The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Real Estate and Landlording => Topic started by: Kriegsspiel on August 26, 2012, 08:14:20 PM
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http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/exmptns.html
Hopefully someone from TX can answer this: What is the deal with the Homestead Act? It looks like basically $15,000 off your home's value (for tax purposes), just for the cost of your time to fill out the application. Am I missing the catch here?
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Homestead is generally worth filing for legal benefits (protection in lawsuits on the principal residence), this tax benefit seems like gravy.
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Nice.
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Takes 2.2 seconds and reduces the taxable value of your primary residence.
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No catch, assuming of course this is your primary residence and not an investment property. Also has some legal benefits as mentioned by Arebelspy. I believe you've missed the deadline to get the benefit on this year's RE taxes, but get it set up to take advantage of free money going forward.
Another minor side benefit is the future buyer of your house will automatically get the benefit for the year they purchase your house, regardless if they're an investor. I just bought a rental property and - since it was homesteaded as of Jan 1, 2012 by the seller - I'll get the exemption for this one (and only) year.
I mention this primarily because you may receive the exemption this year if the previous owner had it homesteaded, but you'll need to file to gain the exemption going forward.