Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 1659 amends provisions of the Tax Code relating to ad valorem tax exemptions. The bill authorizes a property owner to direct each taxing unit in the appraisal district to deliver tax refunds to a person specified by the property owner. It allows an application for a residence homestead exemption to be filed after the filing deadline has passed if it is filed not later than one year after the delinquency date for the taxes on the homestead, rather than the earlier of one year after the date the taxes on the homestead were paid or became delinquent. Senate Bill 1659 provides that a person 65 years of age or older who receives an ad valorem tax exemption on a residence homestead and who subsequently establishes a different homestead during the same tax year does not qualify for an ad valorem tax exemption on the subsequent residence homestead until January 1 of the following tax year.

Reason Given For Veto: "Senate Bill No. 1659 would authorize property owners to designate an agent to receive tax refunds on their behalf. It would have allowed property owners to designate an agent to receive tax refunds on their behalf. This change would enable firms that help people obtain tax refunds to receive a person's refund in order to deduct its fee, usually 50 percent of the amount recovered. While these firms claim to provide a public service, appraisal districts provide this information to homeowners at no cost. The Attorney General has sued some firms of deceiving homeowners about how they can obtain a homestead exemption.

"The bill also requires senior citizens who establish a different homestead in the middle of the year to wait until the following January 1 to qualify their new residence for a homestead exemption and corresponding tax ceiling, or "freeze." Current law allows citizens who are 65 or over to immediately qualify for the tax exemption on their new residence."