By Cody Inman. Published September 24, 2026. Last updated: September 24, 2026.

A Texas 1-d-1 agricultural valuation can continue to a new owner without a new application if the land passes to the former owner's surviving spouse, or, since January 1, 2026 under House Bill 1244, if the new owner uses it in materially the same way under the same individuals, per Tax Code Section 23.54(e-1). Every other new owner must reapply.

That second route is nine months old. The county documents are older, and one of them was updated the same month the amendment took effect and still publishes the rule the amendment carved into.

What did House Bill 1244 change about ag exemption transfers in Texas?

Before 2026, Texas Tax Code Section 23.54(e) was read as a blanket rule: ownership changes, the new owner files a new 1-d-1 application, with one exception in Section 23.54(e-1) for a transfer to the former owner's surviving spouse. House Bill 1244 (Acts 2025, 89th Legislature, Chapter 118, effective January 1, 2026) amended Section 23.54(e-1) to keep that exception and add a second. Ownership of land appraised under the subchapter in the preceding tax year is now not considered to have changed if the land is transferred to the surviving spouse, or if, after the transfer, the new owner uses the land in materially the same way the former owner used it during the preceding tax year and that use is overseen or conducted by the same individuals who oversaw or conducted it during the preceding tax year (HB 1244, enrolled text, capitol.texas.gov; passed the House 145 to 0 and the Senate 31 to 0).

The same bill added Section 23.541(a-2). A new owner who meets both tests but misses the April 30 deadline can still file, and the chief appraiser must accept and rule on the application if it is filed by the later of the delinquency date for that year's taxes or the first anniversary of the transfer. Section 23.541(b) was amended so the usual 10 percent late-filing penalty does not apply to that filing (HB 1244, Section 2).

Every other new owner is where the law has always put them: a new application on Comptroller Form 50-129 between January 1 and April 30, or a late one with the 10 percent penalty until the appraisal roll certifies, on or before July 25 in Parker County and roughly mid-July in Wise County.

What do the county appraisal districts say about reapplying after a sale?

Jack County Appraisal District's 2026 Ag Info Packet, updated January 2026, lists on page 12 every event it says requires a new application: a change in the use of the land, selling off part of the land, buying additional land, a deed change, changing the name to a trust, changing the undivided interest percentages, or the chief appraiser requesting a re-sign, with a note that some districts request one every year, every two, three, or five years. Page 9 states the same rule in one line: a new application is required any time there is a recorded name change in the deed records (Jack CAD, 2026 Ag Info Packet, updated January 2026, pages 9 and 12). That is a blanket rule, published the same month the statute began carrying an exception to it. Overbroad is the word.

Parker County Appraisal District's Agricultural Valuation guideline, updated September 27, 2024, states that a new owner must reapply on any ownership change or new deed, and that prior-year approval is not a guarantee of approval (PCAD, Agricultural Valuation, updated September 27, 2024). That document predates the change by fifteen months and has not been revised.

Palo Pinto Appraisal District's 2026 manual says that once an application is filed and approved, the landowner is not required to file again as long as the land qualifies, unless the chief appraiser requests another application. It says nothing about ownership change in that section (PPAD, 2026 Open Space 1-d-1 Manual, cover year 2026, supplied by the district).

None of the three is the statute. When the county PDF and the Tax Code disagree, the Tax Code wins. The Inman Group publishes the HB 1244 tests next to what the Jack, Parker, and Palo Pinto county documents say here at Inman Insights, because the gap between them is where a new owner's first tax bill comes from.

What counts as "materially the same use" by "the same individuals"?

The statute does not define either phrase, and no appraisal district in our six counties has published a reading of them as of September 2026. Read them literally until someone does. Same use means the operation the seller ran is the operation you run: cattle stay cattle, hay stays hay, the stocking stays at intensity. Same individuals means the people who ran it keep running it.

Buy 15 acres in Peaster in October, close in November, and leave the seller's grazing lessee in place under the same lease. The cattle did not change and the operator did not change. Those facts meet both conditions as written. Whether a district agrees is a legal question, and you ask a Texas property tax attorney before you rely on it. Trailer the seller's cows off at closing and bring in your own, or take the operation over yourself, and both tests fail. You are a new owner with a new application due.

Take the trust item on Jack County's list. Moving land into a revocable trust for estate planning is a deed change with no change in use and no change in who runs the operation. Section 23.54(e-1)(2) has two conditions: materially the same use as the preceding year, overseen or conducted by the same individuals. A trust transfer of a working place meets both as written. Jack County's published list still requires a new application on that event (Jack CAD, 2026 Ag Info Packet, page 12). How any district will read the two side by side is not something this article can tell you. Ask a Texas property tax attorney before the deed is recorded, not after.

The paper matters. Jack County Appraisal District accepts a lease as the owner's agricultural use when the lessee works the land to the district's standards and controls enough contiguous acreage, owned or leased, to meet the minimum size. An owner applying on the strength of a lease attaches a copy of the written lease. Where the agreement is oral, the lessee supplies a letter giving the type of agricultural use, the head of livestock run or acres planted, how long the lease runs, and how to reach the lessee (Jack CAD, 2026 Ag Info Packet, updated January 2026, page 5, "Land Leases"). If you are relying on the seller's lessee to carry the HB 1244 continuity, get that lease assigned to you in writing before closing and get the lessee's letter in the file.

