The Texas veteran property tax exemption, made clear

It depends on your VA disability rating. A partial exemption knocks a fixed dollar amount off your property's value: $5,000 for a 10 to 29 percent rating, $7,500 for 30 to 49 percent, $10,000 for 50 to 69 percent, and $12,000 for 70 percent or higher (Tax Code Section 11.22). Separately, a veteran with a 100 percent service-connected permanent and total rating, or a rating of 100 percent due to individual unemployability, gets a total exemption on their residence homestead under Section 11.131, meaning no property tax on the primary home. I am a REALTOR®, not a tax advisor, so confirm your amount with your county appraisal district.

No, not on their residence homestead. A veteran with a 100 percent service-connected, permanent and total disability rating, or who is rated 100 percent because of individual unemployability, is entitled to a total exemption on the appraised value of their primary home under Tax Code Section 11.131. That means the property tax on the homestead is zeroed out. You still have to file the exemption with your county appraisal district, and you re-file when you move. Local property tax on a second home or other property is not covered by this total exemption.

The total residence-homestead exemption requires either a 100 percent service-connected disability rating or a determination of individual unemployability that pays compensation at the 100 percent rate. You do not need both. Ratings below that, from 10 percent up, still qualify for the partial exemption of $5,000 to $12,000 off your value. Your VA rating letter is the proof the appraisal district uses.

Not for the partial exemption. The Section 11.22 exemption of $5,000 to $12,000 can be applied to any one property you own, and it does not have to be your residence homestead, though you can pick only one property to receive it. The total 100 percent exemption under Section 11.131 and the surviving-spouse and donated-home exemptions are specifically for the residence homestead. If you are deciding where the partial exemption does the most good, that is a conversation worth having before you file.

In many cases, yes. The surviving spouse of a veteran who had the 100 percent total exemption can keep a total exemption on the same home if they have not remarried and the home remains their residence homestead. If they move, the dollar amount of the exemption from the last home can carry to the new one. There is also a separate total exemption for the surviving spouse of a U.S. armed services member killed or fatally injured in the line of duty (Section 11.133), again while they have not remarried. Confirm your situation with the appraisal district, since these rules are specific.

The general deadline is April 30. But the disabled-veteran exemption can usually be filed late, up to about five years after the taxes on the property became delinquent. So if you qualified in prior years and never filed, you may be able to go back and claim them. That five-year back-file is one of the most overlooked parts of the whole benefit. Confirm the exact window with your county appraisal district.

For the partial disabled-veteran exemption based on your rating, use Comptroller Form 50-135, the Application for Disabled Veteran's or Survivor's Exemptions. For the total 100 percent exemption, a donated-residence exemption, or a surviving-spouse homestead exemption, use Form 50-114, the Residence Homestead Exemption Application. You file it with the appraisal district in the county where the home sits, and you attach your VA rating documentation.

For the 100 percent total exemption, yes. If you qualify after January 1, you can receive the exemption immediately upon qualifying, prorated for the remaining portion of that tax year (Tax Code Section 11.131(d)). In plain terms, buying in the summer does not mean waiting until next January for relief. This is one reason I make sure my veteran clients file the day the deal closes rather than waiting for a notice.

Yes, and you generally want both where they apply. The general homestead exemption lowers your school-tax value and caps how fast your taxable value can rise, at 10 percent a year. The disabled-veteran exemption is a separate, added benefit based on your VA rating, and at 100 percent permanent and total it removes the homestead tax entirely. They are filed on the same or related forms with your appraisal district. My North Texas property tax guide walks through the homestead exemption and the yearly protest in more detail.

If a charitable organization donates, or helps buy, a residence homestead for a disabled veteran, Section 11.132 gives an exemption on that home equal to the veteran's disability rating percentage. A veteran with a 100 percent rating receives a full exemption on the donated home, and a lower rating receives that percentage of the value. A surviving spouse who has not remarried may keep it. This is a narrower provision, so confirm eligibility with your appraisal district.

For a VA loan, yes. Veterans who receive compensation for a service-connected disability are exempt from the VA funding fee, and any rating that draws compensation qualifies, not just 100 percent. That is a separate benefit from the property tax exemption, handled by your VA-approved lender, but it stacks with it. I am the REALTOR® on your side of the purchase, not the lender, so your lender confirms the funding-fee exemption on your Certificate of Eligibility.

I represent veteran and military-family buyers across Collin, Denton, Grayson, Hunt, Fannin, Rockwall and Dallas counties, and reach further out for land and acreage. Each county runs its own appraisal district where you file the exemption, but the state rules are the same across all of them. I make sure my veteran clients know what to file and where, then point them to the right office.