Taxes and Affordability
Under Governor Abbott's leadership, Texas:
- Spurred job growth by permanently cutting the business franchise tax by 25%
- Provided the largest property tax cut in Texas history in 2023 by providing $18 billion to:
- Drive down school district property tax rates
- Increase homestead exemptions for Texas homeowners
- Increase Franchise Tax exemptions
- Increase Appraisal caps for small businesses
- Provided relief from rising local property taxes in 2019 by:
- Capping annual increases
- Requiring voter approval for higher tax rates
- Boosting transparency through online posting of tax data
- Strengthened Texans’ rights in the appraisal process by banning surprise increases, enhancing training for review boards, and ensuring taxpayers receive evidence used in appraisal hearings at no cost
- Banned all state income taxes
- Passed a “circuit breaker” cap to provide relief to non-homestead properties, a 20% taxable value cap on all property with a value of $5 million on less
This past legislative session, Governor Abbott:
- Invested more than $50 billion to reduce property taxes, an increase of over $10 billion from the last budget – using 25% of the state’s revenue to reduce property taxes
- Increased the school district homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000
- Increased the school district homestead exemption even more for elderly and disabled – from $110,000 to $200,000 – eliminating school district property taxes for majority of these Texan
- Provided property tax exemptions for Texans whose homes have been destroyed by fires
- Increased the business personal property tax exemption from $2,500 to $125,000, lowering taxes on the equipment and tools Texans use to make a living
- Banned a tax on capital gains, allowing Texans to keep more of their hard-earned money
- Helped protect the future of Texas farmers by exempting animal feed inventory from property taxes
- Protected Texans’ investments such as retirement accounts and pensions, as well as the future of Texas’ stock exchanges, by banning transaction taxes
- Banned inheritance taxes so Texans can pass on what they’ve earned to their families
