Learn More About Texas Property Tax Relief

In May of 2022, Texans voted on Texas property tax relief. Property tax refers to a taxation system that requires land and building owners to pay an amount based on their property’s value to their local government. Texas property tax is the seventh highest in the United States, averaging 1.69%. You can see your tax due on your tax certificate, and you might be astonished at how high it is. Hence, Texans sought to do something about this. Therefore, the senator passed the Texas property tax reform to help reduce the cost. 

What is the Texas Property Tax Law? 

The Texas property tax law is locally administered, meaning the local government controls it. The tax is compulsory for property owners responsible for paying a percentage of their property's value to the local government. This tax operates various public services, such as schools, police officers, firefighters, parks, etc. 

Texas offers conditional tax exemptions, either partial or complete, from property tax to a specific group of people. If you meet the requirement for a particular group exempted from the total property tax under the Texas property tax law, you can apply and reduce the tax amount you are currently paying. 

Types of Texas Property Tax Reductions

Texas property tax reduction varies depending on their requirements. Each property tax help in Texas has its conditions, and eligible people can get different amounts as their Texas tax relief. These tax reliefs are mentioned in Chapter 11 of the Texas Tax Code. Below are some types of Texas property tax reduction and their conditions. 

Basic Homestead Exemption

The Tax Code Section 11.13(a) requires that counties that collect taxes for flood control or farm-to-market taxes provide a #3000 exemption on residence homestead. According to Tax Code Section 11.13(b), school districts must exempt $40,000 from the primary homestead. Moreover, the Tax Code Section 11.13(n) allows all taxing units to assume a residence estate exemption of about 20% of the property's value. 

To be eligible for basic homestead exemption, you must: 

• Have ownership of the property
• Live on the property
• Not claim any other exemption in or outside of Texas

Senior Citizens and Disabled People

The Tax Code Section 11.13(c) offers senior citizens and those legally disabled a Texas tax relief of $10,000 on top of the homestead exemption. The Tax Code Section 11.13(d) permits taxing units to avail of a local option homestead exemption of equal to or greater than $3,000. 

To be eligible for the senior citizens and disabled people exemption, you must:

• Be 65 or older 
• Have ownership of the property
• Live on the property
• Or Meet the legal definition of disability 

Disabled Veterans

The Tax Code Section 11.22 offers a partial exemption on property owned by a disabled veteran, which depends on the disability rating. Moreover, Tax Code Section 11.132 offers a partial exemption on any residence homestead donated to the veteran. If a veteran receives a disability rating of 100%, they are entitled to 100% compensation by the Tax Code Section 11.131. 

Veteran’s Surviving Spouse

All Texas property tax reductions and exemptions mentioned for disabled veterans extend to their surviving spouses. For the Tax Code Section 11.22 and 11.133, which state that a total property tax exemption is given to the surviving spouse of a veteran killed or fatally injured in the line of duty, the spouse must be unmarried. 

For the Tax Code Section 11.131, the exemption extends to the surviving spouse but has a few extra conditions: 

• The surviving spouse is unmarried
• The residence homestead property is the same as when the veteran was living 
• The spouse lives in the residence homestead 

The Texas Property Tax Reform Proposition of 2022 

In May 2022, Texans came together to vote on two Texas property tax reform propositions. The propositions could save the average homeowner around $200 annually. The two propositions of the Texas tax reform state: 

• Proposition 1: decreasing the tax rates of senior citizens and disabled people, correcting the error of the 2019 property tax law that lowered property tax but failed to consider senior citizens who qualified to cap their rates. 
• Proposition 2: Increases the homestead exemption from $25,000 to $40,000 and saves $15,000 from taxable home value. 

Both propositions received an overwhelming response, with proposition 1 passing with 87% of votes and proposition 2 passing with 85% of votes. These propositions will build on Texas property Tax Reform 2021.

In early September of 2022, Governor Abbot proposed a tax relief bill in front of Paul Bettencourt that would take $13.5 billion of the total state surplus and use it to reduce property taxes. If the bill comes to fruition, it would be the largest Texas property cut in history. 

This proposal has shaken Texans, with more and more supporting the bill. Such was the support that the Texas Public Policy launched a Local Government Property Tax Tracker to help taxpayers see which cities were hiking taxes.

Get The Best Property Tax Help in Texas 

Property tax can be complicated and messy, but it can be made simple with some help. CertSimple offers the best property tax help in Texas. Our expert services to track data and information can help you through the real estate process in all 254 counties in Texas including Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Fort Worth.

Call us at (800) 806-3639 or fill out our form online, and we will get back to you quickly.