Texas and Florida property tax: exemptions, caps, appeals and bills

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There is no national property tax in the United States. The bill a homeowner receives each year is local, and the rules that shape it are written state by state: who values the home, which slice of that value is exempt, how fast the taxable figure may rise, how to challenge it and when the money is due.

This guide works through two states, Texas and Florida, because they answer the same questions in different ways. Both give a resident owner a homestead exemption and a yearly cap on value increases, but the amounts, the percentages and the calendars differ. It describes the position as read in October 2026 on the property tax pages of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and the Florida Department of Revenue, and in the 2026 edition of the Florida Statutes published by the Florida Legislature. Local tax rates were not read for this guide and none is quoted: every worked example below is illustrative and says what it assumes.

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, exemptions and valuation pages; Florida Statutes 2026, section 193.155. Read in October 2026.

Who values the home and who sets the rate

In both states the work is split between a body that values property and bodies that decide how much to raise from it.

In Texas, the Comptroller's valuation page says each county's appraisal district determines the value of all taxable property in the county. Section 23.01 of the Texas Tax Code, as the Comptroller summarises it, requires property to be appraised at market value as of 1 January, with few exceptions. The page defines market value as the price at which a property would transfer for cash or its equivalent under prevailing market conditions.

The appraisal district only determines value, the Comptroller states: tax rates are set by the local taxing units, such as school districts and counties.

In Florida, the Department of Revenue's taxpayer page says the county property appraiser assesses all property at just value each year on 1 January. The local taxing authorities then hold hearings to adopt their final budgets and their millage rates, the name Florida uses for the tax rate. A third local officer, the county tax collector, sends the bill and takes the payment.

Texas homestead exemptions: the published amounts

An exemption removes part of a home's value from the tax base. In Texas the amounts depend on which taxing unit is doing the taxing, and the Comptroller's exemptions page lists them by section of the Tax Code.

The largest applies to school district taxes. Section 11.13(b), as the Comptroller's page gives it in October 2026, requires school districts to provide a US$140,000 residence homestead exemption. An owner who is aged 65 or older, or disabled, receives an additional US$60,000 school district exemption under section 11.13(c). The two together come to US$200,000 of value removed from the school district's base.

Other units are covered by smaller or optional provisions. Under section 11.13(a), counties that collect farm-to-market or flood control taxes give a US$3,000 exemption for those taxes. Under section 11.13(n), any taxing unit may choose to adopt a local option exemption of up to 20 per cent of a home's appraised value, and where it is adopted it cannot be less than US$5,000. Under section 11.13(d), a taxing unit may also adopt a further exemption for owners aged 65 or older or disabled, which cannot be less than US$3,000.

Exemptions are applied for, and the application goes to the appraisal district of the county where the property sits. The Comptroller names Form 50-114 as the residence homestead exemption application and gives the general filing deadline as before 1 May.

A worked example, with assumed values. A home is appraised at US$400,000. For school district taxes, the US$140,000 exemption leaves US$260,000 taxable. If the owner is 65 or older, the further US$60,000 leaves US$200,000. If the city has adopted the full 20 per cent local option exemption, the city taxes a value reduced by US$80,000, which is US$320,000.

Florida homestead exemption: two layers

Florida's exemption is set out in section 196.031 of the Florida Statutes, and it comes in two layers that apply to different bands of value.

The first layer, in subsection (1)(a), exempts up to US$25,000 of assessed valuation. It is available to a person who, on 1 January, holds legal title or beneficial title in equity to Florida real property and in good faith makes it a permanent residence, their own or that of a dependant.

The second layer, in subsection (1)(b), is an additional exemption of up to US$25,000 on the assessed valuation greater than US$50,000. It applies to all levies other than school district levies. The Department of Revenue sums the two layers up by saying the exemption can reduce a home's taxable value by as much as US$50,000.

The second layer is no longer a fixed figure. The 2026 text of section 196.031(1)(b) says its US$25,000 amount is adjusted every 1 January for inflation, using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, and only when the change in the index is positive. The adjusted amount in force for 2026 is published by the Department of Revenue in a document that could not be read for this guide, so it is not given here: the figure above is the statutory base.

A worked example on the base figures, with an assumed value. A homestead is assessed at US$300,000. For school district levies only the first layer applies, and the taxable value is US$275,000. For every other levy both layers apply, and the taxable value is US$250,000.

Subsection (6) bars a person who claims a residence-based exemption or credit in another state. Applications go to the property appraiser of the county where the property is located, and section 193.155 refers to applications made on or before 1 March.

The Texas 10 per cent cap on a homestead

An exemption lowers the taxable value. A cap does something different: it limits how fast the appraised value itself can climb from one year to the next, whatever the market does.

The Texas rule is in section 23.23(a) of the Tax Code. The Comptroller's page says a qualifying homeowner's appraised value may not increase more than 10 per cent per year. The mechanics are a comparison of two figures. The appraised value is the lesser of the home's market value, or the sum of three things: the prior year's appraised value, 10 per cent of that value, and the market value of any new improvements.

