How to File a Homestead Exemption in Texas: Complete Guide
Texas exempts $140,000 of a home’s appraised value from school-district property tax under Tax Code § 11.13(b), beginning with the 2025 tax year. File Comptroller Form 50-114 with the appraisal district for the county where the home sits, before May 1. Once allowed, it carries forward without yearly refiling.
The separate homestead that protects the home from forced sale by creditors rests on the Texas Constitution and Property Code chapter 41; see Texas homestead law and creditor protection.
What SB 4, SB 23 and the November 2025 vote changed
Senate Bill 4 of the 89th Legislature (2025 regular session) raised § 11.13(b) to $140,000; Senate Bill 23 raised the extra school exemption in § 11.13(c) for owners 65 or older or disabled from $10,000 to $60,000. Voters adopted the matching constitutional amendments on November 4, 2025: Proposition 13 (S.J.R. 2) and Proposition 11 (S.J.R. 85). Each bill says the amended section “applies only to an ad valorem tax year that begins on or after January 1, 2025.”
| Exemption | Taxing unit | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| General residence homestead | Every school district | $140,000 of appraised value; only $5,000 of it applies to an entity operating under former Education Code chapters 17, 18, 25, 26, 27 or 28 as permitted by Education Code § 11.301 | § 11.13(b) |
| Owner 65 or older, or disabled | Every school district, on top of (b) | $60,000 of appraised value | § 11.13(c) |
| Farm-to-market / flood-control levy | A county levying the tax authorized by Tex. Const. art. VIII, § 1-a | $3,000 of assessed value | § 11.13(a) |
| Local-option percentage | Any taxing unit whose governing body adopts it before July 1 | Up to 20% of appraised value; never less than $5,000 | § 11.13(n) |
| Local-option 65 or older / disabled | Any taxing unit that adopts it, by its governing body or by election | $3,000 unless the adopting body or the election petition sets more | § 11.13(d), (e) |
Where a county adopts the (d) exemption, an owner eligible for both it and the $3,000 farm-to-market exemption takes only the (d) one for that county tax (§ 11.13(g)). An owner who is both disabled and 65 or older may not receive both a disabled and an elderly exemption from the same taxing unit in the same year but may choose either if that unit has adopted both; exemptions from different taxing units may be combined (§ 11.13(h)). Section 11.13(i) lets a unit keep collecting a tax pledged to debt before the exemption was adopted, if granting it would impair the debt contract.
Which property qualifies under § 11.13(j)
A residence homestead is a structure, including a mobile home, or a separately secured and occupied portion of one, with up to 20 acres of land and improvements used in the residential occupancy, “if the structure and the land and improvements have identical ownership.” It must be:
- owned by one or more individuals, directly or through a beneficial interest in a qualifying trust (defined in § 11.13(j)(3));
- designed or adapted for human residence;
- used as a residence; and
- occupied as the individual’s principal residence by an owner, by an owner’s surviving spouse who has a life estate in the property, or, for trust-held property, by a trustor or beneficiary who qualifies.
A residence homestead can also be an interest held through stock in a cooperative housing corporation, if the four conditions in § 11.13(o) are met; the exemption then covers the dwelling and the owner’s stock-percentage share of the common area, up to 20 acres (§ 11.13(p)).
“A person may not receive an exemption under this section for more than one residence homestead in the same year,” and joint, community or successive owners cannot each receive the same exemption on the same home in the same year.
Completing Form 50-114 and where it goes
Section 11.43(a) sends the application to the chief appraiser “for each appraisal district in which the property subject to the claimed exemption has situs.” The form (revision 02-26) adds: “Do not file this form with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.” Under § 11.43(j) the application must:
- list each owner and each owner’s interest;
- state that the applicant claims no § 11.13 exemption on another Texas homestead and no homestead exemption outside Texas;
- state that each fact in it is true;
- include a copy of the applicant’s driver’s license or state-issued ID, unless the applicant lives in a facility providing services related to health, infirmity or aging, or is certified in the attorney general’s address confidentiality program;
- state that the applicant has read and understands the notice of penalties under Penal Code § 37.10; and
- be signed by the applicant.
The address on that license or ID must match the homestead (§ 11.43(n)). The chief appraiser may waive the match for an active-duty service member or spouse who attaches a military ID and a utility bill for the property in either one’s name, and for a holder of a license issued under Transportation Code § 521.121(c) or § 521.1211 who attaches a copy of that license application (§ 11.43(p)). An owner not named on a recorded deed, including an heir, supplies the extra documents listed in § 11.43(o); Form 50-114-A holds the affidavits.
January 1, before May 1, and the late window
Eligibility is fixed on January 1, except as § 11.42 itself provides; the purchase-year rule is in the FAQ below. Section 11.43(d): “a person required to claim an exemption must file a completed exemption application form before May 1.” For good cause the chief appraiser may extend that by written order for a single period of up to 60 days.
Missed it? Under § 11.431(a) the chief appraiser must take a homestead application filed “not later than two years after the delinquency date for the taxes on the homestead.” By § 31.02(a), taxes are delinquent “if not paid before February 1 of the year following the year in which imposed,” with exceptions in § 31.02 and §§ 31.03–31.04. If the tax was already paid, § 11.431(b) orders a refund of the tax on the exempted amount.
After approval: carry-forward and the duty to notify
A § 11.13 exemption, “once allowed, need not be claimed in subsequent years,” and it stays with the property until ownership or the owner’s qualification changes (§ 11.43(c)); the chief appraiser may require a new application only after having reason to believe you no longer qualify, attempting to determine whether you still do, and delivering written notice with an application form that states the specific reason (§ 11.43(c-1)). When your entitlement ends, § 11.43(g) requires written notice to the appraisal office “before May 1 after his entitlement to the exemption ends.”
Related: property tax calculator; Texas property tax and protests; homestead exemptions by state.
FAQ
I closed on my house in August. Can I get the exemption this year?
Yes, for the part of the year you own it, if the seller did not receive the same exemption for that tax year (§ 11.42(f)). Apply before the first anniversary of your purchase (§ 11.43(d)). The 65-or-older and disabled exemptions in § 11.13(c) and (d) are outside this rule.
Do I have to file again when I turn 65?
Not if you already receive the general exemption and the district has your birth date from your application, correspondence or DPS records: under § 11.43(m) the 65-or-older exemption is then allowed, without a request, for the tax year in which you turn 65, unless the chief appraiser finds you no longer qualify for any § 11.13 exemption on the property. Otherwise apply no later than the first anniversary of turning 65 (§ 11.43(k)); the exemption covers that entire tax year (§ 11.42(c)).
I am moving into assisted living. Do I lose the exemption?
No, as long as you do not establish a different principal residence. Section 11.13(l) keeps homestead status during an absence caused by residency in a facility providing services related to health, infirmity or aging, or by service in the U.S. or Texas armed forces, and during any other absence of less than two years if you intend to return.