Texas Homestead Exemption: Amount, Deadline and How to Apply

Texas school districts must exempt $140,000 of the appraised value of a homeowner's residence homestead from school district taxes under Texas Tax Code § 11.13(b), an amount Texas voters approved on November 4, 2025, that applies starting with the 2025 tax year. Homeowners apply on Comptroller Form 50-114 with the appraisal district in the county where the home is located, and the completed application is generally due by April 30 of the year for which the exemption is requested. Other Texas programs and every state's rules are collected in our guide to homestead exemptions by state.

Information last verified on October 7, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers the Texas residence homestead exemptions in Texas Tax Code § 11.13, the late-filing rules in §§ 11.431 and 11.439, the 10 percent homestead appraisal cap in § 23.23, the school tax ceiling in § 11.26 and the disabled veteran exemptions in §§ 11.131 and 11.22, as described by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and Form 50-114. It does not state the amount of any local-option exemption a particular city, county, school district or special district has adopted, and it does not cover business or agricultural property or other states' laws. The Texas creditor homestead is a different law and is covered only briefly below.

How much the Texas homestead exemption takes off

Texas does not have one single homestead amount. Each kind of taxing unit applies its own exemption to the appraised value of the home, so the reduction on your school district line is different from the reduction on your city or county line.

The Comptroller describes the core rule this way: "Tax Code Section 11.13(b) requires school districts to provide a $140,000 exemption on a residence homestead." The $140,000 and $60,000 school amounts are statewide. The local-option amounts are not; whether your city, county or special district grants a percentage or senior exemption, and how much, depends on what that unit adopted.

Watch out: An exemption reduces the taxable value of the home, not the tax bill dollar for dollar. This page does not estimate a tax saving, because the result depends on each unit's tax rate and on which local options apply to your address.

What changed in November 2025

On November 4, 2025, Texas voters approved raising the general school district residence homestead exemption to $140,000 and the additional school exemption for owners 65 or older or disabled to $60,000. The Comptroller's January 2026 property tax newsletter describes the change as "an increase to the general residence homestead exemption amount provided by a school district to $140,000 on a homeowner's primary residence."

The enabling laws, Senate Bill 4 and Senate Bill 23 (2025), apply the $140,000 and $60,000 amounts beginning with the 2025 tax year, so they apply to 2025 tax bills even though the election was held in November 2025. The earlier amounts were $100,000 and $10,000.

Who can claim the Texas residence homestead exemption

The exemption is for a homeowner's primary residence, which Texas law calls the residence homestead. Form 50-114 sets out the ownership, occupancy and documentation requirements the appraisal district checks, so read the form's instructions before you file.

Under Tax Code § 11.13(j), the homestead is the home plus up to 20 acres of land used with it, owned by you (directly or through a qualifying trust) and occupied as your principal residence. You can claim only one residence homestead a year (§ 11.13(h)).

An absence of less than two years with intent to return, military service, or a stay in a facility that provides health, infirmity or aging services does not end the homestead, as long as you have not set up a different principal residence (§ 11.13(l)). If you buy a home after January 1, Form 50-114 says you may receive the exemption for the rest of that year if the previous owner did not receive it.

How and when to apply

Form. File Form 50-114, Residence Homestead Exemption Application. The same form covers the general exemption, the age 65 or older and disability exemptions, and several others listed on it.

Where. The form's instructions say: "File this form and all supporting documentation with the appraisal district office in each county in which the property is located." Do not send it to the Comptroller. The Comptroller publishes a directory of county appraisal districts with each district's contact details.

Deadline. Form 50-114 states: "Generally, the completed application and required documentation is due no later than April 30 of the year for which you are requesting the exemption."

Late filing. Missing April 30 is not always the end of it. A late application can be filed up to two years after the delinquency date for that year's taxes (Tax Code § 11.431). For the disabled veteran exemptions (§§ 11.131, 11.132 and 11.22), a late application can be filed up to five years after the delinquency date (§ 11.439). For the §§ 11.131 and 11.132 exemptions that longer window is for the veteran only; a surviving spouse has two years. Ask the appraisal district how those dates apply to your tax year.

Do you have to reapply every year?

Generally, no. Form 50-114 states that if the chief appraiser grants the exemption, the "property owner does not need to reapply annually, but must reapply if the chief appraiser requires it." A new application is also needed if you want an exemption applied to property not listed on your original application.

