Over age 65? You don’t have to pay your property taxes. (But it’s better if you do.)

Bud Kennedy
·3 min read
10

If you’re sick of paying taxes, Texas has a deal for you.

If you’re age 65 or older or fit one of several other categories, you don’t ever have to pay the property tax on your homestead right now at all.

Get a tax bill? Forget it.

If you file an affidavit, your tax bill is magically delayed. Nobody collects until you move on.

It works like a loan. The tax office still sends a bill, but you don’t have to pay yet.

It’s still due someday. Whenever you’re gone, the next homeowner has 180 days to pay off all the back taxes plus 5% annual interest.

More than 100 Parker County residents have filed the paperwork and no longer pay property taxes, an appraisal district official said.

Seniors, Texans with disabilities and Gold Star families can apply to delay taxes.
Seniors, Texans with disabilities and Gold Star families can apply to delay taxes.

At the Johnson County courthouse in Cleburne, the count is more than 300 homeowners who delay paying.

Scott Porter, the 20-year county tax assessor-collector, said some homeowners age 65 and older go ahead and file the paperwork just to be safe, then keep paying their taxes as long as they can.

“It’s a good option,” he wrote by email.

This Get-Out-Of-Taxes-Free deal is available to thousands of Texans:

▪ Age 65 or older;

▪ Qualified disabled workers drawing federal benefits;

▪ Disabled veterans and their unmarried widows, widowers or children up to age 18;

▪ And “gold star” families — the unmarried widows, widowers or children of military killed on active duty,

One big catch: The taxes are reported to credit bureaus as delinquent.

So your mortgage company probably won’t go along. It might show up in a credit report. And don’t run for public office.

But if you don’t care about all that, and you need the money or think you can reinvest it and do better than 5%, all it takes is signing a piece of paper.

A “sold” sign in front of a Plano home. Homeowners age 65 and over, those with disabilities or gold star families can put off paying property taxes indefinitely at 5% annual interest.
A “sold” sign in front of a Plano home. Homeowners age 65 and over, those with disabilities or gold star families can put off paying property taxes indefinitely at 5% annual interest.

Tax offices don’t promote it. Cities, counties and agencies need the tax money now, not later.

Your payments go toward firefighters, libraries, parks, hospitals, the water supply, police, courts and jails. We count on everyone paying a fair share.

But in cities where property values are skyrocketing — like Austin, where more than 2,500 homeowners have stopped paying — it’s a needed way out for older Texans or those with disabilities who can’t pay the rising bill.

(Don’t be confused. This is not the same as the homestead tax exemption, or the senior exemption for everyone age 65 and over. Those are tax discounts available to everyone who qualifies and signs up. But they don’t suspend collections.)

Tax consultant Randy McKechnie of Arlington said homeowners who qualify might be better off filing the affidavit in case they ever have an emergency.

The only downside is the 5% interest rate, he said.

“Just because they have the deferment doesn’t mean they have to use it,” he said.

In other words, if you can pay your taxes, pay them.

“But if not, it’s a pretty good deal for people on tight money,” he said.

This might be the time.