If you are an older or disabled homeowner in Dallas or Tarrant County who chose to pay this year’s property tax bill in four pieces, the last piece comes due at the end of this month. The final installment on 2025 property taxes must be paid by Friday, July 31, and unlike a lot of tax deadlines, this one arrives quietly. There is no new bill in the mail shouting about it, just a payment coupon you may have filed away back in the winter.
Here is a plain rundown of how the installment plan works, who qualifies, what happens if the July payment slips, and exactly where to send it in Dallas and Tarrant counties.
How the four-payment plan works
Texas law lets certain homeowners split the property taxes on their homestead into four equal payments with no penalty and no interest. The option comes from Section 31.031 of the Texas Tax Code, and the schedule is fixed. According to the Texas Comptroller’s guide to payment options, when taxes would normally become delinquent on Feb. 1, the first installment is due before that date, along with written notice to the tax office that you intend to pay the rest in three equal installments. The second installment is due before April 1, the third before June 1, and the fourth and final installment before Aug. 1.
In everyday terms: pay by Jan. 31, March 31, May 31 and July 31. The July payment is the one on deck now.
Who qualifies
The installment option is not open to everyone. Under the Comptroller’s guidance, it covers homeowners who have qualified for one of these exemptions on their residence homestead:
- The over-65 exemption
- The disabled person exemption
- Disabled veterans (or their unmarried surviving spouses) who qualify for an exemption under Tax Code Section 11.22, and certain partially disabled veterans with homes donated by charitable organizations
A separate provision, Tax Code Section 31.032, extends a similar four-payment plan to homeowners and some small businesses whose property sits in a declared disaster area and was damaged by the disaster. If a storm damaged your home this year and your county was part of a disaster declaration, it is worth asking your tax office whether that route applies to you.
What the July 31 deadline actually requires
The statute says the final installment is due “before Aug. 1,” which in practice means your payment needs to be made by July 31. The Dallas County Tax Office spells out the same schedule on its payment arrangements page: homeowners who paid the first installment by Jan. 31 received coupons for the remaining three payments, due on or before March 31, May 31 and July 31.
Because July 31 falls on a Friday this year, do not count on a weekend grace period. If you mail a check, get it postmarked well ahead of the deadline; if you pay online, do not wait until the last evening in case a card is declined or a website hiccups.
What happens if you miss a payment
This is where the plan shows its teeth. Under the Comptroller’s guidance, if any installment, including the first one, is not paid before its due date, the unpaid installment becomes delinquent and picks up a 6 percent penalty plus interest of 1 percent per month until it is paid. The rest of your plan does not blow up, but that missed piece starts costing you real money right away.
One more wrinkle worth knowing for next year: you cannot join the plan late. The Comptroller notes that entering an installment agreement is not an option after the first day of the first month following the delinquency date. If you want the four-payment schedule for your 2026 taxes, you have to make the first payment and give written notice before Feb. 1, 2027.
Where to pay in Dallas and Tarrant counties
Dallas County: The Dallas County Tax Office handles installment payments for property inside the county, and its online property tax lookup and payment system lets you pay from home. Questions about the installment program go to the Customer Care Center at 214-653-7811, and the office lists an installment specialist reachable by email on its payment arrangements page.
Tarrant County: The Tarrant County Tax Office lists the same quarter-payment schedule for homeowners with an over-65 or disability exemption: payments due Jan. 31, March 31, May 31 and July 31. You can pay online, by phone at 817-884-1110, or in person at tax office locations around the county.
If your home sits in Collin, Denton, Rockwall, Ellis, Kaufman or another neighboring county, the same state law applies, but you pay through that county’s tax office, so check its website or call before the deadline.
A word about the deferral option
The installment plan sometimes gets confused with a different tool: the tax deferral. Under Tax Code Section 33.06, homeowners who are 65 or older or disabled can postpone paying property taxes on their homestead altogether. That sounds appealing, but the Comptroller notes deferred taxes accrue interest at 5 percent a year, and the whole balance eventually comes due, typically when the home changes hands. The installment plan costs nothing extra if you make every payment on time; the deferral is a loan against your house. They solve different problems, so if cash is genuinely tight, it is worth a conversation with your county tax office about which fits your situation.
For most North Texans on the plan, though, the job this month is simple: find that last coupon, pay it by July 31, and close the book on the 2025 tax year without giving the county a penny in penalties.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.
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