Timing matters. The Comptroller says the limitation takes effect on 1 January of the tax year following the year in which the owner qualifies for the homestead exemption, so it does not operate in the year of qualification itself. Separately, section 25.18 requires appraisal districts to reappraise all property at least once every three years.

New improvements are added on top of the cap. Section 23.23(e) defines a new improvement as one made after the most recent appraisal that increases the property's market value. Repairs and ordinary maintenance do not count, and under section 23.23(f) nor does a structure that replaces one made uninhabitable by a casualty or by wind or water damage.

A worked example, with assumed values. A homestead was appraised at US$400,000 last year and its market value is now US$460,000. Ten per cent of last year's appraised value is US$40,000, so the capped figure is US$440,000. That is lower than the market value, so the appraised value for the year is US$440,000 and US$20,000 of market value stays outside the tax base. A new extension with a market value of US$30,000 would lift the capped figure to US$470,000. If instead the market had risen only to US$420,000, the market value would be the lower figure and the cap would have no effect.

Florida's Save Our Homes limit

Florida's cap is tighter and is tied to inflation. Section 193.155(1) of the Florida Statutes provides that homestead property is reassessed each 1 January, starting the year after the property receives the exemption. Any increase in assessed value is limited to the lower of two figures: 3 per cent of the prior year's assessed value, or the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the preceding calendar year. The Department of Revenue calls this the Save Our Homes assessment limitation and notes that it is the homestead exemption that qualifies a home for it.

Two further rules in the same section set the edges. Under subsection (2), the assessed value can never exceed just value, so if the market falls below the capped figure the assessment follows it down. Under subsection (4)(a), changes, additions and improvements are assessed at just value as of the first 1 January after they are substantially completed, outside the cap.

A worked example, with assumed values. A homestead is assessed at US$300,000. If the index rose 2.4 per cent in the preceding calendar year, the assessed value can rise by at most US$7,200, to US$307,200. If the index rose 4 per cent, the 3 per cent limit applies instead and the ceiling is US$309,000.

A cap does not lower a tax rate. It decides how much of a home's market value the rate is allowed to reach, and for how long.

What a sale does to the assessed value

Years of capped increases can leave a long-held home assessed well below what it would sell for. The question for a buyer is whether that gap comes with the keys. Florida's statute answers it in terms. For Texas, the page read does not, and what follows on Texas is this guide's reading of that page, labelled as such.

Florida says so directly. Section 193.155(3) provides that property is assessed at just value as of 1 January of the year following a change of ownership, after which the yearly limit starts again from the new figure. A change of ownership is defined as any sale, foreclosure, or transfer of legal title or beneficial title in equity to any person. The section lists exceptions, among them transfers between spouses, transfers to a surviving spouse and transfers on the dissolution of a marriage.

A worked example, with assumed values. A seller's homestead has a just value of US$500,000 and, after many capped years, an assessed value of US$320,000. The home is sold during the year. On the following 1 January it is assessed at its just value on that date, not at US$320,000, and the buyer's own 3 per cent limit begins from there.

For Texas there is no equivalent sentence to quote. The Comptroller's valuation page does not address a sale in terms. What it says is that the 10 per cent limitation expires on 1 January of the tax year following the year in which the owner no longer qualifies for the homestead exemption, and that a limitation takes effect on 1 January of the tax year following the year in which an owner qualifies. Read together, those two statements suggest that the seller's limit ends with the seller's homestead and that a buyer who makes the home a homestead gets a limit of their own from a later year. That is a reading of the page, not a rule the Comptroller states there, and the Tax Code itself was not read for this guide.

Portability: taking the Florida benefit to a new home

Florida allows a homeowner who moves within the state to carry the accumulated benefit of the cap to the next home. The Department of Revenue calls this porting the assessment difference. The rules are in section 193.155(8).

To qualify, the owner of the new homestead must have received a homestead exemption as of 1 January of any of the three immediately preceding years. The values of the previous home are taken as of 1 January of the year it was abandoned as a homestead. The statute then gives two formulas, depending on whether the owner is moving up or down in value.

1. The new home's just value is equal to or greater than the old one's. Under subsection (8)(a), the new assessed value is the new just value minus the lesser of US$500,000 or the difference between the old home's just value and its assessed value.
2. The new home's just value is lower. Under subsection (8)(b), the new assessed value is the new just value divided by the old just value, multiplied by the old assessed value. If that leaves a gap of more than US$500,000 between the new just value and the new assessed value, the assessed value is raised until the gap is US$500,000.

A worked example, keeping the figures used above. The old homestead had a just value of US$500,000 and an assessed value of US$320,000, a difference of US$180,000. If the owner buys a home with a just value of US$650,000, the first formula applies and the new assessed value is US$650,000 less US$180,000, which is US$470,000. If the owner instead buys a home with a just value of US$400,000, the second formula applies: US$400,000 divided by US$500,000 is 0.8, and 0.8 of US$320,000 is US$256,000. The benefit carried over is then US$144,000.

