A tax collector must issue a certificate showing delinquent taxes and related amounts on request, may charge up to $10 per certificate, and must forward collected fees to the employing taxing unit. In some transfer cases, an erroneous tax certificate can extinguish the lien and protect the buyer, but fraud or collusion makes the certificate void and the liable taxpayer may still owe the tax.
Sec. 31.08. TAX CERTIFICATE. (a) At the request of any person, a collector for a taxing unit shall issue a certificate showing the amount of delinquent taxes, penalties, interest, and any known costs and expenses under Section 33.48 due the unit on a property according to the unit's current tax records. If the collector collects taxes for more than one taxing unit, the certificate must show the amount of delinquent taxes, penalties, interest, and any known costs and expenses under Section 33.48 due on the property to each taxing unit for which the collector collects the taxes. The collector shall charge a fee not to exceed $10 for each certificate issued. The collector shall pay all fees collected under this section into the treasury of the taxing unit that employs the collector. (b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), if a person transfers property accompanied by a tax certificate that erroneously indicates that no delinquent taxes, penalties, or interest are due a taxing unit on the property or that fails to include property because of its omission from an appraisal roll as described under Section 25.21, the taxing unit's tax lien on the property, including, if applicable, the tax lien securing the payment of any delinquent taxes, penalties, or interest that are subsequently determined to be due the taxing unit on the property because a residence homestead exemption was erroneously allowed for the property and was subsequently canceled, is extinguished and the purchaser of the property is absolved of liability to the taxing unit for delinquent taxes, penalties, or interest on the property or for taxes based on omitted property. The person who was liable for the tax for the year the tax was imposed or the property was omitted remains personally liable for the tax and for any penalties or interest. (c) A tax certificate issued through fraud or collusion is void. (d) A tax certificate that accompanies a transfer of property and erroneously indicates that no delinquent taxes, penalties, or interest are due a taxing unit on the property because a residence homestead exemption was erroneously allowed for the property and was subsequently canceled does not extinguish the tax lien securing the payment of any delinquent taxes, penalties, or interest that are subsequently determined to be due the taxing unit on the property if the chief appraiser or the collector for a taxing unit determines that the transfer of the property occurred between: (1) two individuals who are related within the first degree by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code; (2) an employer and an employee; (3) a parent company and a subsidiary of that parent company; or (4) a trust and a beneficiary of that trust. Acts 1979, 66th Leg., p. 2286, ch. 841, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1982. Amended by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 662, ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1983; Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 105, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Amended by: Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 846 (S.B. 898), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2005. Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 1126 (H.B. 2491), Sec. 11, eff. September 1, 2005. Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 237 (S.B. 2173), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2025.