead exemption if you own a home in Texas as your primary residence (living there more than half of the year and not claiming another property as your homestead), not as an investment. Understanding the importance of property tax exemptions and following a process to ensure you are taking advantage of these savings can save you hundreds to thousands of dollars in property taxes every year. Keep reading to find out how to apply for this amazing homeowner benefit.
What are the two benefits of a Homestead Exemption?
The main advantage is that after a full taxable year of your ownership, the taxable value cannot go up more than 10% from the previous year - meaning even if the market value goes up 20%, your taxable value can only go up 10% each year. So the longer you stay, the bigger the difference between the market and taxable values. This benefit doesn’t go into effect until after the first full year of ownership (if you purchased in 2022… it is technically applied for 2023, and the cap should be present for 2024 and beyond.
The exemption also lowers your property taxes by removing part of the value of your property from taxation - sometimes by about 20%+/-. (This amount depends on each county). This benefit is effective immediately in the year you apply, so could be immediate savings for you but would require you to hastily apply after purchase.
What are the requirements to know before applying?
- You must own your home AND use it as your primary residence on January 1st of the year you are applying. You may not claim homestead on more than one property. (If you are over 65, and/or disabled the January 1st ownership/residency is not required and you should contact your county to see how to retroactively apply for the exemption from the time you purchased your home.)
- Have ready a copy of a Texas DPS issued Driver License or Identification card showing your current physical address matches the property address you are applying for.
How Do I Complete my Homestead Application?
As of 2022, homeowners were allowed to apply for this exemption just after purchasing instead of waiting until the following year to apply. The benefits are worth the small effort to apply! PLEASE NOTE: There is no fee to file for exemptions with the county. We highly recommend that you disregard any services that ask for payment to apply for any property tax exemptions.
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CLICK HERE to visit the Travis CAD website to download the form
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CLICK HERE to visit the Williamson CAD website to download the form.
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CLICK HERE to visit the Hays CAD website to download the form.
Is your county not listed above? Click here for a list of appraisal districts in Texas.
What other exemptions could I be eligible for?
During homeownership, if you turn 65 or become disabled, you must apply for the 65 or older or disabled exemption no later than one year from the qualification date. Once you receive the exemption, you do not need to reapply unless the chief appraiser sends you a new application. In that case, you must file the new application.
How do I confirm that my application is approved?
Set a reminder for a few months out to reference the "property search" page of your county's CAD website, under "Exemptions". If you do not see "HS" as confirmation that they have processed your application, you may have to contact your Central Appraisal District directly to check the status of any applications in progress or that may have been denied - you may have to re-submit if it was lost for any reason.
In the event you have not yet applied for this exemption but have owned your property for some time, is our understanding that you have up to two years to apply for your exemption. Regardless of the time owned, we highly recommend that you get in contact with your county's central appraisal district AND the tax office to discuss the steps of retroactively applying for the homestead exemption. In some instances, we have seen homeowners receive refunds for overpayments. The sooner the better, so that you do not have to go through extra efforts to contact the tax office to process any tax prorations/refunds, or miss the application window.
For privacy reasons, some counties and some properties may not list exemptions on the property address listing page, so you may need to call the CAD to confirm that your appraisal was received and applied to your property. Once you receive the exemption, you should not need to reapply (unless the chief appraiser sends you a new application at some point).
Once your exemption status is confirmed, head to the section called "Taxing Units". To the right you should see two columns - "net appraised" and "taxable value". Though your 10% homestead exemption cap won't go into effect until after your first full year in the property, the discount from taxable value should still apply. You will know this benefit is in effect when "taxable value" varies from your "net appraised value" in applicable fields, like below:
If you do not see the "taxable value" varying from the "net appraised", we recommend contacting the tax office AND/OR the central appraisal district for your county to discuss any savings benefits that could be retroactively applied before or after your 2022 tax bill is paid in the next month or so. Links to the local county Central Appraisal District website's are below: Travis County | Williamson County | Hays County | Bastrop County
Do I need to re-apply every year?
Once the exemption is placed on your property, you should not have to complete this process again as long as it remains your primary residence. In some instances, if deed information has changed or after refinancing the property, we have seen a need to re-apply or clear up the removal of the exemption by contacting the appraisal district.
What about protesting my assessed value later this year?
See our resources page or contact us for more information on protesting property taxes.
CONTACT US for a free homeowner analysis where we can:
- guide you through your public property record page and how that information impacts your property taxes and your home's fair market value
- discuss the county's assessment of your property's value
- determine your homestead exemption status and eligibility
- calculate your current equity
- determine if your equity position would be a good candidate for refinancing in order to make home improvements or acquire another property
- direct you to your county's best resources and contacts for exemption applications
- provide an open forum for any other real estate or Austin questions you have at this time!
STILL HAVE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions about the homestead exemption process in Texas, you can contact a legal representative, the tax office for the county you are filing in, or that county’s appraisal district.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog does not constitute legal advice. If you are unsure at any point, it is best to work with a professional.
