Every Texas homeowner has the legal right to challenge the appraised value the county assigns to their home. Filing a protest costs nothing. Winning a protest takes evidence — and that's what we generate.
Texas doesn't have a state income tax, which means local property taxes carry the load for funding schools, cities, counties, and special districts. That puts Texas among the highest property-tax states in the country — and it makes the annual protest process more financially material here than almost anywhere else.
Each county runs an independent Central Appraisal District (CAD) that values every parcel using mass-appraisal algorithms — efficient at scale, but inevitably wrong on individual properties. The protest process is how homeowners correct those errors. It's a statutory right, not a favor; appraisal districts expect the volume and have built portals to handle it.
Most successful protests land before they ever reach a formal hearing. The appraisal district reviews your evidence informally, makes a settlement offer, and you accept or reject. If you reject, your case goes to the Appraisal Review Board — three private citizens who hear both sides and rule. Either way, your odds rise sharply when your evidence is well-organized and presented in a format the district expects.
Five steps, the same in every Texas county, with local variations in how each step is administered:
Texas appraisal districts mail Notices of Appraised Value (NOAVs) each spring, typically by mid-April. Your NOAV lists the appraised value for the current tax year, the value from the previous year, and the deadline by which you must file a protest if you want to challenge it.
Compare your appraised value against what your home would realistically sell for in the current market. Mass-appraisal models — which Texas appraisal districts use to value hundreds of thousands of parcels at once — frequently miss localized cooling, condition issues, or hyper-local market shifts. If the appraisal is higher than what a buyer would actually pay, you should protest.
The Texas statutory deadline is May 15 each year, OR 30 days after the date your NOAV was mailed, whichever is later. The exact deadline for your property is printed on your notice. Most appraisal districts now accept protests through online portals; mail and in-person filing also work. File on both grounds — market value and unequal appraisal — to keep your case as flexible as possible.
Texas protests are decided on evidence. The most persuasive evidence is recent comparable sales of similar nearby homes, a statistical equity analysis showing similar properties are assessed lower than yours, and documented property-condition issues the mass-appraisal model couldn't see. Your county appraisal district will share its evidence with you on request — this is your right under Texas Tax Code §41.461.
Most counties start with an informal review where a CAD appraiser proposes a settlement based on your evidence. If the offer is fair, accept it. If not, your case escalates to a formal hearing in front of the Appraisal Review Board (ARB) — three private citizens who are independent of the appraisal district. Each side gets 5–7 minutes to present. Clean evidence wins; emotional appeals don't.
Each Texas county has its own appraisal district with its own portal, address, and quirks. Click through to your county for the details that apply to you — including the CAD's address, the protest portal, and what we know about property-value trends in that county.
May 15, or 30 days after your Notice of Appraised Value was mailed — whichever date is later. The exact deadline for your property is printed on your notice. If you miss the deadline, you generally lose the right to protest your appraisal for that tax year.
Not necessarily. Texas property tax protests are designed to be filed by homeowners directly. The two things you need are (1) the time to assemble comparable-sales and equity evidence, and (2) the willingness to attend an informal review or formal ARB hearing. Many homeowners find it more cost-effective to use an evidence-only service like ours — we generate the protest report, you file and present it — than to hire a full consultant who takes a percentage of your savings.
Texas Tax Code recognizes two independent grounds for protesting your appraisal. A market value protest argues that the appraised value exceeds what your property would actually sell for in an arm's-length transaction. An unequal appraisal protest argues that your property is appraised higher than similar peers in your neighborhood, which violates the Texas Constitution's requirement that taxation be equal and uniform. File on both grounds — they're independent legal theories and you don't have to pick.
No. The appraisal district is required by law to determine appraised value based on what your property is actually worth — a successful protest establishes a more accurate value, not a punitive one. Texas Tax Code also caps annual increases on residence-homestead properties at 10%, so a successful reduction this year doesn't open the door to a larger increase next year.
Texas Tax Code does provide narrow late-protest avenues — for example, a Section 25.25(d) motion to correct the appraisal roll if your assessed value exceeds market value by more than 25%, or a 'good cause' late protest if extenuating circumstances kept you from filing on time. But these are limited and granted at the appraisal district's discretion. The reliable path is to file by your deadline.
Each Texas county has a Central Appraisal District (CAD) that's responsible for valuing every parcel of property in the county for tax purposes. The CAD doesn't set tax rates and doesn't collect taxes — those are functions of the local taxing units (school districts, cities, the county itself). The CAD's only job is appraisal. The CAD's appraised value flows to every taxing entity, multiplied by their tax rates, to produce your tax bill.
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 your county's central appraisal district before filing — the links to each county's official site are provided above.
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.
Enter your address. We pull the comparable sales for your neighborhood, run the unequal-appraisal analysis, and deliver a PDF you can submit to your appraisal district.
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