Keep My Acres
What rollback tax is
If land under 1-d-1 (ag) valuation changes to a non-ag use, Texas charges an additional tax. It's the difference between what you paid under ag valuation and what you would have paid at market value, for each of the 3 years before the change (Tax Code §23.55(a)).
The chief appraiser decides whether a change of use happened, and must tell you in writing. You have the right to protest that decision (§23.55(e)).
The trap: stopping, not selling
Most people think rollback only hits when land gets developed. Not true. The Comptroller's appraisal manual draws the line here:
- You keep farming or ranching, just less of it. If you fall below what the district expects, you can lose ag valuation and go to market value. No rollback.
- You stop all ag use. For example, you sell the whole herd and nothing replaces it. That's treated as a change of use: you lose ag valuation and owe rollback.
This is the most common way East Texas families lose the valuation. Someone gets older, the cows go, and nobody lines up another use. The founder of this site watched it happen on his own family's land outside Livingston.
How to avoid it
- Lease it. Let a neighbor run cattle or cut hay. The land stays in ag use.
- Move to wildlife management while the land still has ag or timber valuation. It has to qualify the year before, so do it before the cows leave, not after. How to switch.
- Switch to timber. Changing from ag use to timber production is not a change of use, so no rollback (§23.55(g)).
- Bees, on 5 to 20 acres. Beekeeping is an ag use. Bee guide.
Already got a rollback notice?
Read the date on it. Your protest rights and deadline are in the notice. If you believe there was no change of use, protest to the appraisal review board. For anything involving a large bill, talk to a property tax consultant or attorney.
Your county
Each county's appraisal district has its own address and local expectations:
General information, not legal or tax advice. Your appraisal district makes the final call.