Fort Bend County, Texas: business personal property rendition, 2027

Businesses in Fort Bend County report the equipment, furniture, computers, inventory and other tangible property they owned on January 1, 2027 to the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District (appraisal district) on 50-144. The return is due April 15, 2027, or May 17, 2027 with an extension. The first $125,000 of assessed value per location is exempt; tax applies to value above that. Owners whose property at a location is worth $125,000 or less need not render at all; they file a short certification on 50-144 once, and it stays in effect until the value exceeds $125,000.

Form
50-144
Business Personal Property Rendition of Taxable Property
Due
April 15, 2027
no weekend roll
Extension
May 17, 2027
on request
Exemption
$125,000
deduction, per location
Est. tax rate
1.8%
of assessed value, typical in-city
Files via
Online
FBCAD Online Rendition (Form 50-144 eFile)
Depreciation
Pending
county table not yet on file
Notice of value
April
typical mailing

Fort Bend Central Appraisal District depreciation schedule is not on file. Values cannot be computed until it is transcribed.

Who files

Any business with tangible personal property at a Fort Bend County location on January 1.

Furniture and fixtures, kitchen and other machinery, computers and point-of-sale systems, signage, leasehold improvements that are trade fixtures, supplies and inventory are reported at original cost by year acquired; the appraiser depreciates them on the schedule below. The exemption applies per location, so a company with three sites in Fort Bend County files three returns and gets three exemptions.

Deadlines and extensions

Assessment date
January 1, 2027
50-144 due
April 15, 2027
Extension
To May 17, 2027. FBCAD publishes a '30-Day Extension' request form and an 'Additional 15-Day' request form on its BPP page (https://www.fbcad.org/bpp/); submit the written request by April 15 (Tax Code 22.23(b)).
Notice of value
April-June (Tax Code 25.19(a): chief appraiser delivers notices of appraised value for non-homestead property 'by May 1 or as soon thereafter as practicable'; BPP notices typically go out April through June after renditions are reviewed)
Protest deadline
Later of May 15 or 30 days after the notice is delivered (Tax Code 41.44). FBCAD's BPP page does not state when notices are mailed. (Appraisal Review Board (ARB) of the appraisal district; ARB orders may be appealed to district court, binding arbitration (41A) or SOAH (Ch. 2003 Gov't Code))
Bills
By October 1 or as soon thereafter as practicable (Tax Code 31.01(a)); tax bills are sent by the county tax assessor-collector or each taxing unit's collector after rates are adopted (typically October-November). Due: Due on receipt of the tax bill; delinquent if not paid before February 1 of the year following the tax year (Tax Code 31.02(a)); penalty and interest accrue from February 1

Exemption

The first $125,000 of assessed value per location is exempt; tax applies to value above that. Owners whose property at a location is worth $125,000 or less need not render at all; they file a short certification on 50-144 once, and it stays in effect until the value exceeds $125,000.

Statute
Tex. Tax Code § 11.145 and § 22.01(j-1)-(j-3), (n), § 22.24(c), as amended by Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., ch. 334 (H.B. 9), eff. Jan. 1, 2026; Tex. Const. amendment (Proposition 9) approved Nov. 4, 2025
In force
Tax years 2026–present
Under the threshold
Rendition is NOT required when, in the owner's opinion, the aggregate market value of the property at the same location in each taxing unit is not more than $125,000 (Tax Code 22.01(j-1)). An owner who elects not to render must instead file, by the rendition deadline, 'a rendition statement or property report that includes a certification' that the owner reasonably believes the value is not more than the exemption amount (22.01(j-3)); on Form 50-144 (rev. 10-25/29) this is the Section 5 check box 'I certify that the market value of the tangible personal property is $125,000 or less', and the rest of the form may be left blank. The election takes effect for the tax year after the year in which the certification is filed and continues until ownership changes; the chief appraiser may still require a rendition. The exemption itself is applied automatically by the appraisal district (no exemption application) - e.g. Dallas CAD: 'no application is required'.
As stated by the county
$125,000 — FBCAD: 'Texas voters approved Proposition 9, constitutionally authorizing a new exemption for Business Personal Property (BPP)' on November 4, 2025; the standard BPP exemption rises 'from $2,500 to $125,000' effective January 1, 2026.

Depreciation schedule

Fort Bend Central Appraisal District publishes its own depreciation schedule, but it is not transcribed into our data yet, so values for this county are computed only once it is.

