Is your homestead exemption on file?
Texas exemptions lower the value your property taxes are figured on. Here's who qualifies, how to apply with EPCAD, and the deadlines.
The general homestead exemption
This is the exemption most El Paso homeowners can get on the home they live in.
- What it does
It lowers the taxable value of your home, and it limits how much your home's appraised value can rise each year for taxes.
Source:Texas Comptroller property tax exemptionsTexas Tax Code §23.23 (homestead appraisal cap)
- Who qualifies
You own the home and live in it as your principal residence. You can't claim a homestead exemption on any other property.
Source:Texas Tax Code §11.13(j) (what counts as a homestead)Texas Comptroller Form 50-114 (Residence Homestead Exemption Application)
- A 10% yearly cap
Once your home is a homestead, its appraised value for taxes can't rise more than 10% a year.
- When to apply
File with the El Paso Central Appraisal District (EPCAD) before May 1 of the year you want it. There is no filing fee. Bought after January 1? You can get it for the rest of that year if the seller didn't have the same exemption.
Source:Form 50-114 instructions (filing deadline)Check your status or apply at EPCADTexas Tax Code §11.42(f) (homes bought after January 1)
- Apply once
Once EPCAD grants it, you don't reapply every year unless EPCAD asks. It stays until the home changes owners or you stop qualifying. If you stop qualifying, tell EPCAD in writing before May 1 of the next year.
Source:Texas Tax Code §11.43(c) (no yearly reapplication)Texas Comptroller Form 50-114 (Residence Homestead Exemption Application)
- Missed the deadline?
You can still apply late, up to two years after the tax bill's delinquency date.
Age 65 or older, or a disability
Homeowners 65 or older and homeowners with a disability can add more on top of the general exemption.
- An additional exemption
Your school district gives an additional homestead exemption, and other local taxing units can choose to offer one too. For this exemption, a disability generally means you qualify for federal Social Security disability insurance benefits.
Source:Texas Tax Code §11.13(c), (d) (age 65 or older and disability)Texas Comptroller Form 50-114 (Residence Homestead Exemption Application)
- One or the other per taxing unit
If you're 65 or older and also have a disability, you can't get both exemptions from the same taxing unit. You choose one.
Source:Texas Tax Code §11.13(h) (one of the two per taxing unit)
- A school tax ceiling
Once you qualify, your school district can't raise the school taxes on that home above what it charged the first year you qualified. Adding on to or improving the home can raise that amount.
- The ceiling can move with you
If you make another Texas home your homestead, you pay the same percentage of its full school tax that you paid on your old home.
- It covers the whole year
The exemption starts January 1 of the year you qualify and covers that entire tax year.
- When to apply
Apply no later than one year after the date you qualified. If you already have a homestead exemption and EPCAD or the Texas Department of Public Safety has your birth date, you may not need to apply for the 65 or older exemption. Check with EPCAD.
Source:Texas Tax Code §11.43(k) (when to apply)Texas Tax Code §11.43(m) (age 65 without a new application)
- Surviving spouses 55 or older
If your spouse had the 65 or older exemption and you were 55 or older when they died, you can keep the exemption and the school tax ceiling while the home stays your homestead.
Source:Texas Tax Code §11.26(i) (surviving spouse 55 or older)Texas Comptroller Form 50-114 (Residence Homestead Exemption Application)
Disabled veterans and their surviving spouses
Texas has several exemptions for veterans with a service-connected disability rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
- A partial exemption based on your VA rating
A disabled veteran gets a partial exemption on a property they own and choose. The amount depends on the disability rating, so ask EPCAD what yours is.
- A total exemption at 100%
A veteran awarded 100% disability compensation for a service-connected disability, with a VA rating of 100% disabled or individual unemployability, gets a total property tax exemption on their homestead.
Source:Texas Comptroller on Tax Code §11.131 (100% disabled veteran exemption)
- Surviving spouses
A surviving spouse of a veteran who had, or would have qualified for, the 100% exemption keeps it if they haven't remarried and the home was their homestead when the veteran died and still is. A surviving spouse of a veteran with the partial exemption keeps that amount while they stay unmarried.
Source:Texas Comptroller Form 50-114 (Residence Homestead Exemption Application)Texas Tax Code §11.22 (disabled veteran exemption)
- A home donated by a charity
A veteran rated below 100% whose homestead a charity donated, at no cost or for no more than half its market value, gets an exemption equal to their disability rating. A surviving spouse who hasn't remarried keeps it while the home stays their homestead.
