Amend SB 2 (house committee printing) by adding the following appropriately numbered ARTICLE to the bill and renumbering the subsequent ARTICLES and cross-references to those ARTICLES accordingly:

ARTICLE ____. HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION APPLICATION IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENT

SECTION ____.01. Section 11.43, Tax Code, is amended by amending Subsections (f) and (j) and adding Subsection (f-1) to read as follows:

(f)  The comptroller, in prescribing the contents of the application form for each kind of exemption, shall ensure that the form requires an applicant to furnish the information necessary to determine the validity of the exemption claim.  The form must require an applicant to provide the applicant's name and driver's license number, personal identification certificate number, or social security account number, or to indicate that the applicant is requesting a waiver to providing that information under Subsection (f-1) if the application is for a residence homestead exemption.  If the applicant is a charitable organization with a federal tax identification number, the form must allow the applicant to provide the organization's federal tax identification number in lieu of a driver's license number, personal identification certificate number, or social security account number.  The comptroller shall include on the forms a notice of the penalties prescribed by Section 37.10, Penal Code, for making or filing an application containing a false statement.  The comptroller shall include, on application forms for exemptions that do not have to be claimed annually, a statement explaining that the application need not be made annually and that if the exemption is allowed, the applicant has a duty to notify the chief appraiser when the applicant's entitlement to the exemption ends.  In this subsection:

(1)  "Driver's license" has the meaning assigned that term by Section 521.001, Transportation Code.

(2)  "Personal identification certificate" means a certificate issued by the Department of Public Safety under Subchapter E, Chapter 521, Transportation Code.

(3)  closing documents for the purchase of the property subject to the claimed exemption that demonstrate the applicant or the applicant's spouse owns the property.

(j)  In addition to the items required by Subsection (f), an application for a residence homestead exemption prescribed by the comptroller and authorized by Section 11.13 must:

(1)  list each owner of the residence homestead and the interest of each owner;

(2)  state that the applicant does not claim an exemption under that section on another residence homestead in this state or claim a residence homestead exemption on a residence homestead outside this state;

(3)  state that each fact contained in the application is true;

(4)  include a copy of the applicant's driver's license or state-issued personal identification certificate, or a copy of a document described by Subsection (f-1) if the applicant requests a waiver under that subsection, unless the applicant:

(A)  is a resident of a facility that provides services related to health, infirmity, or aging; or

(B)  is certified for participation in the address confidentiality program administered by the attorney general under Subchapter B, Chapter 58, Code of Criminal Procedure;

(5)  state that the applicant has read and understands the notice of the penalties required by Subsection (f); and

(6)  be signed by the applicant.