The tax bill is due by Jan, 31, 2011 for the 2010 tax year. You are responsible for making sure that your taxes are paid even if your taxes are escrowed by your mortgage company. You can request a receipt from the county to make sure they were paid if you are the type that tends to worry. It is also good to keep a record on hand in the event you need to prove that taxes were in fact, paid.
If you purchased your home last year, do not forget to claim your Homestead exemption. The Tarrant Appraisal District has all of their forms on one page for easy access.
If you want to know how to calculate tax rates in a neighborhood you are interested in purchasing a home in, here’s how I do it. Let’s use Tarrant County as an example since we sell most of our homes in Tarrant County. On the Tarrant Appraisal District website they have a spreadsheet of their tax rates. Print it out. There are lots of codes to on the left-hand column. They correspond to the Taxing Jurisdiction Name.
The next step is to perform a property data search on the property you want to purchase. If you want to build a home or the home is a newly completed home and not listed in the tax records, I use the model home as a reference. Let’s use 404 Elk Run in Fort Worth. That’s the model home at the Parks of Deer Creek.
You will see the Taxing Jurisdictions called out one by one. Those codes and names correspond to the tax rate in the third column of the tax spreadsheet. Sometimes you have to go by the name instead of the code as in Tarrant County Hospital which is actually code 091, instead of 224.
Go through the list and add it all up. The grand total is the UNEXEMPT amount. Multiply this amount by the total price of the home you are purchasing and that sum is what you pay without Homestead exemption or any other additional exemptions you may qualify for. By my calculations I came up with a tax liability of 3.039537% for the value of the home. When you multiply that by $118,900 (the value given for the 2010 tax year) the number is $3614.00
This is a really good way to figure out ahead of time if the taxes in one neighborhood are lower or higher than another. If you plan to escrow your taxes into your mortgage, this can make a big difference in your monthly house payment.
If you have more questions about Taxes in Texas you can visit the State Comptroller’s website or call one of our Home Buying Experts at 1-800-Antares!