A 58-year-old Dallas woman inherited $300,000 from her deceased Pennsylvania father's estate and was billed $13,500 in Pennsylvania inheritance tax, despite Texas having no inheritance tax, because Pennsylvania taxes estates based on where the deceased lived.
$Texas has no inheritance or estate tax; Pennsylvania imposes 4.5% inheritance tax on estates of deceased residents regardless of heir's state of residence.
Dallas woman (58 years old), heir to Pennsylvania estate; Her father (86 years old), deceased Pennsylvania resident who owned Pittsburgh house; Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, tax authority imposing inheritance tax
The Texas Tribune explains how homeowners can claim a homestead exemption to reduce their property tax bills. The exemption reduces taxable home value, particularly lowering school property taxes.
$Homestead exemption reduces taxable home value, cutting property tax payments to schools, cities and counties; homeowners age 65 or with qualifying disability receive additional exemptions and frozen school tax bills.
Comal County Commissioners approved a $214.02 million budget for fiscal year 2026-27 and set a property tax rate of $0.305015 per $100 valuation on September 17. The rate is higher than the no-new-revenue rate and is projected to generate $1.86 million in additional revenue.
$The adopted tax rate is projected to generate an additional $1.86 million in property tax revenue, a 1.7% increase over the previous year. [1]
Comal County Commissioners, approved the budget and tax rate; Kirsten Hoyt, Comal County Judge; Kevin Webb, Comal County Precinct 3 Commissioner
Texas legislators have raised the homestead exemption from $15,000 to $140,000 over a decade to reduce property taxes. School districts say state reimbursement through "hold harmless" agreements does not fully compensate for lost tax revenue, leaving funding gaps.
$State reimbursement to school districts for property tax exemptions does not fully compensate lost revenues under current hold-harmless agreements, leaving districts with funding gaps.
Paul Bettencourt, Houston-area state senator, former Harris County tax assessor-collector; Johnny Hill, Deputy superintendent for business operations, Plano ISD; Mike Morath, Texas Education Commissioner and 1 more
Governor Abbott sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on October 15, 2026, requesting federal disaster tax relief for individuals and businesses affected by severe storms and flooding that began on July 14, 2026.
$Abbott requests temporary suspension of federal tax filing and payment deadlines and waiver of late fees and penalties for taxpayers in all 62 counties affected by July storms.
Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas; Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary
State Comptroller Don Huffines reported that local governments statewide received $1.3 billion in allocations of net local sales taxes collected in September, representing an 11.6% increase compared to the same period last year.
$Comptroller Huffines said rising sales tax revenue is an opportunity for local elected officials to reduce property taxes, which can help make housing more affordable and reduce financial strain on Texans.
Don Huffines, Texas State Comptroller; Tyler County, county receiving sales tax increase
Property tax bills have risen sharply across the country, driven by rising home values and weak assessment limits. Texas, Colorado, Georgia, and other states are experiencing tax revolts, with homeowners filing record challenge numbers and lawmakers debating reforms ahead of midterm elections.
$In Texas, appraisal challenges hit record levels in many counties as rising home values pushed taxes higher. Lawmakers have spent the past four years debating possible solutions.
Texas lawmakers, debating possible solutions to property taxes; Georgia politicians, promising property tax cuts ahead of Nov. 3 midterm elections; Texas politicians, promising property tax cuts ahead of Nov. 3 midterm elections and 2 more
Texas cities, counties, transit systems and special-purpose taxing districts received $1.3 billion in sales tax allocations in October, an 11.6% increase from October 2025. Central Texas showed mixed results, with Bell County up 10.01% and Coryell County up 3.23%, while Milam County declined 40.15%.
$$1.3 billion for sales tax allocations
Texas State Comptroller, Distributed sales tax allocations
Oklahoma Republicans are considering a tax credit modeled on Texas and Florida programs that would provide dollar-for-dollar tax waivers for business donations to approved family-focused nonprofits. Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton and former NFL coach Tony Dungy testified before Oklahoma lawmakers on Oct. 12 about how similar credits operate in their states.
$Texas' Strong Families Tax Credit allows businesses to claim a franchise-tax credit for donations to approved nonprofits, with the statewide annual cap of $5 million fully spent in 2026.
Angela Paxton, Texas state senator; Tony Dungy, Former NFL coach; John Haste, Oklahoma state senator representing Broken Arrow and 4 more
Republican leaders ordered state agencies to make 3% budget cuts to help fund property tax changes in the 2028-29 spending cycle. State agencies warned that the cuts will cost hundreds of millions in revenue and harm services including prison security, child support, tax fraud investigations, and tax collections.
$Property tax cuts estimated to cost about $4 billion; state agencies say 3% budget cuts will not fully cover proposed property tax reform and will reduce services.
