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Own your Home? File for a homestead exemption to lower your property taxes

Many homeowners have already filed for a homestead exemption to reduce taxes. If you haven't, do it now.

TEMPLE, Texas — A General Residence Homestead Exemption is available for anyone who owns their own home, lived in that home on January 1 of this year, and who did not change their permeant residence since January 1 of this year. 

If you own your home right now, this should apply for you. Realtors tell 6 News you should apply for this exemption right away. 

A General Residence Homestead Exemption caps the taxable value of your home from increasing more than 10 percent each year.

If a home was valued at $200,000 last year, and the 2022 appraisal put the new value at $260,000, a homeowner with this exemption would be taxed at a value of $220,000 instead of the full $260,000. This is because $220,000 is a ten percent increase from the original $200,000. 

The following year, that taxable value of $220,000 could only increase ten percent more to $242,000, regardless of what the appraised value was. 

If the homeowner, unfortunately, did not file for a General Residence Homestead Exemption. They would be taxed on the full, newly appraised value of $260,000 this year.

Realtors typically encourage homeowners to file the exemption as soon as they are eligible after buying a home. A General Residence Homestead Exemption will also protect a home from being forcibly sold by creditors if a homeowner files for bankruptcy.  

A homeowner can still file for this exemption this year as well. Simply download Form 50-114 here and take that form to your local tax appraisal district along with a valid drivers license. The form may be mailed in with a photo of the driver's license as well. 

    

    

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