Homestead Tax???? (vehicle registration, income, property taxes)

[cheryjohns]

Try a $400 water bill in the city.

[crone]

Between the MUD and the Regional water authority taxes, my household pays more for water than for gasoline in the summer.

[bluelion_ms3]

i know this thread has been resurrected, so i'll ask my question here since it's related to Homestead.....

if i built my house new in 2010, and i never did the homestead when i received the papers....can i still do it now? or is there a deadline or timeframe?

[jasonamd]

Originally Posted by bluelion_ms3

i know this thread has been resurrected, so i'll ask my question here since it's related to Homestead.....

if i built my house new in 2010, and i never did the homestead when i received the papers....can i still do it now? or is there a deadline or timeframe?

Between January 1st and April 30th is when you need to file for the current tax year. You must have owned and occupied your house on Jan 1st of the year you are filing for the exemption.

You would also be able to claim the exemption for the prior tax year if the same conditions above are true and you file before the taxes for that year (2011) would become late....which in most cases is January 31st so you would have missed that.

[bluelion_ms3]

So is this something I need to file every year in January?

[jasonamd]

Originally Posted by bluelion_ms3

So is this something I need to file every year in January?

No. Once you do it, it will stay on that home until it is sold.

[HoustonRonnie]

Originally Posted by MJPost32

Can someone explain the Homestead tax to me? I live in Charlotte now and we don't have that. We left the NE due to high taxes and now live outside of Charlotte with very cheap taxes but high suburb crime rates. I pulled this information up from the Woodlands website. How do you calculate Homestead and why don't they just post that rate? Thanks! I have no clue how it works. The taxes just seem pretty high like the NE!

Local Tax Information (Before Homestead)
School District 1.58
Harris County 0.81
MUD #385 1.25
Homeowner's Association 0.455
Total: 4.095


(per $100 valuation)
Tax rates subject to change without notice.

Dude! Try googling it. There's a ton of information out there on Texas Homestead Exemptions. Why make these folks do it?

Ronnie

[LITTB]

All taxes shown on home listings are without any exemptions. The reason for that is to show the highest tax; then you apply the exemptions you qualify for: homestead, over 65, disabled vet, etc. The exemptions do not apply to the entire tax liability. Each taxing entity decides which exemptions they will accept. The most important one is the school ISD because they usually are the largest precentage of your tax bill. Go to the Montgomery County Appraisal District website (www.mcad-tx.org) and click "MCAD INFO" then click "exemptions" and you'll have all of the data you need. Usually the school isd website has info on their exemptions. If this "Texas" concept still doesn't make sense then just post your questions and someone here will straighten it out for you. The homestead exemption paperwork will be with your closing papers.

[Andrew_Taft_Houston]

It would require many pages to discuss all aspects of the Texas Homestead laws and the history/logic behind it.

The very short story is that U.S. and Texas homestead exemptions originated in the 1800s, with the intent of giving a (property tax) discount to people who OWN a home that they also LIVE IN as their PRIMARY residence; to promote home ownership and community stability (etc).

As a side comment, if you'd care to read an actual "treatise" on the subject, here is a very good one, written in 2010 by a graduate student at Texas State University:

http://ecommons.txstate.edu/cgi/view...35&context=arp

THE ACTUAL CALCULATION of the homestead (and other) exemptions can get a bit dicey. Before my time as a Realtor, I worked as a Loan Officer for nine years, and during that time I spent many an hour trying to calculate to the dollar, the exact tax invoice for any particular buyer; BECAUSE, if a Borrower is tight on their mortgage approval 'ratios' then it could be the case that calculating the FULL homestead (or other) deduction(s) accurately could well be the difference of that person getting approved for their mortgage or not (and that is certainly still true today for anyone trying to buy a house at the top end of their mortgage qualification allowable ratios).

Here is a page on the Harris County site which gives the various exemption amounts for most of the different tax jurisdictions throughout the entire Houston metro area:

HCAD: Jurisdiction Information

THE TRICK IS, as you can see many jurisdictions give both a percentage and a dollar amount! So then what?!

For example, Houston ISD gives 20% AND $15,000; and Clear Creak ISD gives 5% and $15,000.

What that means is, for HISD as an example, if the assessed value on a house were exactly $100,000; you would take 20% of that which is $20,000; and add the $15,000 for a total exemption (for the Homestead only) of $35,000; meaning the taxed value would be $65,000.

And if you think that was a hassle to work through, trying doing that for 5 or 6 different tax jurisdictions (or more) that may apply to any one property; and then do that for 3 different properties that any Buyer might be evaluating (which any 'hard working Realtor' would do), and see how long that takes!!!

OR IN OTHER WORDS, it is a sad thing that the (very) old rule of all jurisdictions allowing a flat 20% homestead exemption is LONG GONE!

[mikem395]

Originally Posted by Andrew_Taft_Houston

It would require many pages to discuss all aspects of the Texas Homestead laws and the history/logic behind it.

The very short story is that U.S. and Texas homestead exemptions originated in the 1800s, with the intent of giving a (property tax) discount to people who OWN a home that they also LIVE IN as their PRIMARY residence; to promote home ownership and community stability (etc).

As a side comment, if you'd care to read an actual "treatise" on the subject, here is a very good one, written in 2010 by a graduate student at Texas State University:

http://ecommons.txstate.edu/cgi/view...35&context=arp

THE ACTUAL CALCULATION of the homestead (and other) exemptions can get a bit dicey. Before my time as a Realtor, I worked as a Loan Officer for nine years, and during that time I spent many an hour trying to calculate to the dollar, the exact tax invoice for any particular buyer; BECAUSE, if a Borrower is tight on their mortgage approval 'ratios' then it could be the case that calculating the FULL homestead (or other) deduction(s) accurately could well be the difference of that person getting approved for their mortgage or not (and that is certainly still true today for anyone trying to buy a house at the top end of their mortgage qualification allowable ratios).

Here is a page on the Harris County site which gives the various exemption amounts for most of the different tax jurisdictions throughout the entire Houston metro area:

HCAD: Jurisdiction Information

THE TRICK IS, as you can see many jurisdictions give both a percentage and a dollar amount! So then what?!

For example, Houston ISD gives 20% AND $15,000; and Clear Creak ISD gives 5% and $15,000.

What that means is, for HISD as an example, if the assessed value on a house were exactly $100,000; you would take 20% of that which is $20,000; and add the $15,000 for a total exemption (for the Homestead only) of $35,000; meaning the taxed value would be $65,000.

And if you think that was a hassle to work through, trying doing that for 5 or 6 different tax jurisdictions (or more) that may apply to any one property; and then do that for 3 different properties that any Buyer might be evaluating (which any 'hard working Realtor' would do), and see how long that takes!!!

OR IN OTHER WORDS, it is a sad thing that the (very) old rule of all jurisdictions allowing a flat 20% homestead exemption is LONG GONE!

That hcad link is awesome! Thank you so much for posting that.