Texas Homestead Exemption: How to File, Deadlines, and Savings in 2026

The Texas homestead exemption reduces the taxable value of your primary residence for school district property taxes. You file an application with your county appraisal district, and if approved, you save money on your tax bill every year. Most homeowners save between $350 and $750 annually from the standard school district homestead exemption alone.

The application is free, and once approved, the exemption renews automatically each year as long as you still own and occupy the property. You do not need to refile unless you move or the appraisal district requests updated information.

What Is the Texas Homestead Exemption?

The homestead exemption is a legal designation that removes part of your home's value from taxation. It applies only to your primary residence, the place you live as your main home. It does not apply to rental properties, second homes, vacant land, or properties owned by corporations or business entities.

Texas law provides several types of homestead exemptions, but the most common and valuable is the general residence homestead exemption for school district taxes. Additional exemptions stack on top of the general exemption for homeowners who are over 65, disabled, or disabled veterans.

The exemption is not the same as the agricultural exemption, which applies to agricultural land use and requires a separate application. If you own both a home and qualifying agricultural acreage, you can hold both exemptions on the same property for different portions of the value.

How Much Does the Texas Homestead Exemption Save You?

The savings depend on which exemptions you qualify for and your local school district's tax rate. Here is how the math works for each exemption type.

General Residence Homestead Exemption

Every Texas homeowner who occupies their property as a primary residence can claim this exemption. It removes $100,000 from the appraised value of your home for school district tax purposes. At a typical school district tax rate of 1.0 to 1.3 percent, this saves roughly $1,000 to $1,300 per year.

Age 65 or Older Exemption

If you are 65 or older, you receive an additional $10,000 reduction in appraised value for school district taxes on top of the general exemption. You also receive a school district tax ceiling that freezes your school district taxes at the amount you paid the year you qualified. This ceiling prevents your school taxes from increasing even if your property value rises.

Disabled Person Exemption

Homeowners who qualify as disabled under the Social Security Administration's definition receive the same $10,000 school district exemption and tax ceiling as the over-65 exemption. Your disability must be classified as total and permanent under federal disability guidelines.

Disabled Veteran Exemption

Disabled veterans receive exemptions based on the percentage of their VA disability rating:

• 10 to 29 percent disability: $5,000 reduction from property value
• 30 to 49 percent disability: $7,500 reduction
• 50 to 69 percent disability: $10,000 reduction
• 70 to 100 percent disability: $12,000 reduction

Veterans rated at 100 percent disabled, including those considered individually unemployable by the VA, may qualify for a total property tax exemption on their residence homestead. This removes the entire appraised value from taxation for all taxing units: county, school district, city, and special districts.

How Do You File for a Homestead Exemption in Texas?

Filing is straightforward. You submit an application to your county appraisal district with proof that the property is your primary residence.

The Application Form

The standard form is the Application for Residence Homestead Exemption, typically called Form 50-114. Most county appraisal districts allow you to download the form from their website, and many now accept online applications.

You will need to provide:

• Your name and the property address
• A copy of your Texas driver's license or Texas identification card showing the property address
• A copy of your vehicle registration receipt showing the same address (if applicable)
• The date you moved into the property

If your driver's license still shows a previous address, you must update it with the Texas Department of Public Safety before filing. The appraisal district will verify that the address on your ID matches the property you are claiming.

Where to File

Submit the completed application to the appraisal district in the county where the property is located. This is not the tax assessor-collector's office and not a state agency. Each of Texas's 254 counties has its own appraisal district. Use our county lookup page to find contact information and online filing options for your county.

When to File

You must file between January 1 and April 30 of the tax year. If you miss the deadline, you can apply for the following year, and in some cases you may still qualify for a late application up to one year after the taxes become delinquent. The deadline for a late homestead exemption application is typically February 1 of the year after the taxes become delinquent.

If you purchase a home in the middle of the year, you can apply for the following tax year starting on January 1. You do not need to wait until you have lived in the home for a full year.

What Counts as a Residence Homestead in Texas?

