Does Texas really have no state income tax, and what do I pay instead?
Yes. Texas has no state individual income tax. It funds local government mostly through property tax, and sales tax runs 6.25% state plus local add-ons to a maximum 8.25%, which is what Boerne charges. Texas property is reappraised at market value annually, subject to a 10% homestead cap.
The no-income-tax part is real
There is no asterisk on it. Texas does not levy a state individual income tax, so there is no state return to file on wages, and no state withholding line on a Texas paycheck. Federal tax obligations are unchanged.
What is misleading is the way the fact usually gets used. "No income tax" is presented as though the money simply is not collected. It is collected — it is collected locally, from property, and the mechanism it runs on is different enough from most states that a new resident should understand it before closing on a house.
What replaces it: a stacked local property tax bill
A Texas property tax bill is not one rate set by the state. It is the sum of every taxing entity whose boundary covers the parcel, each of which adopts its own rate every fall.
For a home inside the Boerne city limits, in Boerne ISD, the 2025 stack looked like this, per $100 of taxable value:
| Entity | 2025 rate |
|---|---|
| Boerne ISD | 1.0109 (M&O 0.6969 + debt 0.3140) |
| City of Boerne | 0.4716 |
| Kendall County | 0.377 (M&O 0.317976 + debt 0.059024) |
| Combined | 1.8595 |
Sources: Boerne ISD rates, City of Boerne rates, Kendall County rates.
That 1.8595 is before any special district on the parcel and before any exemption. It is not a universal Boerne number. Depending on the address, the bill may also carry Kendall County MUD, Miralomas MUD, the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District, or Kendall County WCID #1 (Kendall AD). Part of Kendall County is in Comfort ISD, whose 2025 rate was 0.9328 (Kendall County).
The county rate has drifted down: 0.377 in 2025, 0.3827 in 2024 and 2023, 0.38770 in 2022, 0.412700 in 2021. Kendall County's 2026 adopted rate is 0.373 (M&O 0.325765 + debt 0.047235). A falling rate does not automatically mean a falling bill, because the other half of the equation is the value.
Pull the entity list for your specific parcel from kendallad.org. Boerne is in Kendall County, not Bexar County, so the appraisal district is Kendall AD and not Bexar CAD, and San Antonio's rates and ordinances have nothing to do with it.
The value side is the part that catches people
Texas appraisal districts value property at market value and reappraise annually. Once a homestead exemption is on the property, the increase in net appraised value is capped at 10% per year (Texas Comptroller).
Two things follow.
First, the cap governs the rate of climb, not the ceiling. In a county where values are rising, a capped property can go up 10% a year for several years running, and the taxable value converges on market over time.
Second, the cap only exists once the homestead exemption exists. A property without one has no cap at all. That is why the first reappraisal after a purchase can move a long way, especially when the prior owner held it for years under a capped value.
The exemptions that pull the number back down
- School district residence homestead exemption: $140,000, raised from $100,000 by Proposition 13, approved by Texas voters in November 2025 and implemented by SB 4, 89th Legislature, effective for tax year 2026 (Texas Comptroller). Since the school rate is the biggest line, this is the largest single reduction on most bills.
- Local option exemption: taxing units may offer up to 20% of appraised value, minimum $5,000.
- Age 65 or older, or disabled: school districts must grant an additional $60,000; other taxing units may adopt a local option of at least $3,000. Kendall AD notes that the City of Boerne, Boerne ISD, Comfort ISD and Kendall County offer over-65 and disability tax freezes (Kendall AD).
- Counties collecting a farm-to-market or flood-control tax must give a $3,000 residence homestead exemption.
The January 1 rule decides when any of it starts. You must have owned and occupied the home as your principal residence on January 1 of the tax year, and the application deadline is before May 1 (Texas Comptroller).
Close in February and the exemption takes effect the following year. The first year is the unexempted bill, on an uncapped value. If a lender builds the escrow estimate off that first bill, the payment is higher than the one you will settle into — and if the lender builds it off the seller's old exempted bill, it is lower, and the escrow shortage shows up a year later. Ask the lender which number they used.
Nobody files the exemption for you. Not the seller, not the title company, not the agent. It is a form filed with the appraisal district.
Sales tax, and the other things that are not property tax
Texas state sales tax is 6.25%, with local add-ons to a combined maximum of 8.25%. Boerne is at the maximum: 6.25% state + 1.50% City of Boerne + 0.50% Kendall County (City of Boerne).
For short-term rental operators, hotel occupancy tax in Boerne is 13% total — 6% state plus 7% city, remitted through the city portal.
If the value looks wrong, there is a process and a deadline
The appraisal notice must be sent by May 1, or by April 1 for a residence homestead, "or as soon as practical thereafter." The protest deadline is May 15, or 30 days after the district mails the notice of appraised value, whichever is later — counted from the mailing date, not the day it lands in your mailbox. If that falls on a weekend or holiday it rolls to the next business day (Texas Comptroller).
The notice of protest form is Comptroller Form 50-132, and a protest is sufficient if it identifies the property, the owner and a subject showing dissatisfaction, in writing. The appraisal review board must give at least 15 days notice of the hearing, and an owner may appear in person, by phone or videoconference, or by written affidavit.
Who answers which question
- Kendall Appraisal District — exemptions, appraised value, which entities tax your parcel, protests.
- A CPA or tax advisor — whether the overall trade works in your favor, and anything involving a sale in your prior state. Nobody should give you a single "effective rate" comparison between two states as a reason to move; price your actual address.
- A lender — how the first-year tax figure is being used in your escrow estimate.
Related questions
- What should I know about moving from California to the Texas Hill Country?
- What are property taxes like in Boerne?
- What is the Texas homestead exemption?
- What is the 10% homestead cap in Texas?
- Why did my Texas property taxes go up?
Questions about a specific property?
Call or text 830-446-3847 · Email heath.shepard@kw.com
This page describes how Texas taxes are structured. It is not tax advice. For how the trade works on your own numbers, talk with a CPA; for exemptions, appraised value and protests, contact Kendall Appraisal District.