The duty runs the other way too. When you stop being entitled to the exemption, for example because the home is no longer your residence homestead, you must notify the chief appraiser in writing before May 1 of the year after your entitlement ends.

If the appraisal district finds that you received an exemption you were not entitled to, it can add the exempted value back for each of the five preceding years (Tax Code § 11.43(i)), and the back taxes are owed. A 50 percent penalty applies on top when the exemption is canceled because the owner received two or more other residence homestead exemptions that year, or claimed the age 65 exemption while younger than 65 (§ 33.01(d)), unless the owner gave the chief appraiser written notice of the disqualifying facts before the taxes became delinquent (§ 33.01(e)). Form 50-114 warns that a false statement on the form can be a Class A misdemeanor or a state jail felony under Penal Code § 37.10.

The 10 percent homestead appraisal cap

Texas limits how fast the appraised value of a homestead can rise for tax purposes. The Comptroller explains: "The appraised value for a homeowner who qualifies his or her homestead for exemptions in the preceding and current year may not increase more than 10 percent per year." The cap is in Tax Code § 23.23, and new improvements to the home can add value on top of the capped amount.

Two practical points follow from the Comptroller's wording. The cap applies once the homestead has qualified in both the prior year and the current year, so it does not protect a home in its first year of exemption. And it limits the growth of appraised value, not the size of the tax bill, which still depends on each unit's tax rate.

Age 65 or older and disabled homeowners

Homeowners who are 65 or older, or disabled, receive an additional $60,000 exemption from school district taxes on top of the $140,000 general exemption. The Comptroller states that "Tax Code Section 11.13(c) requires school districts to provide an additional $60,000 residence homestead exemption" for these owners. Disability for this exemption is tied to the Social Security disability standard.

Timing works in the owner's favor. Form 50-114 says the age 65 exemption "is effective Jan. 1 of the tax year in which the property owner becomes age 65," so an owner who turns 65 in, say, November can claim it for that whole year. Apply for the age 65 or disability exemption no later than one year after the date you first become eligible for it (Tax Code § 11.43(k)). If you already have the general homestead exemption and the appraisal district has your correct birthdate, you are not required to file again for the age 65 exemption (§ 11.43(m)); check your appraisal record to confirm it was added. A surviving spouse who is 55 or older may keep a local-option age 65 exemption under Tax Code § 11.13(q).

Any taxing unit may also adopt its own local-option exemption of at least $3,000 for these owners under § 11.13(d).

Owners who receive the $60,000 age 65 or disability school exemption also get a school tax ceiling. Under Tax Code § 11.26, a school district may not raise its total tax on the homestead above the amount imposed in the first year the owner qualified for that exemption, except for value added by improvements other than repairs or improvements required by governmental requirements. Since the 2024 tax year the ceiling is recalculated downward when the state school exemptions increase or the district's maximum compressed tax rate falls (§ 11.26(a-10)).

If you move, the ceiling can carry over proportionally to a new Texas homestead; ask the former appraisal district for the written certificate (§ 11.26(g), (h)). A surviving spouse who was 55 or older when the owner died keeps the ceiling while the home remains the spouse's homestead (§ 11.26(i)).

Owners who are 65 or older, disabled, or eligible for a disabled veteran exemption under § 11.22 can also defer collection of taxes on the home they own and occupy by filing an affidavit with the appraisal district (Tax Code § 33.06). Deferred taxes are not forgiven: once the owner no longer owns and occupies the home as a residence homestead, the taxing units can again collect them.

Disabled veterans

A veteran whom the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded 100 percent disability compensation for a service-connected disability, with a rating of 100 percent disabled or individual unemployability, is exempt from tax on the total appraised value of the residence homestead (Tax Code § 11.131). A surviving spouse who has not remarried keeps the exemption on the same home and can carry the same dollar amount to a later homestead (§ 11.131(c), (d)).

Veterans with lower ratings get a smaller exemption on one property they own and designate under § 11.22: $5,000 of assessed value for a rating of at least 10 but less than 30 percent, $7,500 for 30 to less than 50, $10,000 for 50 to less than 70, and $12,000 for 70 percent or more. Apply on Form 50-114 with the supporting documentation the form requires. For the disabled veteran exemptions (§§ 11.131, 11.132 and 11.22), a late application can be filed up to five years after the delinquency date (§ 11.439). For the §§ 11.131 and 11.132 exemptions that longer window is for the veteran only; a surviving spouse has two years.

