Texas Property Tax
Do disabled veterans pay property taxes in Texas?
Not on the home they live in, if they qualify at 100 percent.Texas exempts the whole value of the main home of a veteran the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pays 100 percent disability compensation, with a rating of 100 percent disabled or of individual unemployability. Texas veterans rated 10 percent or more get a smaller exemption. You apply to the appraisal district in the county where the home is.
This page shows who qualifies, what each exemption covers, and what it changes when you buy a home in Texas.
Start Here
Who gets the full exemption
VA has to pay you 100 percent disability compensation for a service-connected disability. VA also has to rate you 100 percent disabled, or unable to work (individual unemployability).
You need both: the 100 percent pay and one of those two ratings. The home has to be your main home.
To show your rating, give the appraisal district proof from VA. The Texas Comptroller says a driver's license or state ID is not proof of your rating. You can download VA's Benefit Summary Letter, which VA says is sometimes called an award letter. Ask the appraisal district what proof it accepts.
Sources: Texas Tax Code, Section 11.131, Texas Legislature. 100 Percent Disabled Veteran and Surviving Spouse FAQ and Disabled Veteran and Surviving Spouse Exemptions FAQ, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. VA benefit letters, VA. All retrieved 28 October 2026.
Lower Ratings
A smaller exemption on one property
A veteran with a service-connected disability rated 10 percent or more can take up to a set amount off the value of one property they own.
- Rated 70 percent or more: up to $12,000.
- 50 to 69 percent: up to $10,000.
- 30 to 49 percent: up to $7,500.
- 10 to 29 percent: up to $5,000.
You also get $12,000 if you are 65 or older with a rating of at least 10 percent, are totally blind in one or both eyes, or have lost the use of one or more limbs. If more than one fits, you take the largest.
You must live in Texas. It can go on any one property you own, not only your home, and you name that property on Form 50-135. It counts for a year only if you owned the property on January 1. A veteran who gets the full home exemption can get this one too.
Sources: Texas Tax Code, Sections 11.22 and 11.42 (subsection a), Texas Legislature. Disabled Veteran and Surviving Spouse Exemptions FAQ, 100 Percent Disabled Veteran and Surviving Spouse FAQ and Form 50-135, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. All retrieved 28 October 2026.
What It Covers
The home, and up to 20 acres
The full exemption covers your main home and up to 20 acres of land with it, if the home and the land have the same owners.
- Other buildings you use for living there, on that land.
- A mobile or manufactured home. The appraisal district will ask for proof that you own it, such as the state's statement of ownership.
- A home in a trust. Covered for certain kinds of trust the law names. Ask the appraisal district which ones.
- A stay away from home. A stay in a care facility, or an absence of less than two years when you plan to come back, does not end it, as long as you do not set up a different main home. Leaving on permanent change of station (PCS) orders is covered in our Sheppard Air Force Base (AFB) guide.
What it does not cover. Any part of the home you rent out, or use mainly for something other than living in, is not covered. And you can claim only one homestead: not a second one in Texas, and not one in another state.
Sources: Texas Tax Code, Section 11.13 (subsections h, j, k and l) and Section 11.43 (subsection j), Texas Legislature. Form 50-114, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. All retrieved 28 October 2026.
When It Starts
Already own, or buying
The full exemption starts the day you qualify, even partway through a year. What that means depends on whether you already own the home.
You already own your home
And live in itThe day you qualify
If that is after January 1, it covers the rest of that year.
Form 50-114, to the appraisal district
Send it where the home is, with your proof from VA and a copy of your driver's license or state ID. The address on it has to match the home. Form 50-114 lists the exceptions, such as for people living in a care facility and some active duty service members and their spouses.
Up to five years
Counted from when that year's taxes were past due. If you already paid that year's tax, the tax office refunds the tax on the exempt part.
File again for the new home
The old home owes tax for the part of the year after its exemption ends.
You are buying a home
In TexasThe day the home becomes your homestead
That is when you own it and live in it as your main home.
After you move in
Form 50-114 asks the date you bought the home and the date you began living there.
Only for the days before
You owe that year's tax for the days before you qualified. If the tax was already paid, the tax office refunds the difference to whoever owned the home on the day it was paid.
A decision within 90 days
Counted from the day you qualify or the day the appraisal district has what it needs, whichever is later. If it asks for more, you have 30 days to send it, or it is denied. For a good reason, it can give you up to 15 more days.
Once you are approved, you do not apply again each year unless the appraisal district asks. If VA rates your disability permanent and total, the appraisal district cannot make you apply again to recheck that you qualify. If you stop qualifying, tell the appraisal district in writing before May 1 of the next year.
If the appraisal district denies or changes what you applied for, it has to tell you in writing why, and explain how to protest.
Sources: Texas Tax Code, Sections 11.42, 11.43 (subsections c, j, n and r), 11.439 and 11.45, and Sections 26.10 and 26.1125, Texas Legislature. 100 Percent Disabled Veteran and Surviving Spouse FAQ and Form 50-114, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. All retrieved 28 October 2026.
Surviving Spouses
Three home exemptions for a surviving spouse
Each one exempts the whole value of the spouse's main home. Each one ends if the spouse remarries.
The spouse of a veteran who qualified for the full exemption. The veteran qualified when they died, or would have if the exemption had existed then. You were married to them then. The home was your main home when they died, and still is.
The spouse of a service member killed or fatally injured in the line of duty.
Since 2026: the spouse of a veteran who died of a condition the federal PACT Act presumes is service-connected. This includes a condition added by a rule under the Act. The veteran's rating does not matter, and neither does the date of death. It took effect January 1, 2026.
