Who Pays the Property Taxes When I Sell My Denton County Home?

Under the current Texas One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale), current-year property taxes are prorated through the closing date. In plain English, the seller’s share is generally based on the part of the year the seller owned the home.

If the current-year taxes have not been paid by closing, the contract says the buyer pays that year’s tax bill. The seller’s share is accounted for in the closing figures. If the taxes were already paid, the settlement statement handles the adjustment differently. Your signed contract and title company’s statement control the actual numbers.

Denton County mails property-tax statements in October. The 2026 bill is due upon receipt and becomes delinquent if it is not paid on or before January 31, 2027.

That matters to a fall seller because the closing team may now be able to use the actual 2026 bill instead of an earlier estimate. Pull the current tax account before relying on an old seller net sheet. If you do not receive a bill, Denton County says that does not remove the obligation or change the due date.

The tax line can be one of the larger deductions from a seller’s expected proceeds. It belongs in the estimate alongside the mortgage payoff, commissions, title and closing expenses, repairs, HOA charges and any seller concessions.

The current TREC resale contract also says the proration may account for changes in exemptions. If the final tax amount differs from what was used at closing, the parties are required by that form to adjust the proration when the actual statement becomes available. Ask the title company what tax amount and exemption assumptions it used.

Assume the annual tax bill is $8,400 and the sale closes on November 15, 2026. Under a through-closing calculation, 319 days are allocated to the seller. The daily amount is $8,400 divided by 365, or about $23.01. The illustrative seller share is about $7,341.37.

That is only an example. A different closing date, tax bill, exemption status, contract or payment status changes the result. Do not use a countywide tax rate or the seller’s old mortgage payment as a substitute for the property’s current account and the title company’s closing figures.

Denton County sends the original statement to the taxpayer even when a mortgage company may also receive a copy. Receiving the statement does not automatically mean you should pay it a second time.

Check Denton County’s mortgage and escrow lookup, then confirm the payment plan with your mortgage servicer. Your loan escrow balance and the property-tax proration are separate parts of the transaction, so ask the servicer and title company how each will appear and when any remaining escrow balance may be handled.

Before listing or accepting an offer, pull the 2026 Denton County tax account, confirm whether it is paid or unpaid, verify whether an escrow company is listed, and give the current statement to the title company.

Then request an updated seller net sheet using the likely closing date. Review the tax proration, payoff, commissions, negotiated expenses and any HOA or special-district charges. If an exemption changed, flag it before closing instead of assuming last year’s bill will carry forward.

The buyer may ultimately send the annual payment to the tax office, but that does not mean the seller avoids the portion tied to the seller’s ownership period. The adjustment is built into the closing math.

Use the actual tax account and a realistic closing date when estimating what you will keep. A sale price is only the headline. Net proceeds are the number that determines whether the move works.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice.