Your 2026 Texas tax bill is here. Is the $140,000 homestead exemption on it?

2026 property tax bills are arriving in Dallas–Fort Worth mailboxes now, and they are due by January 31. Before you pay yours, check one line on it: the homestead exemption. It is the biggest property tax break a Texas homeowner gets, it is free, and a surprising number of people who qualify for it have never filed. If you are thinking of selling, it also changes what a buyer will see on your tax bill, so it is worth getting right before you list.

In Dallas County alone, research by the Child Poverty Action Lab estimates about 57,000 households are missing it, leaving nearly $310 million unclaimed. Harris County puts its number at about 113,000 homeowners, and Travis and Bexar at about 60,000 each. On a typical Dallas County home, the difference was roughly $7,062 a year in taxes without the exemption against $4,573 with it, about 35% off the bill.

What the exemption is worth now

Texas voters raised the school district homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000 in November 2025 (Proposition 13). The increase took effect with the 2025 tax year, so it was on last year’s bills, and it stays on the 2026 bills going out now. School taxes are usually the largest line on a Texas bill. The median Texas school district tax rate for 2025 was about $0.97 per $100 of value (maintenance and operations plus debt service), so on a home worth at least $140,000 the school exemption alone is worth roughly $1,350 a year. Your district’s rate may be higher or lower.

On top of that:

• Age 65 or older, or disabled: an additional $60,000 off the school district value, plus a freeze (tax ceiling) on the school tax amount from the year you qualify.
• The 10% cap: once a home has the homestead exemption, its taxable value cannot rise more than 10% a year, however fast the market value climbs. Without the exemption there is no cap at all.
• Local exemptions: cities, counties and other taxing units may give their own exemption of up to 20% of the value. Many in North Texas do.

So the exemption saves you money this year, and the cap keeps saving you money in every year values jump.

Check your bill in two minutes

1. Find the exemptions line. Your tax statement lists each taxing unit (school district, city, county, college, hospital district) with any exemption applied next to it. A homestead usually shows as HS, and an over-65 exemption as OV65.
2. No HS next to the school district? Look up your account on your appraisal district’s website. Search by address at the Dallas Central Appraisal District, Tarrant Appraisal District, Collin Central Appraisal District or Denton Central Appraisal District. The exemptions section of the account shows what is on file.
3. Still nothing? You need to file. It takes about ten minutes.

Who usually misses it

• Recent buyers. The exemption does not transfer with the house. The seller’s exemption stays on that year’s bill, which is why a first bill can look fine. You must file your own.
• Heirs. If you live in a parent’s or grandparent’s house and your name is not on the deed, you can still qualify. You file the same application plus an affidavit (Form 50-114-A) and documents such as a death certificate or a utility bill in your name. If you are settling an estate and plan to sell, our inherited home guide covers who can sign.
• People who moved. You can have only one homestead. If your driver’s license still shows the old address, the new application is usually where things stall.
• Anyone who assumed it was automatic. It never is. Appraisal districts must send letters to homeowners who may be eligible, but a letter is easy to miss and many go to the wrong name.

How to file (free)

You file with your county appraisal district, not the tax office and not the state. The form is the Comptroller’s Form 50-114, Application for Residence Homestead Exemption, and most North Texas appraisal districts let you file it online.

You need:

• Proof that you own the home and live in it as your main residence.
• A Texas driver’s license or state ID showing the home’s address.
• A statement that you do not claim a homestead anywhere else.

You do not need to pay anyone to do this. Mailers that offer to “file your homestead for you” for a fee are selling a form you can file yourself for nothing.

If you bought this year, file as soon as you have moved in and updated your license. Approval generally carries forward, so you do not refile each year unless something changes.

You can get up to two years back

This is the part most people do not know. Texas lets you file a homestead application late, up to two years after the date the taxes for that year became delinquent, and the tax office then refunds the overpayment.

