Texas Over-65 and Disabled Property Tax Exemptions (2026 Guide)

Texas gives homeowners who are 65 or older, or who are disabled, four separate property tax benefits on their homestead, and after the 2025 legislative session the biggest of them tripled in size. Together they can cut a senior's tax bill by half or more and, for anyone who needs it, stop collection entirely. This guide covers each benefit, who qualifies, and the mistakes that leave money on the table.

All four sit on top of the general Texas homestead exemption, which you need first.

The four benefits at a glance

Counties, cities, and junior college districts may add a local-option exemption of at least $3,000 for the same group (Section 11.13(d)) and may adopt their own tax ceilings (Section 11.261). Harris County and many Houston-area cities do.

Benefit 1: The $60,000 additional exemption

Senate Bill 23 in 2025 raised the additional school district homestead exemption for owners 65 or older or disabled from $10,000 to $60,000, approved by voters in November 2025 and effective for the 2026 tax year. Stacked with the $140,000 general exemption, a qualifying homeowner's school taxable value is their appraised value minus $200,000.

On a $300,000 home with a school rate near $0.88 per $100, that is school taxes on $100,000 instead of $160,000, about $530 a year more in savings than a younger neighbor with the same house, before the freeze.

Benefit 2: The school tax ceiling

This is the one most people mean by "the senior freeze," and it is often worth more than the exemption. Under Section 11.26, the year you first qualify, the school district calculates your school taxes with the exemptions applied, and that dollar amount becomes a ceiling. In every later year, your school taxes cannot exceed it, no matter how much your appraised value or the school tax rate rises.

Details that matter:

• It can go down but not up. If rates fall or your value drops, you pay the lower amount. The ceiling only limits increases.
• Improvements raise it. Adding a room or a pool increases the ceiling by the taxes on the new value; repairs and replacements do not.
• It transfers to a surviving spouse who is 55 or older when the qualifying spouse dies and who keeps living in the home (Section 11.26(i)).
• It moves with you, proportionally. If you buy another homestead in Texas, Section 11.26(g) lets you carry the same percentage of ceiling to the new home. If your old ceiling was 40% of what the school taxes would otherwise have been, the new home's school taxes are capped at 40% of its full amount. Ask the old appraisal district for a tax ceiling transfer certificate.
• Local units may freeze too. Under Section 11.261, counties, cities, and junior college districts can adopt their own ceilings for 65-plus and disabled homeowners. Where adopted, the freeze covers a much larger share of the bill.

Benefit 3: Quarterly installments

If you have the over-65 or disabled exemption (or are a disabled veteran or surviving spouse), Section 31.031 lets you pay the taxes on your homestead in four equal installments with no penalty or interest: the first by January 31, then March 31, May 31, and July 31. You must pay the first installment and tell the tax office you are using the plan by January 31. A late later installment carries a 6% penalty plus interest on that installment only.

There is no application beyond the notice on your first payment. See when property taxes are due in Texas for the full payment calendar.

Benefit 4: The tax deferral

Section 33.06 is the safety net. A homeowner who is 65 or older or disabled can file a deferral affidavit with the appraisal district, and collection of all property taxes on the homestead stops. While the deferral is in place:

• Taxes continue to accrue, with interest at 5% per year and no penalties
• No taxing unit can sue or foreclose over the deferred taxes
• Any pending collection lawsuit is abated

The deferred balance comes due 180 days after the owner no longer qualifies, usually when the home is sold or the owner passes and no eligible surviving spouse remains. It is typically paid from the sale proceeds or the estate.

The deferral is the reason a senior on a fixed income should almost never take out a property tax loan. A loan charges 8% to 15% plus fees and puts a lender ahead of the mortgage; the deferral charges 5% and puts nobody there. One caution: if you have a mortgage, check your loan terms, because some servicers treat unpaid taxes as a default even when deferred, and may pay them and add the amount to your escrow.

Who qualifies

Age 65 or older. You qualify for the entire tax year in which you turn 65 (Section 11.42(c)). File that year and the exemption applies back to January 1.

Disabled. Section 11.13(m) uses the Social Security standard: you are under a disability for purposes of Social Security disability insurance benefits, or would meet that standard. Proof is typically an SSA award letter or a physician's statement on the appraisal district's form. You cannot take both the over-65 and disabled exemptions from the same taxing unit in the same year; pick one (they are the same amount, so it rarely matters).

Surviving spouses. A surviving spouse who is 55 or older when the qualifying spouse dies keeps the school tax ceiling and, in most cases, the exemption, if they continue to live in the home.

Disabled veterans have a separate set of exemptions: a partial exemption of $5,000 to $12,000 based on VA disability rating under Section 11.22, and a total exemption of the homestead for veterans rated 100% disabled or unemployable under Section 11.131, which also extends to surviving spouses. A disabled veteran can hold the veteran exemption and the over-65 exemption at the same time.

How to apply

1. Complete Comptroller Form 50-114, checking the Age 65 or older or Disabled person box (and the general homestead box if you do not already have it).
2. Attach your Texas driver's license or ID showing the property address. For the disabled exemption, attach the SSA determination or physician's statement.
3. File with your county appraisal district (HCAD, FBCAD, MCAD, TCAD, DCAD, and others accept it online).
4. For the deferral, file the separate Tax Deferral Affidavit (Comptroller Form 50-126) with the appraisal district, not the tax office.
5. Check your account a few weeks later to confirm the exemption codes and, on the next tax bill, the ceiling amount.

Some appraisal districts add the over-65 exemption automatically when driver's license data shows a qualifying age. Do not count on it. If the exemption is missing, Section 11.431 allows a late application up to two years after the delinquency date, with a refund for those years.

Common mistakes

• Waiting until the year after turning 65. You qualify the year you turn 65. Filing early sets the ceiling a year sooner, at a lower amount.
• Assuming the freeze covers everything. By default it covers school taxes only. Check whether your county and city adopted Section 11.261 ceilings.
• Losing the ceiling on a move. Request the transfer certificate before you close on the new home.
• Taking a loan instead of the deferral. The deferral exists precisely for seniors who cannot pay; use it before any private lender.
• Skipping the protest. The freeze protects one line of the bill. Our guide to protesting property taxes in Texas covers the rest, and the Texas property tax guide shows how all the pieces fit together.

This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Exemption rules and local-option freezes vary by taxing unit; confirm with your county appraisal district.