Did you know that some developers in San Antonio are receiving tax breaks for their high-priced real estate due to agricultural exemptions and wildlife management exemptions? Texans who keep wildlife or do farming on their properties can qualify for an agricultural exemption that discounts their property taxes. Also, Texans who have an unused piece of property that that they use to feed squirrels and birds might be able to classify their property as being used for wildlife management, which can result in property tax breaks too.
With a little bit of research, one can also find 85 properties that applied for agricultural exemption in San Antonio, but were denied. Those same property owners successfully appealed the denials and won, thereby reducing their tax burdens considerably.
There were, for example, two properties valued at $1.4 million by the appraisal district last year. The owner of the properties appealed to receive an agricultural exemption that reduced the property values to only $1,300. As a result, the property owners only had to pay $32 in tax. These reductions in tax liabilities were perfectly legal. All the property owners have been doing is taking advantage of their in-depth understanding of the current property tax codes.
Do you want to know if you can benefit from property tax breaks by reclassifying your property under the agricultural or wildlife management property tax exemptions? A San Antonio real estate lawyer can help you look at your legal rights and options in this regard. Considering the potential financial benefits, it doesn’t hurt to look further into the possibility of reducing your tax burden.
Source: news4sanantonio.com, “Developers getting big property tax break for “agriculture” and “wildlife management”,” Jaie Avila, accessed Aug. 24, 2017