Portability is not automatic. Under subsections (8)(h) and (8)(l), the owner files the Department's form together with the homestead exemption application for the new home, by 1 March. Subsection (8)(j) lets a person who missed that date apply late and petition the value adjustment board, on payment of a non-refundable US$15 fee and on showing particular extenuating circumstances. Under subsection (8)(k), an owner who does not file in the first year may file in a later one, but the reduction applies only from the year it is first approved and nothing is refunded for the years before.

Protesting an appraisal in Texas

The Texas Comptroller's protest page sets out a route with fixed dates. It starts with the notice of appraised value, which section 25.19 requires the appraisal district to send by 1 April, or as soon afterwards as practicable, for a single-family residence.

A protest is heard by the appraisal review board of the county. The grounds are broad: the Comptroller says an owner may protest the value or any of the appraisal district's actions concerning the property, including exemptions.

The 30 days run from the date the appraisal district mails the notice, not from the day it arrives, and any written notice is sufficient if it identifies the property and the owner and says the owner is dissatisfied. A late protest can still be heard if the owner shows good cause.

An owner who is not satisfied with the board's order has three routes, each with its own deadline, according to the Comptroller.

An appeal does not suspend the bill. For a court appeal, the Comptroller says the owner must pay the taxes that are not in dispute before the delinquency date.

Petitioning the value adjustment board in Florida

Florida's challenge runs on a later calendar, because the key document arrives in late summer. The Department of Revenue says the property appraiser mails the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes in August. It is known as the TRIM notice and is Form DR-474.

An owner who wants to appeal the value files a petition with the county's value adjustment board. The Department's taxpayer page says the petition is made on one of the DR-486 forms, is filed with the clerk, and must be filed within 25 days of the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes.

The board's remit is wider than value. According to the Department, it hears appeals on property value assessments, on denied exemptions or classifications, on tax deferrals, on portability decisions and on findings of a change of ownership or control. The filing fee, the hearing notice periods and the route to court afterwards are not on the pages read for this guide and are left out. Its procedures are set by Rule Chapters 12D-9 and 12D-10 of the Florida Administrative Code.

Paying in Texas: dates, discounts and penalties

The Texas Comptroller's payment pages describe a cycle that starts in the autumn. Taxing units begin mailing bills in October, and payment is due on receipt. The date that matters is the end of January: taxes not paid by 31 January are delinquent on 1 February. If a bill is mailed after 10 January, the delinquency date moves to the first day of the next month that leaves at least 21 days to pay, so a bill mailed on 15 January becomes delinquent on 1 March.

Not receiving a bill changes nothing. The Comptroller states that it does not affect the validity of the tax, the penalty, the interest or the delinquency date. Where a mortgage company pays the taxes, it receives the bill.

Discounts for paying early exist in Texas only where a taxing unit's governing body has adopted them under section 31.05. Where it has, the usual schedule is 3 per cent for payment in October or earlier, 2 per cent in November and 1 per cent in December. Under section 31.03, where it is allowed, an owner may also make a split payment: half by 30 November and the rest by 30 June, with no penalty or interest.

Late payment is costly from the first day. On 1 February a delinquent bill incurs a 6 per cent penalty and 1 per cent interest. The penalty then grows by 1 per cent a month until 1 July, when it becomes 12 per cent, and interest keeps accruing at 1 per cent a month with no maximum. The Comptroller adds that a tax lien attaches to the property on 1 January each year to secure all taxes. A worked example on an assumed bill, since no tax rate was read for this guide. Take a bill of US$6,000, an invented figure, left wholly unpaid: on 1 February the penalty is US$360 and the interest US$60, so US$6,420 is owed.

Older and disabled homeowners have two further options. Under section 31.031, an owner who is 65 or older or disabled, and certain disabled veterans, may pay homestead taxes in four equal instalments: the first before the 1 February delinquency date, then before 1 April, 1 June and 1 August. Under section 33.06, the same groups may defer the taxes on a residence homestead altogether, with interest of 5 per cent a year running on the deferred amount.

Paying in Florida: a discount for every early month

Florida's cycle is shifted by about two months and its discounts are built into the bill. The Department of Revenue says tax collectors generally send tax bills, Form DR-528, in November, and that taxes become delinquent on 1 April.

Between those dates, paying sooner costs less. The Department gives the discount as 4 per cent for payment in November, 3 per cent in December, 2 per cent in January and 1 per cent in February. The Department lists no discount for March.

A worked example on an assumed bill of US$5,000, an invented figure used only to show the arithmetic. Paid in November it costs US$4,800, a saving of US$200. Paid in December it costs US$4,850, in January US$4,900 and in February US$4,950.

The Department also describes an instalment plan, for which the application must reach the tax collector by 1 May of the assessment year, months before the bill would otherwise arrive. Tax certificates are sold on unpaid items by 1 June.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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