Texas Senate bill by Sen. Paxton imposes penalty for late property tax filings

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Angela Paxton aims to impose a penalty on individuals who fail to timely file property tax rendition statements, seeking to improve compliance and enforcement in property tax administration, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the Senate, five Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while six Democrats opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the House, 52 Democrats and 84 Republicans voted in favor, while nine Democrats voted against it.

Angela Paxton introduced the bill in the Texas Senate on Wednesday, March 5, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Paxton graduated from Baylor University with a BS.

Paxton, a Republican, was elected to the Texas State Senate in 2019 to represent the state’s 8th Senate district, replacing previous state senator Van Taylor.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to the imposition of a penalty for failure to timely file a rendition statement or property report with the chief appraiser of an appraisal district’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Tax Code to impose a penalty on individuals who fail to timely file a rendition statement or property report with the chief appraiser of an appraisal district. The penalty will be 10% of the total taxes imposed on the property for that year by participating taxing units. The chief appraiser is required to notify individuals of the penalty by June 1 via certified mail, accompanying the notice of appraised value. Once the penalty is finalized, it is certified to the assessor, added to the tax bill, and itemized separately. The penalty becomes part of the property tax and is secured by a tax lien. The repeal of Section 22.28(d) and other changes will apply to ad valorem tax years starting on or after the bill’s effective date of Jan. 1, 2026.

The bill received its final legislative approval on Thursday, May 22, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, June 20.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.