If you are a home owner in the Dallas Fort Worth area who purchased your primary residence last year and occupied this property on or before January 1, 2011, it is time for you to file your homestead exemption. Central appraisal districts require this file be received by no later than April 30 in order to receive the homestead exemption for the current year. Having a homestead exemption could save you hundreds of dollars per year in property taxes.
WHAT IS A HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION?
A homestead exemption is a discount that home owners are allowed on their primary residence in the State of Texas. The amount of the discount depends on how much each taxing entity (county, city and school) allow the appraised value of the home to be discounted. The specific dollar amounts allowed by each entity should be available on the tax appraisal websites which are linked below.
HOW DO I FILE MY HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION?
Just follow the instructions below for filing based on the county that you reside in (you will need a computer with a PRINTER to print the form).
REMEMBER, THE DEADLINE TO FILE YOUR HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION FOR DALLAS, COLLIN, TARRANT, DENTON, ROCKWALL AND KAUFMAN COUNTY IS APRIL 30TH.
DALLAS COUNTY HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION FILING INSTRUCTIONS
- Go to www.dallascad.org
- Click the link on the left side that says "Search Appraisals"
- Click the blue link on the top row that says "Street Address"
- Type in your property address.
- A blue link should appear at the bottom with your property address. Click this link.
- MAKE SURE that YOUR NAME appears as the owner. If it does not, you should contact the Dallas Central Appriasal District to find out why. Their number is 214-631-0910.
- If your name does appear correctly, click the blue link at the top left hand side of the screen that says "Print Homestead Exemption Form".
- Fill out pages one and two per the instructions on page three.
- Sign and date the form and have the form notarized.
- Mail the form to the Dallas Central Appraisal District at the address listed on the form.
- Log back on to www.dallascad.org after several weeks to verify they have added your homestead exemption. It may take a while for them to add it.
TARRANT COUNTY HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION FILING INSTRUCTIONS
- According to the Tarrant County Central Appraisal District, they will automatically mail a homestead exemption form to the home owner's address of record. If the deed was filed by Jnauary 1st, the home owner should receive the deed in late December or early January.
- If the deed is processed AFTER January 1, but the home owner closed prior to January 1, the county says they will mail one as soon as the deed is filed.
- For full instrucitons, go to www.tad.org, click the link on the left that says "Applications and Forms" and click the link that says "General Homestead Exemption Form". These instructions should appear, as well as instructions for home owners that did not receive a form. They will allow a form to be printed online for those that did not receive the form for some reason.
COLLIN COUNTY HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION FILING INSTRUCTIONS
- Go to www.collincad.org
- Click the link that says "Address" under "Real Property".
- Type in your home address and then click "find".
- Click the blue link under "Account Number".
- Verify your information (name, etc) is correct.
- Scroll halfway down the page and click the link on the left side that says "Homestead Exemption Application".
- Click the gray link with red letters at the bottom of the page that says "Homestead Exemption Form".
- This should bring up a pre-populated form with your name and address.
- Print the form, fill it out per instructions and mail to the appraisal district.
- Log back onto the appraisal district site in a few weeks to verify the exemption was filed correctly.
DENTON COUNTY HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION FILING INSTRUCTIONS
- Go to www.dentoncad.org
- ON the left side under "Resources", click "Homestead Applications".
- Click the box that says "Application For Residence Homestead Exemption".
- Fill out the form and follow the filing instructions.
- Check to see if the exemption was added properly in a few weeks by logging back on and doing a search by address.
ROCKWALL COUNTY HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION FILING INSTRUCTIONS
- Go to www.rockwallcad.com
- Click the link that says "Forms".
- Click the link that says "Homestead Exemption"
- Print the form, follow the instructions and mail to the appraisal district.
KAUFMAN COUNTY HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION FILING INSTRUCTIONS
- Go to www.kaufman-cad.org
- Click "Forms".
- Click "Homestead Exemption".
- Print the form, follow the instructions and mail to the appraisal district.
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HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO FILE MY HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION?
IT IS COMPLETELY FREE! (OTHER THAN THE COST OF A POSTAGE STAMP AND THE COST TO HAVE A NOTARY SIGN THE FORM).
IF IT'S FREE TO FILE, WHY HAVE I RECEIVED SO MANY LETTERS IN THE MAIL FROM COMPANIES THAT CHARGE A FEE TO FILE MY HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION?
Because it is LEGAL IN THE STATE OF TEXAS for a company to charge a fee to file a homestead exemption on behalf of a home owner. However, this basically amounts to paying a company a hefty fee to do something you can do for free anyway. So if you're getting letters in the mail asking for money to file your homestead exemption, THROW THEM AWAY because I'm going to show you how to do it yourself FOR FREE!
WILL I HAVE TO FILE FOR MY HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION EVERY YEAR?
NO! Once it is filed on your current home, you will NEVER need to file it again, unless, of course, you purchase another home at some point and make it your homestead. In that case, you would file for a homestead on the new home and the homestead exemption on your current home would be discontinued. Home owners are only allowed to have a homestead exemption on one property at any given time.
BUT WHEN I BOUGHT MY HOME, THE PREVIOUS OWNER ALREADY HAD A HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION. DO I STILL HAVE TO FILE?
YES YOU DO. The previous homestead exemption only applied to the previous owner. The county may have "grandfathered" their exemption to you for the rest of last year, but they should have automatically removed the previous owner's exemption effective January 1, 2011. You will need to file your own homestead exemption before April 30, 2011 in order to receive the discount for tax year 2011.
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