The Comptroller of Public Accounts adopts an amendment to §9.415, concerning applications for property tax exemptions, with changes to the proposed text as published in the October 30, 2009, issue of the Texas Register (34 TexReg 7587). The comptroller is not required by statute to prescribe the forms previously adopted by reference by this rule and this amendment deletes reference to the forms.

The rule is being amended to delete the adoption by reference of model forms included in the rule. The amendment to the rule is adopted to remove provisions concerning model forms that are not required by law to be prescribed by the Comptroller of Public Accounts.

The comptroller received a comment from the Harris County Appraisal District commenting that the proposed amendment seemed inconsistent with Tax Code, §5.07 and §11.43 and suggesting that mandatory forms make an important contribution to consistency in administering exemptions across the state. The comptroller agrees with this comment and has incorporated the recommendation and made edits to subsection (c).

The amendment is adopted under Tax Code, §111.002 and §111.0022, which provide the comptroller with the authority to adopt rules for the administration and enforcement of the Tax Code and programs or functions assigned to the comptroller by law.

The amendment does not affect any statute, article, or section of the Tax Code.