What should a land buyer check before closing on ag exempt land?

Start with the history, because the district will not hand it to you. Jack County Appraisal District's 2026 packet answers a buyer who has no idea what the prior use was: by law you must have a history, and obtaining it is your obligation if you want to qualify. Asked whether the district can supply that history, the packet says no. The district has a record of when the original application was submitted and whether the valuation was granted. It will not know the specific use, or even whether the land would have qualified, because the valuation may have been received in error if the land was not being used (Jack CAD, 2026 Ag Info Packet, updated January 2026, page 11). Read that last clause twice. The district that granted the valuation is telling you it might have been wrong to. The five of seven year test rides with the land, so you inherit the seller's history whether or not anyone can produce it. Ask the seller for lease records, sale receipts, hay tickets, and the prior applications. If the seller cannot produce them, price that in.

Understand what laying out does. Under Jack County's published reading, land can lay out, meaning not be used, for two years and still qualify for the history. Land that is not being used does not qualify and does not receive the tax savings for the years it is laying out, and the taxpayer is obligated to inform the district of any change of use, except when the land is in a government program (Jack CAD, 2026 Ag Info Packet, page 12). A tract that was idle in 2024 and 2025 can still carry its history into your ownership. It cannot carry a valuation it did not have.

Know who owns the year. Under Jack County's published reading, a buyer who purchased in February was not the legal owner on January 1 of that tax year, so the following year is when the buyer is required to apply. If the previous owner was receiving the valuation, the buyer receives that benefit for the year. If the previous owner had not applied, the buyer may apply on the previous owner's behalf that first year and will be asked to apply the next year under their own name (Jack CAD, 2026 Ag Info Packet, page 12). Read that alongside HB 1244: the continuity tests decide whether that following-year filing is a new application at all.

Wise County adds one more obligation. The owner must notify the district in writing by May 1 when eligibility ends or the category changes, and failing to notify carries its own penalty (WCAD, 2024 Agricultural Land Use Guidelines and Standards).

What it costs you to get this wrong

  • You trust the county packet over the statute. A buyer who reads Jack County's January 2026 packet files a new application, pays nothing extra, and loses nothing. A buyer who reads it, misses April 30, and does not know Section 23.541(a-2) exists pays a 10 percent penalty the statute says he does not owe, or gives up on the year entirely.
  • You change the operation and assume the valuation followed you. Your own cattle, your own operator, no application. The HB 1244 tests fail and the year bills at market value. On Parker County acreage that is a four or five figure line on one bill.
  • You cannot prove the history. The district will not produce it, the seller did not keep it, and the land laid out for three of the last seven years instead of two. No valuation, no HB 1244 continuity to inherit, and no rollback either, because nothing physical changed. Just market value going forward.
  • You let the lease lapse at closing. The lessee was your continuity. The lease ended with the seller's ownership and nobody assigned it. Same cows, same man, no paper, and the district has nothing to accept.

Frequently asked questions

Does an ag exemption transfer to the new owner in Texas?

Ownership is not treated as changed if the land passes to a surviving spouse, or, since January 1, 2026 under House Bill 1244, if the new owner continues materially the same use overseen by the same individuals. Otherwise Tax Code Section 23.54(e) requires a new 1-d-1 application by April 30.

Do I have to reapply for the ag exemption after buying land in Texas?

Not if you meet both House Bill 1244 tests: materially the same use as the former owner, overseen or conducted by the same individuals. If either test fails, Texas Tax Code Section 23.54(e) requires a new application on Comptroller Form 50-129 by April 30, or a late one with a 10 percent penalty.

Will the appraisal district give me the land's agricultural use history?

Jack County Appraisal District's published answer is no. The district has a record of when the original application was filed and whether the valuation was granted, not the specific use, and notes the valuation may have been received in error. Obtaining the seven year history is the buyer's obligation.

Can land sit unused and keep its ag exemption in Texas?

Under Jack County Appraisal District's published reading, land can lay out for two years and still satisfy the five of seven year history. It does not qualify and receives no tax savings in the years it is unused, and the owner must report the change of use unless the land is in a government program.

I closed in February. Who gets the ag valuation this year?

The account keeps the prior owner's valuation for the year. Jack County Appraisal District's published position is that the buyer applies under their own name the following year. Since January 1, 2026, a buyer continuing materially the same use under the same individuals may not need to reapply at all.

Before you close on ag land in Parker, Palo Pinto, Jack, or any North Texas county, someone should read the seller's operation against the HB 1244 tests, get the lease assigned, and collect the seven year history while the seller still has a reason to cooperate. That is option period work, and our piece on earnest money covers how the option period is built to hold it. What the county expects you to keep doing after closing is in how many acres each North Texas county requires for ag valuation. What happens if you stop is in what triggers a rollback tax in Texas. If you want the seller's account read before you write the contract, ask us to pull it.

Not tax or legal advice. Confirm your tract with the county appraisal district and a Texas property tax professional or attorney.

The Inman Group | The Agency Fort Worth