Texas homestead protection from creditors is a different law

The property-tax homestead exemption only lowers taxes. Whether, and how much of, a Texas home is protected from creditors or in bankruptcy is governed by a separate body of Texas law with its own rules, and nothing on this page about the $140,000 exemption or the 10 percent cap applies to it.

Texas protects a homestead from seizure for most debts with no dollar cap; the limit is land area. An urban homestead may be up to 10 acres; a rural homestead up to 200 acres for a family or 100 acres for a single adult (Property Code § 41.002). The protection does not reach liens for the purchase money, property taxes on the home, written contracts for work and materials on improvements, an owelty of partition, a refinance, or home equity and reverse mortgage loans that meet the Texas Constitution (Property Code § 41.001(b); Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 50). Proceeds from selling a homestead are protected from creditors for six months after the sale (§ 41.001(c)).

For how a Texas home is treated when debts are collected or in a bankruptcy case, see our guide to bankruptcy in Texas.

Homestead rules after the owner dies

Texas probate law has its own homestead rules, separate from the tax exemption. If the owner leaves a surviving spouse or minor child, the homestead is not liable for the estate's debts other than purchase money, taxes, qualifying improvement work, owelty of partition, refinances, qualifying home equity loans and reverse mortgages (Estates Code § 102.004). The home also cannot be partitioned among the heirs while the surviving spouse elects to use or occupy it as a homestead (Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 52). For more, see our guide to probate in Texas. A surviving spouse who wants to keep a tax exemption should contact the appraisal district.

Finding your appraisal district and parcel record

Start with the Comptroller's county appraisal district directory, then look up your parcel on your appraisal district's site to see which exemptions are already on your account. Our guide to Texas property records explains where deeds and other property records are kept.

Related

• Homestead exemptions by state
• Texas bankruptcy guide
• Texas probate guide
• Texas property records

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about the Texas residence homestead exemption under the Texas Tax Code, verified on October 7, 2026. It is not tax or legal advice. Exemption amounts and local options can change. For your specific situation, contact your county appraisal district, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, or a lawyer licensed in Texas.

Last updated: October 7, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is the homestead exemption in Texas?

Every Texas school district must exempt $140,000 of a residence homestead's appraised value from school taxes under Tax Code § 11.13(b). Counties that collect farm-to-market or flood control taxes add a $3,000 exemption, and other taxing units may adopt local-option exemptions of up to 20 percent of appraised value.

When is the deadline to file for homestead exemption in Texas?

Form 50-114 says the completed application and documentation are generally due no later than April 30 of the year you are requesting the exemption. A late application can be filed up to two years after the delinquency date (Tax Code § 11.431). A late application for a disabled veteran exemption can be filed up to five years after the delinquency date (§ 11.439), except that a surviving spouse claiming the 100 percent disabled veteran exemption has two years.

Do I have to reapply for homestead exemption every year in Texas?

Generally no. Once the chief appraiser grants the exemption, you do not need to reapply annually unless the chief appraiser requires it, according to Form 50-114.

Where do I file the Texas homestead exemption application?

File Form 50-114 and its supporting documents with the appraisal district in each county where the property is located. The Comptroller publishes the form but does not process applications.

What is the Texas homestead exemption for people over 65?

Owners 65 or older, or disabled, receive an additional $60,000 exemption from school district taxes under Tax Code § 11.13(c). The age 65 exemption takes effect January 1 of the tax year in which the owner turns 65.

Does the Texas homestead exemption limit how much my appraisal can go up?

Yes. Once a homestead has qualified for exemptions in the preceding and current year, its appraised value may not increase more than 10 percent per year under Tax Code § 23.23. The cap applies to appraised value, not to the tax bill.

Does the Texas homestead exemption protect my house from creditors?

No. The tax exemption only lowers property taxes. Creditor protection for a Texas home comes from Property Code chapter 41 and the Texas Constitution, which protect a homestead of up to 10 urban acres, or 100 to 200 rural acres, from most creditors with no dollar cap; see our Texas bankruptcy guide for how a home is treated in bankruptcy.