Texas Property Tax: Search, Pay, Exemptions & Deadlines
Texas does not have one statewide property-tax payment portal or one statewide tax rate. Property value, exemptions and protests are generally handled by the county appraisal district, while tax bills, collections and receipts are generally handled by a county tax office, tax assessor-collector or other local collecting unit.
For 2026, homeowners should also know about the larger school-district homestead exemption, the current appraisal-protest rules, Truth in Taxation rate databases, and the January 2027 weekend that changes the normal payment timeline.
Quick Answer: Texas Property Tax Is Local
The Texas Comptroller does not maintain your individual county tax account and does not accept your local property-tax payment. Use the Comptroller to understand Texas law, forms, deadlines and office directories. Use your local appraisal district and local tax office for the property itself.
If you need value, exemptions, property details or a protest, start with the appraisal district. If you need the bill, balance, payment, receipt or delinquent amount, start with the local tax collector.
Do not begin with a payment portal. Begin with the county where the property sits, then identify whether your problem belongs on the appraisal side or the collection side.
Which Texas Property Tax Office Do You Need?
Use the county appraisal district for appraisal methodology, property characteristics, appraised value and many ownership-record questions.
Residence homestead, age-65, disability, veteran and many other exemption applications are filed with the appraisal district.
File a protest through the appraisal district for a hearing before the Appraisal Review Board when a protestable appraisal action is disputed.
Use the local tax office, tax assessor-collector or collecting unit for statements, amounts due and payment status.
The collector can explain local payment methods, receipts, installment options and many delinquent-account questions.
School districts, cities, counties and special districts adopt local budgets and tax rates. The appraisal district does not set your local tax rate.
- Open the Texas Comptroller local property appraisal and tax directory.
- Select the county where the property is physically located.
- Open the appraisal district for value, exemptions and protests.
- Open the tax office or collecting unit for bills and payments.
- Check whether any taxing unit collects separately.
The appraisal district determines property value. Local taxing units adopt tax rates. The collector sends or collects the tax bill. Treat those as separate jobs.
How to Search Texas Property Tax Records
Texas property-tax databases are local. Search labels differ from county to county, so one portal may use an account number while another uses parcel ID, CAD ID, geographic ID, property ID, legal description or another local identifier.
Search tip: appraisal records and tax-bill records can show different information because they serve different functions. Do not treat an appraisal value screen as a final payment screen.
The separate Texas Property Tax Search guide focuses specifically on finding appraisal records, tax bills, parcel details and county search systems.
Texas Property Tax Search GuideBefore You Pay a Texas Property Tax Bill
Texas tax bills can combine multiple local taxing units. Verify the complete account before paying, especially if a mortgage servicer, prior owner or another party may already have submitted payment.
Match the property address, account/property ID and legal description.
Make sure you are paying the correct year rather than a prior or supplemental bill.
Review school, county, city and special-district lines that apply.
Confirm expected homestead, age-65, disability or veteran relief is reflected.
Use the current tax office record rather than an old PDF statement.
Check whether your mortgage company has already paid or scheduled payment.
Read the date printed on your actual bill because special bills can have different deadlines.
Review any local e-check, card, phone or processor fee before submitting.
If one field does not match, do not pay first and ask questions later. Stop and verify the account with the local office.
Texas Property Tax Calendar: 2026–2027
Texas has several important dates during the appraisal, tax-rate and payment cycle. Your appraisal notice and local tax bill remain the best sources for account-specific dates.
Property value, ownership, use and exemption-related facts are commonly measured under January 1 rules, subject to program-specific exceptions.
Residence-homestead value notices may be mailed by April 1 or as soon afterward as practical when required; other real property notices generally follow by May 1 or soon afterward.
Most protests are due May 15 or 30 days after the appraisal district mails the notice of appraised value, whichever is later.
County tax-transparency databases are updated as local taxing units propose and adopt rates and budgets.
Texas law generally calls for tax bills to be mailed by October 1 or as soon afterward as practicable.
The normal last-payment date lands on a Sunday for the 2026 tax year.
Texas weekend rules allow an act due on Sunday to be timely on the next business day for a normal bill.