Taxes become delinquent on February 1 of the year after the bill. So right now:

• 2024 taxes became delinquent February 1, 2025. You can still file a late application for 2024 until about January 31, 2027.
• 2025 taxes became delinquent February 1, 2026. That window runs until about January 31, 2028.

If you have lived in your home for two or three years without the exemption, a single application with the late request can recover real money. Once it is approved, the collector has 60 days to refund the tax paid on the exempt amount. If your mortgage escrows your taxes, ask your servicer for an escrow analysis afterwards so your monthly payment comes down too. The refund is yours even if you sell the house before it arrives, so file before you list, not after.

Pay the bill on time either way

Filing the exemption does not pause the bill. Texas property taxes not paid by January 31 pick up a 6% penalty plus 1% interest in February, rising each month to 18% by July. If your application is still pending, pay the bill as issued and let the refund follow.

Seniors and disabled homeowners who cannot pay can ask the tax office about a deferral or an installment plan on a homestead. Both stop the account from going to suit, and both are much easier to set up before the delinquency date than after. If the bill is already past due and a sale is on the table, the behind on property taxes guide explains how a closing clears it.

If you are about to sell

Three things to know before you list.

• Buyers read your tax bill as their tax bill, and it is not. Your bill shows your exemptions and your capped value. A buyer loses both: their taxable value resets to market, and they pay full taxes until their own exemption is filed and takes effect. A good listing agent explains this up front so the buyer’s lender does not under-estimate the payment and the deal does not wobble at the end.
• An over-65 exemption does not move with the house, but your tax ceiling can. If you are 65 or older and buying another Texas homestead, you can transfer the percentage of your school tax ceiling to the new home. Ask your appraisal district for the ceiling certificate before closing.
• Taxes are prorated at closing. Texas taxes are paid in arrears, so you credit the buyer for your share of this year’s taxes up to the closing date, based on the current bill. If the exemption should have been on that bill and was not, file now so the proration uses the right number.

If you want to know what your home would bring today with those numbers in front of you, ask a local agent for a free home value estimate. It is free and there is no obligation.

Sources

• Texas Tribune, “Thousands of Texas homeowners aren’t claiming property tax savings,” October 20, 2026: Dallas County ~57,000 households and ~$310 million (Child Poverty Action Lab); Harris ~113,000; Travis and Bexar ~60,000 each; median Dallas County bill $7,062 without and $4,573 with the exemption.
• Texas Legislative Council, Analyses of Proposed Constitutional Amendments, November 4, 2025 election: Proposition 13 (S.J.R. 2 and S.B. 4) raises the school homestead exemption to $140,000 and takes effect for the tax year beginning January 1, 2025; Proposition 11 (S.J.R. 85 and S.B. 23) raises the 65-or-older and disability exemption to $60,000 from 2025. Both passed: Texas Standard, Texas voters approve 17 constitutional amendments.
• School district tax rates: Texas Comptroller, 2025 school district rates and levies (from the tax rates and levies page); the median total rate across 1,013 districts is $0.9658 per $100 (median M&O $0.7122, median I&S $0.2585). Texas Education Agency, Tax Year 2025 Maximum Compressed Tax Rates: the maximum M&O rate for any district in 2025 is $0.8022 per $100. The $1,350 figure is our arithmetic: $140,000 × $0.9658 / $100.
• Texas Comptroller, Property Tax Exemptions: $140,000 school district homestead exemption, additional $60,000 for 65+ or disabled, local option exemption up to 20%, Form 50-114 and 50-114-A; tax ceiling transfer for homeowners 65 or older or disabled.
• Texas Tax Code §11.431: late homestead applications accepted up to two years after the delinquency date, with a refund within 60 days.
• Texas Tax Code §23.23: 10% annual cap on the appraised value of a residence homestead.
• Texas Tax Code §33.01: 6% penalty in the first month of delinquency, rising to 12% by July 1, plus 1% interest a month.

This is general information about Texas property tax exemptions, not tax or legal advice. Your appraisal district decides eligibility, and exemption amounts and tax rates vary by taxing unit.