- Late applications
Disabled veterans can apply late for the 100% or donated home exemption up to five years after the delinquency date. Surviving spouses have up to two years.
Source:Form 50-114 instructions on Tax Code §11.439 (late veteran applications)
Spouses of those killed in the line of duty
Two total exemptions protect the homes of surviving spouses who haven't remarried.
- U.S. armed services members
The surviving spouse of a service member killed or fatally injured in the line of duty gets a total exemption on their homestead. If they later make a new home their homestead, they can get an exemption of the same dollar amount there.
Source:Texas Tax Code §11.133 (surviving spouse of a service member)
- First responders
The surviving spouse of a first responder killed or fatally injured in the line of duty gets a total exemption on their homestead, if the Employees Retirement System of Texas finds them an eligible survivor.
Source:Texas Tax Code §11.134 (surviving spouse of a first responder)
How to apply with EPCAD
You apply with the appraisal district, not with the state.
Search for your property on EPCAD's website, open Property Services and choose Apply for Homestead.
Or fill out Texas Comptroller Form 50-114, the Residence Homestead Exemption Application, and file it with EPCAD.
Source:Texas Comptroller Form 50-114 (Residence Homestead Exemption Application)
Attach a copy of your Texas driver's license or state ID. Its address has to match the home. Some active duty service members and their spouses can ask EPCAD to waive this.
Source:Texas Tax Code §11.43(n), (p) (ID address rule and waivers)
For a veteran or surviving spouse exemption, include the documents that support it, such as your VA letter.
Source:Texas Comptroller Form 50-114 (Residence Homestead Exemption Application)
If EPCAD asks for more information, answer within 30 days, or it can deny the application.
Source:Texas Comptroller Form 50-114 (Residence Homestead Exemption Application)
EPCAD decides who qualifies and for how much. Confirm your situation with EPCAD before you count on any exemption.
This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice.
Official pages
Think your appraisal is too high?
An exemption and a protest are different things. A protest challenges the value EPCAD set for your home.
Read the property tax protest guideBuying or selling in El Paso?
Exemptions change what a home costs you each year. I'll help you plan around them when you buy or sell, and point you to EPCAD for the rest.
- I'm a REALTOR®, not a tax advisor. EPCAD decides who qualifies.
- I won't ask about your age, your health or your service.
- If we work together, representation is covered in a written agreement. Fees are negotiable and not set by law.
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Where this information comes from
- Texas Comptroller property tax exemptions
- Texas Tax Code §23.23 (homestead appraisal cap)
- Texas Tax Code §11.13(j) (what counts as a homestead)
- Texas Comptroller Form 50-114 (Residence Homestead Exemption Application)
- Form 50-114 instructions (filing deadline)
- Check your status or apply at EPCAD
- Texas Tax Code §11.42(f) (homes bought after January 1)
- Texas Tax Code §11.43(c) (no yearly reapplication)
- Texas Tax Code §11.431 (late homestead applications)
- Texas Tax Code §11.13(c), (d) (age 65 or older and disability)
- Texas Tax Code §11.13(h) (one of the two per taxing unit)
- Texas Tax Code §11.26(a) (school tax ceiling)
- Texas Tax Code §11.26(g) (moving the ceiling)
- Texas Tax Code §11.42(c) (the whole tax year)
- Texas Tax Code §11.43(k) (when to apply)
- Texas Tax Code §11.43(m) (age 65 without a new application)
- Texas Tax Code §11.26(i) (surviving spouse 55 or older)
- Texas Tax Code §11.22 (disabled veteran exemption)
- Texas Comptroller on Tax Code §11.131 (100% disabled veteran exemption)
- Texas Tax Code §11.132 (donated homestead)
- Form 50-114 instructions on Tax Code §11.439 (late veteran applications)
- Texas Tax Code §11.133 (surviving spouse of a service member)
- Texas Tax Code §11.134 (surviving spouse of a first responder)
- Texas Tax Code §11.43(n), (p) (ID address rule and waivers)
Ximena Martinez, REALTOR® · 915-588-8892 · ximenatxrealtor@gmail.com
Brokered by ClearView Realty, LLC · TREC #824509