For the ordinary January 31 deadline scenario, delinquency can begin Tuesday after the Monday extension.
If an original bill is mailed late, the taxpayer must generally receive at least 21 days before delinquency.
Do not hard-code February 1 as the delinquency date every year. Weekend and holiday rules, late-mailed bills, supplemental bills and special payment arrangements can change the practical date.
- Open the Texas property-tax law deadlines page.
- Check the current tax year.
- Open the local bill and locate its delinquency date.
- If the date falls on a weekend or holiday, verify the next-business-day rule.
- Save proof when paying close to the deadline.
How to Pay Texas Property Tax Safely
Texas property-tax payments are local. The Comptroller explains state law, but your county tax office, tax assessor-collector or other collecting unit normally provides the actual payment portal and current balance.
Availability and fees depend on the local collector. Confirm the bank details, tax year and amount before submission.
Many counties authorize card processors, but convenience fees vary. Review the fee immediately before paying.
Verify the correct mailing address, payment coupon, account number and local postmark instructions.
Check the county office location, hours and accepted payment types before traveling.
Use only a vendor linked or identified by the official local collector.
Texas guidance says the collector must provide a receipt if requested. Keep it with bank and escrow records.
- Read Texas payment rules.
- Use the Comptroller county directory.
- Open the local tax office.
- Search the current tax account.
- Review payment methods and fees.
- Pay through the official or authorized route.
- Save the receipt and verify posting.
There is no statewide Texas payment fee. Never copy a card percentage or e-check fee from one county into another county guide.
Texas Homestead, Senior, Disability and Veteran Exemptions
Texas exemptions reduce taxable value or, in some situations, can eliminate tax for a qualifying property. File with the appraisal district where the property is located unless the official instructions say otherwise.
School districts must provide a $140,000 residence homestead exemption for qualifying homeowners.
Qualifying homeowners age 65 or older or disabled receive an additional mandatory school-district exemption.
Cities, counties, school districts and special districts can adopt an additional local-option residence homestead exemption of up to 20% of appraised value, subject to the statutory minimum.
Texas provides partial or total exemptions in qualifying veteran situations based on disability rating and the specific statutory benefit.
A qualifying veteran with the required 100% disability compensation/rating or individual unemployability may qualify for a total residence-homestead exemption.
Special appraisal for qualifying agricultural, timber or wildlife land is different from a residence homestead exemption and can involve rollback-tax consequences.
- Find the appraisal district for the property’s county.
- Search the property and confirm ownership/account details.
- Open the appraisal district’s homestead filing route or current Form 50-114.
- Read residence, ownership and identification requirements.
- Complete the form and supporting documentation.
- File with the appraisal district — not the Texas Comptroller.
- Save confirmation and later verify the exemption on the appraisal record.
Do not assume the $140,000 amount reduces every taxing-unit value. It is the required school-district general residence homestead exemption. County, city and special-district exemptions can follow different rules.
Useful Texas Property Tax Forms
Download current forms from the Comptroller and then file them with the office named in the instructions. Most property-owner forms are not filed with the Comptroller itself.
Use for general residence homestead and several related age, disability and veteran homestead exemptions.
Open Form 50-114Used in counties with populations greater than 120,000 when formally protesting certain appraisal district actions.
Open Form 50-132For certain age-65-or-older or disabled residence-homestead owners reviewing statutory tax-deferral rights.
Open Form 50-126Use when you need protest, rendition, exemption, refund, agricultural appraisal or other specialized forms.
Open Forms LibraryRead the filing instructions at the top of the form. A statewide form does not mean it is filed with the state.
How to Protest a Texas Property Appraisal
An appraisal protest challenges an appraisal-district action. It is not simply a complaint that the final tax bill feels expensive.
August 2026 timing: for many owners, the ordinary 2026 protest window has already passed. However, limited late-protest or correction procedures may still exist for issues such as good cause, failure to receive required notice, certain substantial appraisal errors, clerical errors, multiple appraisals or ownership errors. Check the specific rule before assuming no remedy remains.
- Open the Texas Appraisal Protests and Appeals page.
- Read the ordinary and late-protest rules.
- Compare them with your appraisal notice and account facts.
