Does the Texas Senior Tax Freeze Transfer If I Move?

Percentage, not dollars

A common misconception is that your exact old ceiling dollar figure simply moves with you. It doesn't. What transfers is the percentage of tax reduction the ceiling represented at your prior home. That percentage is then applied against your new home's tax bill — which means your new ceiling amount in dollars depends on your new home's value and the new taxing units' rates, not on the old number.

Form 50-272

You're entitled to request a written certificate documenting your ceiling and its percentage from your prior appraisal district. File that certificate with the appraisal district for your new home.

County and city ceilings only transfer within the same unit

Since county, city, and junior-college ceilings are optional and adopted unit by unit, a transfer only makes sense if the relevant unit at your new address also has a ceiling.

Moving to a new county or a new city means checking whether that specific taxing unit has adopted its own ceiling before assuming anything transfers there.

Moving to a different school district

The percentage-transfer mechanism for school district ceilings applies regardless of which district you move to within Texas, but your resulting dollar ceiling depends on the new district's own tax rate. Confirm the specifics with both your old and new appraisal districts — the paperwork typically needs to flow between the two.

Don't forget the underlying exemption

The ceiling transfer certificate is separate from your homestead exemption application. You still need to file Form 50-114 at your new address to establish the exemption itself.