This exemption did not exist before 1 January 2026. A fire in 2025 does not qualify. The deadline runs from the day of the fire, not from your tax bill.
It removes the destroyed building from that year's taxable value, in proportion to how much of the year was left after the fire. Burn down in June and roughly half the year's value on the structure comes out.
You must apply within 180 days of the date the fire happened. Not from your tax bill. Not from a deadline in April. Miss it and the exemption is gone for that year, and unlike the homestead exemption there is no late-filing relief.
If the fire was recent and the house is not yet 30 days uninhabitable, you are not disqualified — you simply cannot answer that question yet. Diarise it.
The form is 50-339 and it goes to the appraisal district, not the tax office. It is free. HCAD publishes it alongside its other exemption forms, and the Texas Comptroller publishes the same form at no charge.
Tell our free checker that your home burned and we add a page to your kit naming the form, working out your 180-day deadline from the date you give us, and saying plainly what still has to be true for you to qualify. We do not file it for you.
No. The disaster exemption (§11.35) has a sliding scale of 15, 30, 60 or 100 percent depending on how badly the property was damaged, and it is tied to a declared disaster. The fire exemption under §11.351 is all or nothing: the home must have been completely destroyed.
No. Texas voters approved this in November 2025 and it took effect on 1 January 2026, so 2026 is the first tax year in which anyone can use it.
Do not wait to prepare, but the 30-day uninhabitable test cannot be met until 30 days have actually passed. The 180-day clock is running from the date of the fire, so there is time — diarise it and file once the 30 days are up.
Everything on this page is an exemption — it takes part of your home's value out of the tax, and applying is free.
A protest is the separate argument that HCAD's valuation is too high in the first place. You have that right every year, and our free check tells you whether it looks worth using.
Check my home free →Exemptions are free to file and always will be. The $39 do-it-yourself kit is for the separate job of protesting a value, and you never need it to claim an exemption.
Harris County, Texas. Statutory amounts and deadlines are set by law and can change; verify with HCAD or the Texas Comptroller before relying on any figure here. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice.