Current law · reviewed August 31, 2026
Three years of recaptured tax savings. No interest.
Texas Tax Code §23.55 recaptures the difference between the taxes paid on productivity value and the taxes that would have been due at market value for the three tax years preceding a change to non-agricultural use - and adds no interest. That has been the rule since HB 3833 took effect on June 15, 2021. As of August 31, 2026, the statute carries no interest provision and no later act has changed the recapture period.
Read §23.55 in the Texas statutes · this page is re-checked against the statute rather than dated by its last edit.
What rollback is
Land with a 1-d-1 open-space valuation is taxed on productivity value - often pennies on the market-value dollar. The state’s side of that bargain: if the land changes to a non-agricultural use, the county recaptures recent savings. That recapture is the rollback tax.
Under current Texas Tax Code §23.55, the bill equals the tax difference for the three tax years preceding the change - and nothing more. Penalties and interest attach only if the rollback bill itself goes delinquent, like any other tax bill.
Why so much of what you’ll read is out of date
The rollback rule changed twice in four years, and a great deal of what is published about it - including material still sitting on law-firm and realtor sites - describes a version of §23.55 that has been repealed. Here is every version, with the act that ended it:
| In effect | Years recaptured | Interest | Changed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Through Aug 31, 2019 | 5 years | 7% per year | - |
| Sep 1, 2019 – Jun 14, 2021 | 3 years | 5% per year | HB 1743 (2019) |
| Since Jun 15, 2021 - current | 3 years | None | HB 3833 (2021) |
If a source tells you rollback is five years, it predates September 2019. If it quotes 5% interest, it predates June 15, 2021. Both are still widely repeated.
The math, concretely
The 50-acre Hill Country example from our pricing page - $612,500 market value, ~$6,125 productivity value, 1.6% combined rate:
| Year | Tax paid (ag) | Tax at market | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year -3 | $98 | $9,800 | $9,702 |
| Year -2 | $98 | $9,800 | $9,702 |
| Year -1 | $98 | $9,800 | $9,702 |
| Rollback bill (3-year recaptured difference) | $29,106 | ||
Illustrative; your district computes the actual difference from certified values. Additional interest and penalties apply if the rollback bill becomes delinquent. The order of magnitude is the point.
What triggers rollback - and what doesn’t
- Triggers: physically changing the land to non-ag use - developing it, paving it, converting to a commercial site or residential subdivision. Selling to a buyer who changes the use triggers it too (negotiate who pays in the contract).
- Doesn’t, by itself: switching between qualifying ag uses - cattle to wildlife management is a use change within 1-d-1, not out of it. Losing qualification (denied application, failed practices) moves you to market-value taxes going forward, but rollback attaches when the use changes to non-agricultural.
- The gray zone: land that quietly stops being used for anything agricultural. Idle long enough, and a district can treat the use as changed. Wildlife management with documentation is precisely how good-faith owners stay out of that zone.
Why wildlife valuation is the safe harbor
No livestock partner to lose, no lease to lapse, no drought sell-off to explain - your qualifying use is your own three practices, provable with your own records. For land you don’t intend to farm commercially, wildlife management is the most durable way to keep 1-d-1 continuity and keep rollback purely theoretical.
If you’re buying or inheriting
- Buyers: confirm the valuation and any pending changes of use before closing; put rollback liability in the contract; file your own application (and plan, if wildlife) by April 30.
- Heirs: the valuation doesn’t vanish at inheritance, but the use must continue. If nobody wants to run cattle, converting to wildlife promptly is usually the family’s best move.
Keep it hypothetical
The app’s deadline guardrails, practice tracking, and evidence vault exist so that the words “change of use” never appear in your mailbox. See how →
Sources & further reading
- Texas Tax Code §23.55 - the rollback (change-of-use) statute
- HB 3833 (87th Legislature, 2021) - the act that removed rollback interest from §23.55 entirely
- HB 1743 (86th Legislature, 2019) - the act that cut the recapture window from five years to three
- Comptroller: Agricultural & Timber Appraisal - current manuals and wildlife-use qualification guidelines
