Travis County, Texas owners who are 65 or older can pay their 2026 property taxes in four installments instead of one lump sum. To use the plan, an owner files a Letter of Intent and makes the first payment by Feb. 28, 2027. The county mailed tax bills starting Oct. 1.
The regular deadline for everyone else is Jan. 31. Pay by then and there is no penalty or interest. Miss it without a plan on file, and the account is delinquent on Feb. 1.
For a retiree on a fixed income, the choice is a big bill in January or a smaller one spread over the spring and summer. The plan is not automatic. It has to be requested with the Letter of Intent, and the first quarter has to arrive with it before the end of February. Owners who want the schedule should decide this winter, not in March.
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Four payments, four dates
The Travis County Tax Office’s important dates calendar lays out the schedule. The first installment and the enrollment deadline are the same day, Feb. 28, or Feb. 29 in a leap year. The second payment is due March 31, the third May 31 and the final one July 31.
Properties in a state-designated disaster area on the plan have earlier dates: Jan. 31 for the first installment, then the same March 31, May 31 and July 31 dates. Owners in a disaster-designated area should confirm which schedule applies to their account.
Who gets to use the installment plan
The installment option is for homestead exemption holders who are over 65, disabled, disabled veterans, surviving spouses, or partially disabled veterans and their spouses. The tax office does not offer it to every homeowner in the county. A home must already carry the homestead exemption.
The county’s page on the over-65 and disabled homestead exemptions says an owner who turns 65 after Jan. 1 receives the exemption for the entire year. Applications go through the Travis Central Appraisal District, which handles exemptions, and filing is free. The exemption page itself does not cover the payment plan, and it refers questions about the Letter of Intent to the Travis County Tax Office.
The same page describes the tax ceiling that comes with the over-65 exemption. The ceiling freezes school taxes at the amount paid in the year the owner qualifies. School taxes can drop below the ceiling but cannot rise above it, though improvements other than normal repairs can adjust it. The installment plan changes when the money is due, not how much is owed.
The Letter of Intent, filed online
The tax office says an owner can apply for the payment plan and fill out the Letter of Intent online through its account search tool. Enrolling takes two things: the letter and the first installment. Neither alone puts an account on the plan.
That order matters because of what the county cannot do. The tax office says it has no authority to waive state-mandated penalties and interest. If the letter and first payment do not arrive by the deadline, the county has no discretion to excuse the difference.
What waiting past the plan costs
Penalty and interest on unpaid taxes start at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 1. On July 1, the penalty on amounts still unpaid rises to 12 percent, and interest adds 1 percent for each month late. The calendar page does not describe separate penalty rules for owners on the installment plan, so the safest reading is to keep every payment on its date.
Owners who pay in full by Jan. 31 owe no penalty or interest, and the plan is simply the longer route for those who need it. The Travis County Tax Office also links a contact page from its main site, which is the place for questions about a specific account.
Want the Travis County bill in four pieces?
A Letter of Intent and a first payment, both in by Feb. 28, are all the plan asks for.
An owner who lets Feb. 28 pass is left with the full 2026 bill and penalty and interest already running. The county says it cannot waive those charges.
The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit includes an application log and renewal calendar, so the Feb. 28, March 31, May 31 and July 31 Travis County dates sit on one page. It also lays out the 5 kinds of property-tax relief.
Get the renewal calendar kit for Travis County’s four-payment plan, Feb. 28 to July 31 →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
