Texas Business Personal Property Rendition Guide (2027)

If you own a business in Texas, your appraisal district taxes more than your building. It also taxes the equipment, furniture, computers and inventory inside it. Each year you report that property on a rendition. Starting in 2026, the rules changed in a big way. Most small businesses no longer owe tax on their business personal property at all.

What is a business personal property rendition?

A rendition is a report you file with your appraisal district. It lists the taxable personal property your business owned on January 1. Think of it as your side of the inventory count. The district uses it to set the value of your business personal property (BPP), then sends you a value notice like it does for real estate.

BPP covers things like:

• Furniture and fixtures
• Machinery and equipment
• Computers, phones and point-of-sale systems
• Inventory and supplies
• Vehicles used to produce income

It does not cover your building or land. Those are real property and get their own value notice.

The $125,000 exemption (new in 2026)

House Bill 9 raised the BPP exemption from $2,500 to $125,000, starting January 1, 2026. It applies to the income-producing personal property at each business location in a taxing unit. Appraisal districts such as Dallas CAD apply it automatically.

A few details matter:

• It's per location. All the taxable personal property at one location is added together and tested against $125,000.
• Related businesses at one address share it. If two related companies run as one operation at the same address, their values are combined.
• Leased-out equipment counts separately. Property you lease to others gets its own exemption.

So a dental office with $90,000 of equipment owes no BPP tax. A restaurant with $200,000 of kitchen gear and furniture pays tax on the amount over the exemption.

Do you still have to file a rendition?

It depends on your value at each location.

• Over $125,000: you must file a rendition by April 15.
• $125,000 or less: you can elect not to render. You file a short statement by April 15 saying you reasonably believe the value doesn't exceed $125,000. The election stays in place until ownership changes, your value goes over the limit, or the chief appraiser asks for a full rendition.

Not sure where you land? Total the original cost of what you own at that location, then subtract a reasonable amount for age and wear. If you're close to $125,000, file the full rendition. It's the safer choice.

Rendition deadlines

• April 15: rendition (or the election not to render) is due.
• May 15: you get an automatic extension to this date if you ask in writing by April 15.
• Another 15 days: the chief appraiser can grant more time for good cause, if you ask in writing.

If you get the May 15 extension, your freeport exemption application and allocation application deadlines move to May 15 too (SB 1352).

Penalties for filing late or not at all

Miss the deadline and the appraisal district adds a penalty of 10% of the taxes on that property (Tax Code §22.28). If a rendition is found to be fraudulent or filed to evade tax, the penalty is 50% (Tax Code §22.29). Skipping the rendition also hands the district the pen. It will estimate your property's value without your input.

What to put on your rendition

Most districts use the Comptroller's Form 50-144 or their own version of it, and many offer online filing. For each location you'll list:

• The type of property (furniture, equipment, inventory and so on)
• Either your good-faith estimate of market value, or the original cost and the year you bought it
• Inventory value as of January 1
• Any property you lease from someone else, with the owner's name

Renditions are confidential. The district can't share them publicly (Tax Code §22.27).

Rendition checklist

• Pull your fixed asset list or depreciation schedule from your accountant
• Count inventory as of January 1
• Separate property by location
• Check each location against the $125,000 exemption
• Decide: full rendition or the election not to render
• File by April 15, or request the May 15 extension in writing by April 15
• Keep a copy and your filing confirmation
• Watch for your value notice and check it against what you reported

You can protest your BPP value

If the appraisal district's BPP value is higher than your records support, you can protest it, the same way you'd protest a home value. File by May 15 or 30 days after your notice is mailed, whichever is later. Bring your depreciation schedule, invoices, and photos of older or idle equipment.

Don't forget the building

For most business owners, the bigger bill is the real estate. Commercial values are often set with mass appraisal models that miss vacancy, deferred maintenance, and what rents actually look like. If you own your building, an office, retail strip, warehouse or small apartment property, it's worth a look. TaxDrop's licensed Texas consultants handle commercial property tax protests. See your Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Travis or Bexar county page for local deadlines.

Sources

Bexar Appraisal District: What's new in BPP (HB 9, HB 3424, SB 1352) · Dallas CAD: 2026 BPP rendition notice · HB 9 enrolled text · Texas Comptroller: Rendering property · Texas Tax Code Chapter 22. Last reviewed October 23, 2026.