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Texas property tax protests are due May 15, or 30 days after your Notice of Appraised Value was mailed — whichever is later. Check the date printed on your notice for your specific deadline.
The protest process in Dallas County follows Texas state law plus DCAD's own administrative procedures. There are five steps that move most homeowners from "my appraisal looks too high" to a confirmed reduction.
DCAD mails a Notice of Appraised Value (NOAV) to property owners each spring, typically by mid-April. The notice lists this year's appraised value alongside last year's. Your protest deadline is printed on the notice itself — Texas law sets the deadline at May 15 or 30 days after the notice is mailed, whichever is later.
Look at the appraised value and compare it to what your home would realistically sell for today. Mass appraisal models — the algorithms DCAD uses to value hundreds of thousands of parcels at once — routinely miss localized cooling, condition issues, and neighborhood-specific market shifts. If the appraised number doesn't match what a buyer would actually pay, a protest is warranted.
File online through DCAD's protest portal (linked from https://dallascad.org), by mail, or in person at 2949 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75247. Online filing is fastest. We always recommend filing on both grounds: market value AND unequal appraisal — both are statutory rights, and filing both gives your case the strongest footing.
Your case rests on the evidence you submit. Comparable sales of similar nearby homes (especially recent ones), an unequal-appraisal analysis showing your assessed value is higher than peers, and documented condition issues all move the needle. Many protests are won at this stage without the homeowner ever having to attend a hearing.
DCAD starts with an informal review where one of their appraisers offers a settlement based on your evidence. Accept it if it's fair. Reject it and your case goes to a formal Appraisal Review Board hearing — three private citizens who hear both sides and rule. Each side typically gets 5–7 minutes; emotional appeals don't move the panel, but clean evidence does.
Dallas County manages one of the most diverse residential property bases in Texas — from historic Highland Park and Preston Hollow estates to dense East Dallas neighborhoods and South Dallas working-class blocks. That diversity makes mass appraisal especially error-prone, since one model has to fit very different sub-markets. DCAD maintains records on 674,440 residential parcels with a median appraised value of $315,310 for the 2026 tax year (up from $304,940 in 2025).
The median Dallas County home saw an appraised-value change of 0.0% from last tax year to this one. But medians hide the tail — 3.8% of homes saw their appraised value rise by more than 20%, and that's where the protest math works most decisively in the homeowner's favor.
Looking at recent sales versus appraised values, the median sale-to-appraisal ratio in Dallas County is 0.99. That means the typical recent home sale closed below the CAD's appraised value — strong evidence that DCAD's model is running ahead of the actual market for many properties.
Our analysis draws on 18,742 recent residential sales in Dallas County from the trailing 12 months. That's the comparable-sales pool we draw from when building your protest report.
Dallas Central Appraisal District (commonly known as DCAD) is the public entity responsible for appraising every parcel in Dallas County for ad valorem taxation. They aren't the entity that collects property taxes — that's the local tax assessor's office — but they are the entity whose appraised value drives your tax bill. The DCAD Appraisal Review Board (ARB) hears protests as a separate, independent body of citizens.
DCAD accepts online protest filings through its taxpayer portal. The portal is the fastest path; you'll need the property account number and an authentication code printed on your Notice of Appraised Value to log in. Mail and in-person filings are also accepted at the address above. Always confirm the current portal URL and account- authentication procedure on DCAD's own protest page.
Successful property tax protests are won on evidence — and most homeowners simply don't have the time to assemble professional-grade evidence themselves. That's the gap our reports fill.
We charge a flat $99 per year for our subscription (delivers a fresh report every protest season), or $179 for a single-year one-time report. The subscription pays for itself the first year for most homeowners, and there's no contingency fee — your savings are yours.
Texas property tax protests are due May 15 each year, or 30 days after your Notice of Appraised Value was mailed, whichever is later. The exact deadline for your property is printed on your notice. DCAD typically mails notices in mid-April. If you miss the deadline, you generally lose your right to protest for the year.
DCAD accepts protests online through their portal (linked from https://dallascad.org), by mail to 2949 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75247, or in person at the same address. Online filing is the fastest method and the one DCAD prefers. You'll need the property account number and an authentication code printed on your Notice of Appraised Value.
The strongest evidence is recent sales of comparable nearby homes, a statistical equity analysis comparing your assessed value to similar peers, and documented condition issues (foundation cracks, roof age, deferred maintenance) that the mass-appraisal model can't see. Most successful protests rely on comparable-sales evidence — exactly the data our reports compile and present in the format the appraisal district expects.
Yes. A flat year-over-year value doesn't mean your assessment is correct. Property values in many Dallas County neighborhoods have shifted in ways the mass-appraisal model lags. If your appraised value is higher than what a similar nearby home would actually sell for, the protest math still works in your favor.
The Appraisal Review Board issues a written Final Order of Determination. If the value still feels wrong, you have post-ARB options under Texas Tax Code: regular binding arbitration through a neutral third-party arbitrator, or an appeal in state district court. For most homeowners, the informal review and ARB hearing are where the case is won or lost.
Either path can work. DCAD reviews evidence the same way regardless of who submits it — the question is whether you have time to assemble comparable sales and an equity analysis yourself. Our reports do that work for you and present it in the format DCAD's appraisers and ARB panels expect. We don't represent you at the hearing; you submit our evidence packet and keep 100% of any reduction.
The statistics on this page are best-effort aggregates compiled from public county appraisal-district records as of the data extract date noted above. We update them periodically; we cannot guarantee they reflect the most recent appraisal-roll certifications, post-extract value changes, or supplemental records.
Always verify deadlines, portal availability, and contact details with DCAD's own protest page before filing.
The information on this page is provided for general educational purposes only. It is not property-tax advice, legal advice, or financial advice. Property tax law and appraisal-district procedures change; for guidance specific to your situation you should consult a qualified professional.
Looking up an address through this site or generating a free estimate does not create a customer relationship with Protesting Property Taxes. You become a customer of our service when you purchase a report.
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