Texas Property Tax Payment Plans in Disaster and Emergency Areas

Did you know your county offers payment plans for the payment of your real property taxes? The catch is these plans have only been available on your homestead, not on land, rental homes, or business property. However, during the legislative session last year, a new law passed that allows your county to offer installment payment plans to businesses for their property tax bill in areas where a disaster has occurred or an emergency has been declared.

The Governor holds the power to declare both “a state of emergency” or to designate an area as affected by an emergency. There are some qualifications, which are:

  1. Real property owned or leased by a business that met the limit on gross receipts provided for installment payments on the property damaged by a disaster under current law,
  2. Real property in a disaster or emergency area that has not been damaged as a direct result,
  3. Tangible personal property owned or leased by such a business, and
  4. Taxes imposed on the property by a taxing unit before the first anniversary of the disaster or emergency.

If you’ve been affected by a disaster or are in an emergency center, give your county tax office a call to see if you might qualify for a payment plan.