2005S0395-1  02/28/05


By:  Carona                                                       S.B. No. 898


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to tax liability for property omitted from an appraisal 
roll.      
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subsection (b), Section 31.08, Tax Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section, if 
a person transfers property accompanied by a tax certificate that 
erroneously indicates [showing] that no delinquent taxes, 
penalties, or interest are due a taxing unit on the property or that 
fails to include property because of its omission from an appraisal 
roll as described under Section 25.21, the unit's tax lien on the 
property is extinguished and the purchaser of the property is 
absolved of liability to the unit for delinquent taxes, penalties, 
or interest on the property or for taxes based on omitted property.  
The person who was liable for the tax for the year the tax [it] was 
imposed or the property was omitted remains personally liable for 
the [delinquent] tax and for any[,] penalties or[, and] interest.
	SECTION 2.  Subsection (a), Section 32.07, Tax Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(a)  Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (c) of this 
section, property taxes are the personal obligation of the person 
who owns or acquires the property on January 1 of the year for which 
the tax is imposed or would have been imposed had property not been 
omitted as described under Section 25.21.  A person is not relieved 
of the obligation because he no longer owns the property.
	SECTION 3.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act to 
Subsection (b), Section 31.08, Tax Code, applies only to a tax 
certificate issued on or after the effective date of this Act.  A 
tax certificate issued before the effective date of this Act is 
covered by the law in effect on the date of issuance, and that law is 
continued in effect for that purpose.
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act to Subsection (a), 
Section 32.07, Tax Code, applies only to omitted property added to 
an appraisal roll after the effective date of this Act.  Liability 
for taxes based on the addition of omitted property to an appraisal 
roll before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in 
effect on that date, and the former law is continued in effect for 
that purpose.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.