Hundreds of Thousands of Texas Homeowners May Be Missing Their Homestead Exemption. Here Is How to Claim It

Property tax bills are landing in Texas mailboxes this month. For a lot of homeowners, the bill is higher than it needs to be for one simple reason: they never filed a one-page form.

Hundreds of thousands of Texas homeowners who may qualify for a homestead exemption have not claimed it, policy experts and appraisal districts told The Texas Tribune.

The exemption takes at least $140,000 off the value that school districts can tax, and it unlocks more savings if cities and counties offer their own exemptions.

How big is the gap?

The Tribune’s figures, county by county:

Dallas County: about 57,000 households that have left nearly $310 million on the table, according to the Child Poverty Action Lab, a Dallas nonprofit. Harris County: some 113,000 homeowners who could be eligible, the appraisal district said. Travis and Bexar counties: roughly 60,000 each.

In Travis County, that is about 1 in 5 households that might be eligible but lack the exemption. In the others, it is roughly 1 in 10. Appraisal districts cannot give a precise count, because they can identify who might be eligible but not who certainly is.

The money is real. Without the exemption, the owner of a median-priced home in Dallas County could have expected to pay $7,062 in property taxes last year, according to a report from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law’s Housing Policy Clinic and the Child Poverty Action Lab. With it, the bill would have been $4,573, a 35% savings. An older homeowner would have paid $1,872.

Why people miss it

The exemption is not automatic. Some homeowners never hear about it, especially first-time buyers or heirs who did not use a lender or real estate agent.

"How are you supposed to even know that this exemption exists if your real estate agent or mortgage broker hasn’t told you about the exemption?" said Heather Way, who heads the Housing Policy Clinic.

Others hit paperwork walls. Applicants generally need a current Texas driver’s license or state ID with the property address on it, and some older homeowners let their licenses lapse long ago. Some appraisal districts do not offer the form in Spanish. Some mailed notices get tossed as junk. In Bexar County, the appraisal district sent notices to nearly 82,000 likely eligible homeowners in January, and by October roughly a quarter had claimed the exemption.

Who qualifies

According to the Tribune’s guide, you can apply if you own at least part of your home, it is your primary residence, and you lived there as of Jan. 1. You may claim only one primary residence, in Texas or anywhere else.

Homeowners 65 and older or with a qualifying disability get an extra $60,000 exemption, and their school tax bill freezes. A homestead also brings the state’s 10% cap on how fast a home’s taxable value can rise each year, though that does not stop local governments from raising tax rates.

An heir whose name is not on the deed can still qualify by filing an affidavit with documents such as a death certificate and a recent utility bill.

How to apply

Contact your county appraisal district or check its website. Filing is free. Appraisal districts must accept the Comptroller’s Residence Homestead Exemption Application, Form 50-114. Many districts take applications online, and you can also mail or deliver one.

The deadline for the current year is April 30 if you lived in the home on Jan. 1. If you missed it, most homeowners can still apply up to two years after that year’s taxes were paid and get a refund of the difference. Some, such as disabled veterans, may have up to five years for certain exemptions.

To check whether you already have it, look up your property on the appraisal district’s website or check your tax bill. Districts usually do not send an approval letter.

The policy debate

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, the Houston Republican behind recent increases in the exemption, says more homeowners are claiming it. The Comptroller reports some 6.28 million Texas homeowners had an exemption in 2025, which Bettencourt says is 580,000 more than two years earlier. He has rejected automatic enrollment, citing data accuracy and fraud concerns. "At some point in time, it becomes pushing on a rope of human nature," he said.

Way has suggested one statewide online application run by the Comptroller instead of 253 separate appraisal district systems. That is a reasonable idea worth a hearing, and the next Comptroller will have a say. Our look at the comptroller race covers the candidates.

Meanwhile, the duty falls where it always has: on the homeowner. If you own and live in your home and do not see the exemption on your bill, file the form. Then read our guide to property tax due dates and penalties before the bill comes due.