- Download the appropriate protest form or use the local appraisal district eFile process.
- Save filing confirmation and hearing notices.
Texas Property Tax Rates and Truth in Taxation
Texas has no single statewide property-tax rate. A property can be taxed by a school district, county, city and one or more special districts.
A comparison rate designed to show the rate that would produce approximately the same revenue from the same properties as the prior year.
A calculated rate used to determine when additional voter-approval procedures may apply.
A taxing unit can propose a rate during the budget process before final adoption.
The final rate adopted by the governing body and used with taxable value to calculate taxes for that taxing unit.
- Open the Texas Property Tax Directory.
- Select your county.
- Open the county Truth in Taxation website.
- Search the property or taxing units when supported.
- Compare proposed rates, adopted rates and estimated tax impact.
- Use the final tax bill for the actual amount owed.
August and September are especially useful for checking Texas Truth in Taxation sites because local proposed and adopted rate information is updated during the budget and rate-setting cycle.
Mortgage Escrow and Texas Property Tax
When a mortgage company controls the escrow account, Texas law allows the tax bill to be sent to the mortgage company. That does not mean you should ignore the account.
Confirm taxes are included in escrow.
Look for a posted lender or servicer payment.
Match the escrow disbursement with the local tax bill.
If payment is not posted near delinquency, contact the servicer promptly.
Do not send a second payment before confirming the lender will not pay.
Save the mortgage escrow record and official tax receipt together.
An escrow deduction on your mortgage statement proves the lender collected money from you. The local tax account proves whether the taxing authority received it.
New Texas Homeowner Checklist
A property sale can create timing differences between appraisal records, tax bills, closing credits, exemptions and mortgage escrow setup.
Locate the appraisal district and tax office.
Confirm account number, legal description and current owner information.
Review current and prior-year balances against the closing disclosure.
Confirm who will pay the next tax bill.
Do not assume a prior owner’s benefit automatically becomes yours.
Make sure appraisal and tax notices will reach you.
Closing credit ≠ tax payment. A seller’s tax proration on the closing statement is an accounting adjustment between buyer and seller. It does not prove that the county tax bill has been paid.
Texas Installment Payments and Tax Deferral
Certain qualifying homeowners can have payment options beyond the normal one-time annual payment.
Qualifying homeowners may pay current homestead taxes in four installments when the statutory requirements are met.
For the normal February 1 delinquency pattern, later installments are generally due before April 1, June 1 and August 1.
Certain age-65-or-older or disabled homeowners can file a tax deferral affidavit, but a tax lien remains and interest can continue.
Special delinquency dates or property circumstances can change installment timing.
Deferral is not an exemption. It postpones collection under qualifying circumstances and can have estate, lien and future-payment consequences. Read the official form carefully before using it.
Late or Delinquent Texas Property Taxes
Once tax becomes delinquent, an old paper bill can be wrong because penalty, interest and later collection charges can change the amount due.
Search the current local tax account immediately and use the updated balance.
Check whether the statutory 21-day rule postponed your delinquency date.
Keep the payment confirmation, canceled check or mailing evidence and contact the local collector.
Do not rely on general advice if the notice mentions foreclosure, tax sale, bankruptcy, probate or contested ownership.
- Search the official local account.
- Confirm the tax year and live balance.
- Review penalty and interest.
- Check whether a payment or escrow transaction already posted.
- Ask the local collector about available statutory options.
- Save all written confirmations.
Texas Property Tax Refunds and Overpayments
Texas law provides several refund routes. Some refunds are automatic, while other overpayment or erroneous-payment refunds require an application.
A homeowner and mortgage servicer may both pay the same tax account.
An approved late exemption can create an adjustment and potential refund.
A correction, arbitration result or court order can reduce taxable value after tax was paid.
Some refunds require an application to the collector and can be subject to a filing deadline.
- Search the local tax account.
- Identify the payment that created the overpayment.
- Gather receipts, escrow records and correction documents.
- Read the Texas refund rules.
- Use the collector’s application or required written request when applicable.
Do not assume every credit balance automatically produces a refund check. Confirm whether the refund is automatic or requires an application.
Texas Property Tax Terms to Know
- Appraisal District
- The local entity that values property and generally administers exemptions, appraisal records and protests.
