Am I liable for back property taxes in Texas if the county did not calculate the square footage of my house properly?

Did your taxes go up at that time but just not enough, or should you have noticed they did not go up at that time? if you knew or should have known that you were not being taxed at the correct, higher rate you may be liable. You need to bring all your docs to a local attorney for review and analysis. .

I guess I fail to see why a Staten Island Attorney is responding to this question, but perhaps he is intending to relocate and join the Texas Bar. I think another Attorney misunderstood the sequence of events as well. In Texas, where I'm pretty sure Austin is located, the taxes due and assess are noticed each year, usually by May 1st. Then, there is a 30 day time for you to file a protest if you believe you typically have been charged too much compared to similar neighboring properties or there is something that changed about your house they became aware of since January 1st of that year, to go down and argue at a protest before the Appraisal Review Board (made up of tax payers only). While there are certainly some people who decide to raise their own assessed value by asking the tax setting entity (in your case, the Travis County Appraisal District) to raise their own value so they somehow think they can sell their property for more money and scam a subsequent potential totally brain-dead over paying buyer (if such exists), NO ONE has a duty to go out and make sure their tax assessment is high enough! If you had the improvements permitted,, then the City reports that information already. That only applies to the first year... after that, it is their job to assess values, not yours. Overwhelmingly, MOST residential properties in Texas are massively UNDER-estimated for tax value I'd say simply as a matter of "keep them happy" public policy.... As you should also know, the Tax Assessor of Travis County is elected and I can recall one I knew who later became Mayor of Austin, another elected office. So, the answer is "NO" I repeat, no,.... absent specific fraud on your part, which you asserted is not the situation, you have no duty to squeal on yourself, throw yourself on any swords proverbially, or, pay back taxes. In fact, once the tax rolls are set as much as possible by the appraisal review boards and districts' final numbers, the tax roll then goes back to the whole tax district board/county commissioners for an acceptance/vote each year. At that point, the final numbers don't change and I suspect even the government would have hard time changing the numbers for specific properties. There is a procedure for taxpayers to ask for that if there is something fundamentally wrong and fairness/due process calls for it, but personally, I am not aware of any way the District can go back to earlier years to increase taxes due. As an Attorney, I could probably build a decent argument it would be illegal and potentially violate the US and Texas constitutions. While this site does not (and my posting here do not give) actual legal "advice", that is a general overview. If you are truly concerned, please talk to your Austin lawyer or find one. Attorney Mark Land (Circle-C area) posts here regularly and seems to be intelligent and a person you may want to call. You can find his information on .com or the phone book. To straighten out here forward, perhaps next time you get a notice of value, go online and look at what they included and the square footage shown on their records (available via Internet). If it is off, file a protest and correct it to pay more tax that year onwards.

I am sorry that you are getting conflicting answers to your question. And, I agree that a NY attorney may not be familiar with Texas laws. If I understand correctly, you are asking if you can be held liable for back taxes based upon the appraisal district not picking up the addition to your home on its tax roles. The answer to that question is YES, they can assess you for back taxes on the value of that addition. But they can only do so for The Texas Tax Code provides: Sec. 25.21. OMITTED PROPERTY. (a) If the chief appraiser discovers that real property was omitted from an appraisal roll in any one of the five preceding years or that personal property was omitted from an appraisal roll in one of the two preceding years, he shall appraise the property as of January 1 of each year that it was omitted and enter the property and its appraised value in the appraisal records. (b) The entry shall show that the appraisal is for property that was omitted from an appraisal roll in a prior year and shall indicate the year and the appraised value for each year. Sec. 26.15. CORRECTION OF TAX ROLL. (d) Except as provided by Subsection (e) of this section, if a correction in the tax roll that changes the tax liability of a property owner is made after the tax bill is mailed, the assessor shall prepare and mail a corrected tax bill in the manner provided by Chapter 31 of this code for tax bills generally. He shall include with the bill a brief explanation of the reason for and effect of the corrected bill. (e) If a correction that increases the tax liability of a property owner is made after the tax is paid, the assessor shall prepare and mail a supplemental tax bill in the manner provided by Chapter 31 of this code for tax bills generally. He shall include with the supplemental bill a brief explanation of the reason for and effect of the supplemental bill. The additional tax is due on receipt of the supplemental bill and becomes delinquent if not paid before the delinquency date prescribed by Chapter 31 of this code or before the first day of the next month after the date of the mailing that will provide at least 21 days for payment of the tax, whichever is later. So, your addition to your home can be appraised and assessed for the 5 preceding years (2008 - 2012) as omitted property. If you receive a notice and a statement, you can protest the amount of the appraised value and/or attempt to negotiate terms of payment of the additional taxes. Usually, the Tax Collector will agree to payments over a period of time in your circumstances. But, ultimately, you do owe the taxes even if it is "their mistake". Good luck in resolving this issue.