How to Confirm Your Homestead in Texas
- 1). Obtain an "Application for Residence Homestead Exemption" from your local appraisal district. You also can download a copy of the form from the Texas Comptroller's website
- 2). Fill out the application. You will need to include the address of the homestead, how much of it you own, who else owns part of it, and a description of the property. You also will need to provide your and your spouse's name, dates of birth, driver's license numbers and other contact information.
- 3). Check the box for "General Residence Exemption." To qualify for this exemption, you must have owned and lived in the home on Jan. 1 of the year for which you are seeking an exemption, and you or your spouse cannot have claimed an exemption for another property the same year. This exemption usually gives you a $15,000 reduction in the amount of your home's value used in calculating school taxes.
- 4). Check the box for "Age 65 or Older Exemption" or "Disability Exemption" if either of these applies to you or your spouse. These exemption increase the amount of property value that is exempt from property taxes. You can claim only one of these exemptions. These exemptions take another $10,000 of the value of your property used in figured school district taxes.
- 5). Check the "100% Disabled Veteran's Exemption" if you are considered 100 percent disabled or unemployable by the Veteran's Administration (VA). The amount of additional exemption ranges from $5,000 to $12,000 depending on your disability rating. Attach documentation from the VA with your application.
- 6). Check the "Age 55 or Older Surviving Spouse ..." box if if your were 55 or older when your spouse died, and the spouse qualified for an "Age 65 or Older" exemption on your home the year of their death.
- 7). Sign the form and mail it to your local appraisal district. You have one year after the due date of your taxes to submit the application.
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