How to file

Online through FBCAD Online Rendition (Form 50-144 eFile).

Online
FBCAD Online Rendition (Form 50-144 eFile)
By email
bpp@fbcad.org
Form
50-144 — Business Personal Property Rendition of Taxable Property (rev. 10-25/29)

Four filing options on FBCAD's 'File A BPP Rendition' page: (1) eFile - fill out the rendition online at www.fbcad.org/form-50-144/ ('File Now'); (2) Rendition Portal pilot at taxpayer.justappraised.com/login - requires the PIN printed on the rendition letter (not available to all owners); (3) Upload a completed rendition as pdf/xls/xlsx/csv at www.fbcad.org/business-personal-property-upload/; (4) Email completed PDFs to bpp@fbcad.org.

The page lists no mailing or physical address for renditions (hence mailingAddress null; FBCAD's office is in Rosenberg, TX - confirm the address on fbcad.org before mailing). Guide: www.fbcad.org/how-to-complete-your-business-personal-property-rendition-form-50-144/. Prop 9 explainer: www.fbcad.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/New-BPP-Law-2026.pdf.

Penalties

  • Late or missing return: 10% of the total tax imposed on the property for the year.
  • Fraud or intent to evade: 50% of the tax.

Tax Code 22.28 (10%) and 22.29 (additional 50% for fraud).

Estimated tax

For a typical in-city location, about 1.8% of assessed value.

Sum of 2025 rates for a City of Sugar Land / Fort Bend ISD location: Fort Bend County General Fund 0.412000 + Fort Bend County Drainage District 0.010000 + City of Sugar Land 0.358827 (Fort Bend County Tax Office '2025 TAX RATES AND EXEMPTIONS' worksheet; the City's own page confirms 0.358827 adopted Sept. 16, 2025) + Fort Bend ISD 1.056900 (2025 adopted rate per the Fort Bend County truth-in-taxation site taxrateinfo.fortbendcountytx.gov/Home/TaxUnit/S07: M&O 0.786900 + debt 0.270000) = 1.837727.

Estimate only; Missouri City (0.570825) / Lamar CISD locations differ, and ESD or MUD/LID levies would add to it.

Questions

50-144 is due to Fort Bend Central Appraisal District by April 15, 2027. A extension to May 17, 2027 is available: FBCAD publishes a '30-Day Extension' request form and an 'Additional 15-Day' request form on its BPP page (https://www.fbcad.org/bpp/); submit the written request by April 15 (Tax Code 22.23(b)).

The first $125,000 of assessed value per location is exempt; tax applies to value above that. Owners whose property at a location is worth $125,000 or less need not render at all; they file a short certification on 50-144 once, and it stays in effect until the value exceeds $125,000.

Online through FBCAD Online Rendition (Form 50-144 eFile). Portal: https://www.fbcad.org/form-50-144/.

Late or missing return: 10% of the total tax imposed on the property for the year. Fraud or intent to evade: 50% of the tax.

For a typical in-city location the combined 2025 rate of overlapping taxing units is $1.84 per $100 of assessed value, so about 1.8% of assessed value. Your exact rate depends on the city, school district and special districts at the address.

Sources

Every figure above is taken from one of these documents; the date is when Rendition last read it.

  1. 01Fort Bend Central Appraisal District — business personal property filing pagefbcad.org/bpp/read 2026-11-02
  2. 02Filing deadlinetcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TX/htm/TX.22.htmread 2026-11-02
  3. 03FBCAD Online Rendition (Form 50-144 eFile)fbcad.org/form-50-144/
  4. 0450-144 — Business Personal Property Rendition of Taxable Propertycomptroller.texas.gov/forms/50-144.pdfread 2026-11-02
  5. 05Exemption rule — Tex. Tax Code § 11.145 and § 22.01(j-1)-(j-3)capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/HB00009F.htmread 2026-11-02
  6. 06Adopted tax rates used for the estimatefortbendcountytx.gov/sites/default/files/document-central/document-central/tax-assessor-documents/property-taxes-additional-information/2025-Tax-Rate-and-Exemption-worksheet_1.pdfread 2026-11-02
  7. 07Notice of value and protest deadlinetexas.public.law/statutes/tex._tax_code_section_41.44
  8. 08Tax bill due datetexas.public.law/statutes/tex._tax_code_section_31.02read 2026-11-02
  9. 09Fort Bend Central Appraisal District websitefbcad.org
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