الكوارث وضرائب العقارات

Maybe. Contact your local appraisal district as soon as possible after a disaster to find out whether your property qualifies for tax relief.

Under Texas Tax Code 11.35, certain property that is at least 15% damaged by a disaster may qualify for a temporary property tax exemption if the governor declared the area a disaster area.

Qualifying property includes improvements to real property, certain manufactured homes, and personal property used to produce income.

The exemption reduces the taxable value of qualifying property. The amount depends on how badly the property was damaged and when the governor declared the disaster.

You must apply to your local appraisal district no later than 105 days after the governor declares the disaster area. The chief appraiser determines whether your property qualifies and how much of its value is exempt.

Note: If your home was completely destroyed by a fire, you may qualify for a different temporary exemption. The home must have been habitable immediately before the fire and remain uninhabitable for at least 30 days afterward. You must apply within 180 days after the fire. See Texas Tax Code 11.351 for details.

You may be able to keep your residence homestead exemption while rebuilding your home if it became uninhabitable or unusable because of a casualty or wind or water damage.

To keep your exemption, you must:

• Intend to return to the property and use it as your main home.
• Not claim a homestead exemption on another home while rebuilding.
• Begin construction of a replacement home or physically prepare the property for construction within the time allowed by law.

If you sell the property before completing the replacement home, you may owe additional taxes and interest.

See Texas Tax Code 11.135.

A disaster does not automatically cancel your property taxes or stop tax foreclosure. But if your property was damaged in a disaster or emergency, you may qualify for a payment plan that allows you to pay your property taxes in installments.

Contact your local tax assessor-collector as soon as possible if you cannot afford to pay your property taxes. Ask whether you qualify for a disaster-related installment plan or another available payment option.

See Texas Tax Code 31.032 and the Texas Comptroller's Property Taxes in Disaster Areas and During Droughts.

إذا كانت النفقات المتعلقة بالكوارث تجعل من الصعب عليك دفع ضرائب العقارات، فقد تكون مؤهلاً لتقسيم مدفوعات ضرائب العقارات إلى أربعة أقساط متساوية بدون فوائد.

المتطلبات:

• يجب أن يكون العقار في منطقة كارثة معلنة (على مستوى الولاية أو الفيدرالية) تعرضت لأضرار نتيجة مباشرة للكارثة.
• يجب أن يكون العقار مسكنك أو يستخدم لأغراض سكنية مع أقل من خمس وحدات سكنية.
• تنطبق مدفوعات الأقساط على ضرائب العقارات التي تفرض قبل الذكرى السنوية الأولى للكارثة.
• يجب عليك دفع ما لا يقل عن ربع الضرائب قبل الموعد النهائي في فبراير 1، وإعطاء إشعار بأنك ستدفع الضرائب المتبقية على أقساط.
• قد يُطلب منك تقديم إثبات على أضرار الممتلكات (مثل مطالبات التأمين، صور الأضرار، نسخة من تقدير الإصلاح، أو الفواتير المدفوعة).
• For more information on disaster-related installment plans for property taxes, visit Property Tax Assistance by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

Under Texas Tax Code 31.032, certain property owners whose property sustained damage from a qualifying disaster or emergency may pay their property taxes in four equal installments without penalties or interest if they meet the requirements and make their payments on time.

You may qualify if:

• Your property is in a qualifying disaster or emergency area and was directly damaged by the disaster or emergency.
• Your property is a residence homestead, certain other residential property, or qualifying small business property.
• The property taxes were imposed before the first anniversary of the disaster or emergency.
• You make the first installment payment and notify the tax collector that you will pay the remaining taxes in installments before the taxes become delinquent.

Keep photographs, insurance claims, repair estimates, and other records of the damage. These documents may help establish that your property was damaged by the disaster.

Contact your local tax assessor-collector to confirm your eligibility and payment deadlines. Different deadlines may apply if your taxes have a different delinquency date. Texas Tax Code 31.032(b) lays out the deadlines for installment payments.

Warning: If you miss an installment payment, penalties and interest may apply to the unpaid amount.

For more information, visit the Texas Comptroller's Property Taxes in Disaster Areas and During Droughts page.

Usually, you must begin construction or physically prepare the property for construction within one year after you stop living in the damaged home. You may continue receiving your homestead exemption for up to two years.

If your home was made uninhabitable or unusable by a disaster in an area declared a disaster area by the governor, different deadlines apply. You may have up to five years after moving out to begin construction or prepare the property. You may also continue receiving the homestead exemption for up to five years.

Physical preparation can include clearing the land or preparing the site for construction.

You must intend to return to the property and use the replacement home as your main residence.

See Texas Tax Code 11.135.

ليس بالضرورة.

If your home was damaged or destroyed, the replacement home generally is not treated as a new improvement for purposes of the residence homestead appraisal limitation.

However, the replacement home may be treated as a new improvement if:

• It has more square footage than the original home.
• Its exterior is built with higher-quality construction or materials than the original home.

In these situations, your home's appraised value and property taxes may increase.

There is an exception for certain replacement improvements required by qualifying disaster recovery programs.

If you are age 65 or older or have a qualifying disability, you may also be able to keep the property tax limitations that applied to your previous home. These limitations generally can continue when you rebuild, but increases in square footage or exterior construction quality may affect the amount of taxes owed.

See Texas Tax Code 11.26, Texas Tax Code 11.261, and Texas Tax Code 23.23.