- Tax Assessor-Collector
- A local office that commonly handles bills, payments, receipts and collection for taxing units it serves.
- Market Value
- The value determined under Texas appraisal rules before applicable appraisal limitations and exemptions.
- Appraised Value
- The value placed on the property after applicable appraisal rules and limitations.
- Taxable Value
- The amount remaining for a taxing unit after applicable exemptions and limitations.
- Appraisal Review Board
- The independent local board that hears many taxpayer protests concerning appraisal district actions.
- No-New-Revenue Rate
- A comparison rate used in Texas truth-in-taxation calculations.
- Voter-Approval Rate
- A calculated rate used to determine when certain voter-approval procedures may apply.
Official Texas Property Tax Links
Texas Property Tax FAQs
Is there one statewide Texas property tax payment website?
No. Texas property tax is administered locally. The Texas Comptroller provides rules, forms, education and county directories, while local appraisal districts handle value and exemptions and local tax offices or tax assessor-collectors generally handle bills, payments and receipts.
What is the Texas school residence homestead exemption in 2026?
Texas school districts are required to provide a $140,000 general residence homestead exemption. Qualifying homeowners age 65 or older or disabled receive an additional $60,000 school-district residence homestead exemption.
When are 2026 Texas property taxes due in 2027?
Texas taxes are generally due on receipt and ordinarily must be paid before February 1. January 31, 2027 falls on a Sunday, so Texas weekend rules can make Monday, February 1 the last timely payment day and Tuesday, February 2 the delinquency date for an ordinary bill. Always confirm the delinquency date on your local tax statement.
What is the usual Texas appraisal protest deadline?
The usual deadline is May 15 or 30 days after the appraisal district mails the notice of appraised value, whichever is later. Limited late-protest and correction procedures can apply in certain situations.
Who handles Texas homestead exemptions?
The county appraisal district generally handles residence homestead and other appraisal exemptions. Form 50-114 specifically instructs taxpayers to file with the appraisal district rather than the Texas Comptroller.
Who handles Texas property tax payments?
The county tax assessor-collector, tax office or another local collecting unit generally handles bills and payments for the taxing units it serves.
How do I search Texas property tax records?
Choose the county where the property is located. Use the appraisal district for market value, appraised value, exemptions and property details, then use the local tax office for the current bill, payment status, receipt and delinquent balance.
Does Texas have one property tax rate?
No. Local school districts, cities, counties and special districts adopt property-tax rates. Use the Texas Property Tax Directory to reach your county’s Truth in Taxation website.
Can older or disabled Texas homeowners pay property tax in installments?
Qualifying age-65-or-older, disabled and certain veteran-related residence-homestead owners may use four-installment payment provisions when statutory requirements are met. Confirm timing with the local collector.
Does a tax deferral erase Texas property tax?
No. A qualifying deferral postpones collection. The tax lien remains, and interest can accrue during the deferral period.
What if my Texas mortgage company pays property tax from escrow?
Check the local tax account for a posted payment and compare it with the mortgage servicer’s escrow record before paying personally. This helps prevent duplicate payment.
What should I do if I never received my Texas tax bill?
Contact or search the local collector. Failure to receive a tax bill generally does not cancel the tax, penalty, interest, lien or delinquency deadline.
Can I get a Texas property tax refund after paying twice?
Possibly. Duplicate payments can qualify for refund treatment. Search the local account, gather both payment records and review the collector’s refund process and Texas refund rules.
Is CountyPropertyTaxes.us an official Texas tax website?
No. CountyPropertyTaxes.us is an independent informational guide. Final bills, payments, exemptions, protests, refunds and property records must be handled through the appropriate official Texas or local government office.
Bottom Line
Texas property tax is local. Use the appraisal district for value, exemptions and protests; use the tax office or collecting unit for bills, payments and receipts; use Truth in Taxation sites for local rate research; and always confirm the current tax year, exemptions, escrow status and delinquency date before taking final action.
Find County Office Search Records Check Deadlines Homestead Protest Official LinksMaterially reviewed and updated using current Texas Comptroller and Texas.gov sources: August 27, 2026.