Moving to a new home. A spouse who moves keeps an exemption, but only up to the dollar amount of the old home's exemption in its last year. The new home might not be fully exempt. The old appraisal district gives you a certificate with the amount.
A surviving spouse has two years to apply late for a home exemption, not five.
The smaller exemption. The spouse of a veteran who had it keeps the same amount on one property while unmarried. The spouse of a service member who died on active duty can take $5,000 off one property. Both must live in Texas.
Sources: Texas Tax Code, Sections 11.131, 11.133, 11.136, 11.22, 11.431 and 11.439, Texas Legislature. 100 Percent Disabled Veteran and Surviving Spouse FAQ and Form 50-114, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. All retrieved 28 October 2026.
Before You Buy
What to ask before you make an offer
Ask these before you sign, so the exemption is part of the plan.
- Does my VA letter show 100 percent pay and a rating of 100 percent or individual unemployability?
- Do the home and all its land have the same owners, and is it 20 acres or less?
- Will any part of the home earn income, like a rented room or an apartment?
- How will this year's taxes be split at closing, and what comes back to me once I qualify?
- If my property taxes are paid through my mortgage, how will my payment change once I am approved?
- For a mobile or manufactured home: what proof of ownership will the appraisal district want?
This page is not legal or tax advice. The appraisal district decides your application, and each local government that taxes the home adopts its own rate each year. Ask the appraisal district where the home is about your own case.
Sources: Texas Tax Code, Sections 11.13, 11.131 and 26.1125 and 26.05, Texas Legislature. Form 50-114, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. All retrieved 28 October 2026.
A page can explain the exemption.An agent who works where you are buying can help you plan the purchase around it.
Tim Lockhart is a Mission Ready Operator in Wichita Falls and Sheppard AFB and a retired U.S. Air Force Major. He represents buyers, including military families relocating into the Wichita Falls and Sheppard AFB area.
Last reviewed October 2026 · Maintained by My Military HQ
Common Questions
Questions veterans ask about Texas property tax
Do disabled veterans pay property taxes in Texas?
Not on the home they live in, if they qualify at 100 percent. Texas exempts the whole value of the main home of a veteran the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pays 100 percent disability compensation for a service-connected disability, with a rating of 100 percent disabled or of individual unemployability. A Texas veteran rated 10 percent or more can also get a smaller exemption on one property. Apply to the appraisal district in the county where the home is.
Do veterans rated below 100 percent pay property taxes in Texas?
Yes, but Texas takes part of one property's value off. A veteran rated 70 percent or more gets up to $12,000, 50 to 69 percent up to $10,000, 30 to 49 percent up to $7,500, and 10 to 29 percent up to $5,000. The veteran must live in Texas and can use it on any one property they owned on January 1. A veteran rated below 100 percent whom VA pays 100 percent disability compensation for individual unemployability can get the full Texas home exemption.
Does individual unemployability qualify for the Texas 100 percent exemption?
Yes, if VA also pays you 100 percent disability compensation for a service-connected disability. Texas law accepts a rating of 100 percent disabled or of individual unemployability.
When does the Texas 100 percent disabled veteran exemption start if I buy a home?
On the day the home becomes your homestead: you own it and live in it as your main home. Texas law gives the 100 percent exemption for the rest of that year, and you owe that year's tax only for the days before. File Form 50-114 with the appraisal district where the home is.
Does a surviving spouse keep the Texas 100 percent exemption?
Yes, in Texas, if the veteran qualified when they died, or would have if the exemption had existed then, the spouse was married to them then and has not remarried, and the home was the spouse's main home then and still is. If the spouse moves, the new home's exemption cannot be more than the old home's exemption was in its last year, counted in dollars.
How much land does the Texas disabled veteran home exemption cover?
Up to 20 acres of land with the home, in Texas, if the home and the land have the same owners. Any part of the home you rent out, or use mainly for something other than living in, is not covered.
Sources
Where every fact came from
Everything on this page comes from Texas law, the Texas Comptroller, or VA. Where they do not say something, we left it out.
- Who qualifies, the smaller exemption, what the home covers, when it starts, applying late, the decision, and surviving spouses. Texas Tax Code, Chapter 11 (Sections 11.13, 11.131, 11.133, 11.136, 11.22, 11.42, 11.43, 11.431, 11.439 and 11.45), Texas Legislature, current through the 2025 sessions. Retrieved 28 October 2026.
- Who sets the rate, the tax for the year you qualify, and for a home you leave. Texas Tax Code, Chapter 26 (Sections 26.05, 26.10 and 26.1125), Texas Legislature. Retrieved 28 October 2026.
- Both parts of the 100 percent test, both exemptions together, and moving. 100 Percent Disabled Veteran and Surviving Spouse FAQ, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Retrieved 28 October 2026.
- The smaller exemption, and proof of your rating. Disabled Veteran and Surviving Spouse Exemptions FAQ, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Retrieved 28 October 2026.
- The home exemption application. Form 50-114, Residence Homestead Exemption Application, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Retrieved 28 October 2026.
- The smaller exemption's application. Form 50-135, Application for Disabled Veteran's or Survivor's Exemptions, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Retrieved 28 October 2026.
- Your VA letter. Download VA benefit letters, VA. Retrieved 28 October 2026.
What we left out on purpose. We give no tax rates or dollar savings, because each local government that taxes a home adopts its own rate each year. We do not list the general homestead amounts, which Texas changed in 2025. We do not cover a home owned with someone other than your spouse, so ask the appraisal district. We do not cover the exemption for a home a charity gave a partially disabled veteran, or the exemptions for people who are 65 or older or disabled under Social Security rules.
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