If you bought a home in Burleson this year, nobody files your homestead exemption for you. Your lender will not. Your title company will not. It is a free form, and skipping it can cost you real money, because the school exemption alone takes $140,000 off your home's value for school taxes. Here is how it works, when it starts, and where to send it.
You file with the appraisal district in the county where the house sits, not with the state and not with your tax office. Burleson is in two counties, so this depends on your address:
Your school district does not decide this. Burleson ISD covers homes in both counties, and which appraisal district you use still comes down to the county. Your closing papers or a property search on each district's site will settle it.
The state requires school districts to give a $140,000 homestead exemption, plus another $60,000 if you are 65 or older or disabled. On top of that, the Johnson County appraisal district's 2025 list, the newest I could find, shows the City of Burleson at 5% or $5,000. Other taxing units have their own amounts. For what that does to a real number, see Burleson property taxes, explained. If you are a veteran with a VA disability rating, read the Texas disabled veteran exemption before you file, because that is a separate exemption.
The general rule is that you need to own the home and live in it as your principal residence on January 1. If you bought after January 1, what happens next depends on the previous owner.
Here is the part that costs people. "Wait until January to file" has been out of date since 2022, when Texas started letting a buyer claim the exemption from the date they own and live in the home if the previous owner did not claim it that year. I would file as soon as your paperwork is ready. If the seller had the exemption, ask your district how it handles an application before January 1. I go through the history in the Texas homestead exemption, and the two laws everyone confuses.
Late is allowed. It is not a plan. Until the exemption is on the books, you are looking at a bigger bill or an escrow payment built on the wrong number.
Update your driver's license first. The application requires a copy of your Texas driver's license or state ID, and the address on it has to match the home you are claiming. TAD's form says it plainly, and Tax Code Section 11.43 says the chief appraiser generally cannot grant the exemption without that match. There are exceptions, including certain active-duty military members and people in care facilities or the state's address confidentiality program. If that might be you, ask before you file.
If there are two owners, each one's license needs attention. TAD's form asks for a copy from each applicant.
TAD's form says there is no fee to file. Right after you close, you may get official-looking mail offering to handle your homestead for a fee. The Texas Attorney General has warned consumers about these so-called "designation of homestead" offers. Counties make the exemption available at no cost. If an envelope asks you for money to file this, throw it out and go to your appraisal district's website.
I am a REALTOR, not a tax professional or an attorney. Rules and forms change, so confirm your own situation with your appraisal district or a tax pro.
Yes, you can file. Whether it applies to this year depends on the previous owner. If the seller had the exemption for this tax year, yours generally starts January 1 of next year. If not, such as on a new home from a builder, you may get it for the applicable portion of this year.
With the appraisal district in the county where your home sits: the Central Appraisal District of Johnson County or Tarrant Appraisal District. It does not go to the state or the tax office.
Texas allows a late homestead application up to two years after the delinquency date for those taxes. If approved, the tax is removed or refunded. Confirm the details with your appraisal district.
Not sure which county your Burleson house is in, or whether the seller's exemption affects you? Send me the address and I will help you figure out who to call. Thinking about buying your first home here? Start with my first-time buyer page.
REALTOR® · BHHS PenFed Realty Texas
I help buyers and sellers across the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex — Fort Worth, Burleson, Southlake, Crowley and Keller, and the surrounding Dallas area. I write these because they are the questions I answer on the phone every week, and most people never get a straight answer to them. If you have one I have not covered, ask me — I will probably turn it into the next post.