The homestead must be your primary residence. The Texas Tax Code defines a residence homestead as a structure or manufactured home owned by the homeowner and used as the individual's principal residence. It can include up to 20 acres of land if the land is used for residential purposes and is owned by the homeowner.

A homeowner can be an individual, a qualifying trust, or the surviving spouse of a homeowner who was 65 or older or disabled. Mobile homes count if you own both the home and the land, and if the home is attached to a permanent foundation or connected to utilities.

You do not need to be married to claim a homestead exemption. Single homeowners, unmarried partners who each own a share of the property, and individuals living alone all qualify as long as the property is their primary residence.

Surviving Spouse Rules

If a homeowner who has an over-65 or disabled homestead exemption dies, the surviving spouse can continue receiving the exemption if they were 55 or older at the time of the spouse's death and they continue to live in the home as their primary residence. The surviving spouse must apply to the appraisal district to continue the exemption.

For the disabled veteran exemption, a surviving spouse can continue receiving the total exemption if the veteran was 100 percent disabled or died as a result of a service-connected injury. The spouse must not have remarried and must continue to occupy the home as their residence homestead.

What If You Buy or Sell Mid-Year?

If you buy a home, you become eligible for the homestead exemption on January 1 of the following year. If you sell your home, the exemption stays with the property for the remainder of the tax year but does not transfer to your new home until you file a new application.

If you move into a home mid-year and the previous owner had a homestead exemption on the property, the exemption does not carry over to you. You must file your own application for the following year.

What Happens After You File?

Once your application is submitted and approved, you will receive a notice confirming the exemption. The exemption is applied to your property tax bill for that year, and it renews automatically every year without any further action from you.

If your property value increases, the exemption still removes the designated amount from the taxable value before the tax rate is applied. For example, if your home is appraised at $350,000 and you have the general residence homestead exemption, the school district taxes your home at $250,000.

The 10 Percent Appraisal Cap

In addition to the dollar-amount exemption, Texas homesteads receive an important protection: the 10 percent appraisal cap. The appraised value of your residence homestead cannot increase by more than 10 percent from one year to the next. This cap applies even if market values in your neighborhood jump 20 or 30 percent.

The cap does not apply to improvements added after the base year, and it resets when ownership changes. New owners get a new base year value equal to the market value at the time of purchase. The cap also does not apply to land — only to the structure and improvements on the homestead.

For example, if your home was appraised at $250,000 last year, the appraisal district cannot appraise it higher than $275,000 this year, regardless of what comparable homes in your neighborhood sold for. This cap alone can save homeowners thousands over time in fast-appreciating markets like Austin, Dallas, and Houston.

If you move, sell the property, or buy a new home, you must file a new application. The exemption does not transfer. The appraisal district may also require you to verify your eligibility periodically by sending a new application or confirmation form.

How Does the Homestead Exemption Interact With Other Exemptions?

The homestead exemption exists independently of other property tax exemptions. A property can have both a homestead exemption and an ag exemption, as long as the ag exemption applies only to the agricultural land and the homestead applies only to the residential portion.

For landowners with a homestead on ag-exempt property, the appraisal district assigns the homestead exemption to the residence and up to 20 surrounding acres used for residential purposes. The remaining acreage receives the agricultural valuation. Learn more about qualifying for the ag exemption to understand how the two exemptions work together.

For homeowners considering a property tax protest, the homestead exemption reduces the taxable value even further after a successful protest lowers the appraised value.

Where to Go Next

The homestead exemption is the simplest way to reduce your property taxes in Texas. The application is free, the process is straightforward, and the savings apply every year without reapplication.

Start by checking your county appraisal district's website for the application form. File by April 30. If you are over 65, disabled, or a veteran with a service-connected disability, include the additional exemption forms for those categories.

For a broader look at all tax relief options available to Texas landowners, including ag exemptions, conservation easements, and wildlife management valuation, visit our exemptions hub.

Use our property tax savings estimator to see how much you could save by stacking multiple exemptions on your property.