Greg Abbott, Governor; ordered budget reduction; Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor; ordered budget reduction; Dustin Burrows, House Speaker; ordered budget reduction and 6 more
President Trump is considering suspending the federal gasoline excise tax. Energy expert David Holt commented on implications for Texas, which has its own state gas tax, and noted that Congress must approve any federal tax change and Governor Greg Abbott would need to waive the state tax.
$If both federal and state taxes were removed in Texas, gas prices would be reduced by almost 40 cents per gallon per sources.
President Trump, Considering suspending federal gasoline excise tax; David Holt, Energy expert providing commentary; Greg Abbott, Texas Governor who could waive state gas tax
Three Brown County cities posted increases in sales tax revenue in October 2026, according to data from the Texas Comptroller's Office. The October revenues reflect taxable retail sales from August 2026.
$$599,542 for sales tax revenue
Texas Comptroller's Office, Released sales tax revenue data; City of Brownwood, Received sales tax revenue; City of Early, Received sales tax revenue and 1 more
Insurance companies that filed rate changes with the Texas Department of Insurance since July 1, 2026 proposed decreases for both homeowners and auto insurance, affecting millions of Texas policyholders. Homeowners rates averaged a 4.3% decrease; auto insurance rates declined for 4.4 million drivers.
$4.3% for homeowners insurance rate decrease
Texas Department of Insurance, state agency reporting rate filing data; Amanda Crawford, Insurance Commissioner; Greg Abbott, Governor and 4 more
Dallas County will hold a Nov. 3 election for voters to approve a property tax rate increase. The measure, called Proposition A, would redirect money to address homelessness countywide through mental health treatment and housing programs.
$County property taxes will increase; the rate rises to about 22.5 cents per $100 of value at voter-approval level or reaches about 24.9 cents per $100 with approval of the higher measure, and taxes will increase regardless of the election outcome.
Dallas County leaders, proposing the tax increase; Dallas County Commissioners, voted 3-2 in August to place item on November ballot; Clay Jenkins, County Judge and 1 more
U.S. Senate candidates Ken Paxton (Republican) and James Talarico (Democrat) debated federal gas and diesel taxes. Talarico called on Paxton to condemn the Iran war and suspend those taxes; Paxton said the gas tax should be permanently eliminated.
$Talarico proposed suspending federal gas and diesel taxes; Paxton proposed permanently eliminating the gas tax.
Ken Paxton, Republican U.S. Senate nominee; James Talarico, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee; Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas
On September 30, 2026, the Texas Comptroller signed an executive order directing his office to amend sales tax regulations on data processing services. The proposed amendment would remove marketplace and platform fees from the definition of taxable data processing services, addressing double taxation where transaction fees are taxed in addition to underlying purchases.
$Proposed amendment would remove marketplace and platform fees from taxable data processing services to eliminate double taxation on transactions and related fees.
Texas Comptroller, signed executive order directing amendment
Food bank leaders testified at Hunger Action Day at the Texas Capitol on Sept. 29 that new federal SNAP rules shift more administrative costs to Texas, requiring the state to cover 75% of SNAP's overhead costs instead of 50%. Leaders said food banks cannot replace SNAP's broader assistance.
$$117 million a year for annual SNAP administrative cost increase to Texas from federal rule change
Theresa Mangapora, Executive director of the Brazos Valley Food Bank; Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas; Feeding Texas, Advocacy organization and 1 more
Texas collected $4.4 billion in state sales tax revenue in September, an increase of 11.5% compared to September 2025. The increase was driven primarily by strong business spending in mining, construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, and real estate.
$Comptroller Huffines said continued revenue growth puts the Legislature in position to use state surplus to ease tax burdens for homeowners, businesses, and renters.
Texas Comptroller Don Huffines, Texas Comptroller announcing revenue figures; Texas Comptroller's Office, Agency collecting and reporting state sales tax revenue
Texas Comptroller Don Huffines signed an executive order to end taxation on medical records, electronic health records, patient portals, and healthcare technology systems. A proposed rule amendment will be filed with the Texas Secretary of State, followed by a 30-day public comment period.
$Texans will no longer pay tax on accessing medical records, patient portals, and healthcare technology systems; comptroller noted extra fees had driven up general healthcare costs.
Texas legislators are finalizing a $10 billion property tax reduction bill that would boost the property tax exemption for Texans over 65 and those with disabilities from $10,000 to $60,000. Combined with a separate homestead exemption, this could provide total exemptions crest $200,000 and yearly savings of over $950 for more than two million homeowners.
$Younger homeowners and future property buyers may face higher property tax rates to compensate for reduced tax base from senior and disabled homeowner exemptions, per sources citing Texas Senate data and property tax experts.
Texas Legislature, drafting the bill; Texas Senate Local Government Committee, source of data on property tax exemptions; Taylor Scriber, millennial Texan commenting on property tax burden