How to protest your property taxes in Texas

Every spring, Texas appraisal districts send homeowners a Notice of Appraised Value. The number on that notice drives your property tax bill, and most people pay it without question. You do not have to. State law gives you the right to challenge that number, and in counties across Texas a large share of protests end with some kind of reduction.

This guide walks the whole process: when to file, what you can argue, what happens at each stage, and what evidence the appraisal review board takes seriously. It is general information about how the process works, not advice about your specific property.

What you are actually protesting

Texas counties value every property every year as of January 1. The appraisal district uses mass-appraisal models, and those models miss. They see a square footage and a neighborhood code. They do not see the foundation issue, the dated kitchen next to the remodeled one down the street, or the fact that your specific street sells for less than the one behind it.

A protest asks the appraisal review board (ARB) to lower your *assessed* value, which is the number your taxes are calculated from. Lowering the assessed value lowers the bill. That is the whole game.

One thing a protest does not do: change tax rates. Cities, counties, and school districts set those separately in the fall. The protest only works on the value side of the equation.

The deadline comes first

You must file a written protest by May 15, or by the later of 30 days after the appraisal district delivered your notice, whichever gives you more time. When May 15 lands on a weekend or holiday, it rolls to the next business day.

The deadline is printed on your appraisal notice. Missing it generally forfeits your right to challenge that year's assessment, so treat the notice as a clock the day it arrives. Notices typically mail in April or early May. Verify your specific deadline on the notice itself or on your county appraisal district's website.

Filing takes minutes. In Dallas County you can file online through DCAD's uFile system using the account PIN printed on your notice, or file the paper protest form that came with it.

You get two ways to argue the number

Texas law recognizes distinct protest grounds under Tax Code §41.41, and two of them matter for most homeowners:

• Market value (§41.41(a)(1)): the district's number is higher than what your home would actually sell for on the open market.
• Unequal appraisal (§41.41(a)(2)): even if the value is roughly fair, your home is assessed higher than comparable homes, so you are paying more than your share.

These are not interchangeable. Which one you claim controls what evidence you need, and a 2024 Texas Supreme Court decision (Texas Disposal Systems Landfill v. Travis Central Appraisal District) confirmed that the ground you argue at the ARB limits what a court can later review. We break down how to choose in market value vs unequal appraisal.

The ARB protest form uses separate checkboxes for these, labeled "Market value" and "Unequal Value" in Dallas County. Pick deliberately. Some homeowners claim both, but each ground needs its own evidence.

Step by step through the process

1. The appraisal notice arrives (April to early May)

The notice shows your appraised value, your exemptions, and usually the protest deadline. Read it. Errors happen: wrong square footage, a missing exemption, a value that jumped for no reason you can identify.

2. File your protest by the deadline

File online, by mail, or in person with your county appraisal district. In Dallas, uFile walks you through it and asks you to check the grounds you are claiming. Filing does not commit you to a fight; it preserves your right to one. Our protest letter guide covers what the letter should say and which statutory ground to cite.

3. The informal review

You do not go straight to a hearing. State law (§41.445) obligates the appraisal district to hold an informal conference if you request one, and this is where most protests end. A district appraiser reviews your evidence with you, and if they agree the value is wrong, you settle on the spot. A settlement is voluntary. If you cannot agree, you keep your place in line for a formal ARB hearing, and the informal discussion does not bind the board.

In Dallas County, settlement offers typically arrive by email after you file.

4. The ARB hearing

If no settlement, the ARB schedules a hearing. The board must give you at least 15 days' written notice of the date, time, and subject matter, and at least 14 days before the hearing you are entitled to the Comptroller's taxpayer remedies pamphlet and information about your right to inspect the district's evidence. Dallas County uFile filers are typically scheduled for a telephone hearing. Our ARB hearing prep guide covers the notice windows, the hearing structure, and how to organize your exhibits.

The hearing itself is informal by courtroom standards but it is a real proceeding: sworn testimony, exhibits, a panel of citizens, and a written order at the end. You present your evidence, the district presents theirs, and the board decides. Bring a copy of everything you submitted, even if you already sent it. In some counties, including Harris and Tarrant, parties are expected to exchange the evidence they intend to offer.

5. After the ARB order

Lose at the ARB and you still have options: a lawsuit in district court, binding arbitration, or (for some larger properties) review at the State Office of Administrative Hearings. Each path has its own deadlines and requirements, and the ground you protested limits what the next level can decide. That is the ground-lock rule again.

Win, or settle, and the new value sticks until next year.

A Dallas County walkthrough

Dallas is the county this service knows best, so here is the specific sequence there.

After your notice arrives, go to dallascad.org and use the Search Appraisals tool to find your account. During the protest season (roughly April 15 to May 15) a uFile link appears on your account page. uFile asks for the account PIN printed at the top left of your notice, then lets you check your protest grounds and submit. DCAD automatically schedules uFile filers for a telephone hearing before the ARB.

From there the status moves through received, under review, and informal review. Settlement offers arrive by email. If you settle, you are done. If not, you take the telephone hearing, and the ARB's order shows up on the county's order-lookup pages once issued.

The paper path works too: the NOTICE OF PROTEST form enclosed with your appraisal notice, mailed or delivered to DCAD by the deadline. The ground checkboxes on that form are labeled "Market value" and "Unequal Value."

Common mistakes that sink good protests

• Missing the deadline over a technicality. The 30-days-from-notice rule can give you more time than May 15, but only if you count from the actual notice date. When in doubt, file early.
• Arguing your tax bill instead of your value. The board cannot lower your tax rate. It can only lower the value, and only on evidence about what the property is worth.
• Claiming a ground you have no evidence for. Saying "unequal appraisal" without per-square-foot comparisons of similar homes is a claim with no proof, and the board will treat it that way.
• Bringing complaints instead of evidence. The Comptroller's guidance is explicit: actual evidence, not just complaints. Photos, sales, appraisals, and repair bids. Not frustration.
• Stopping at the informal call. If the informal offer feels too high, you can decline it and go to the hearing. Many homeowners accept the first number out of relief.

The homestead cap changes the math for some owners

If you claim a residence homestead exemption, your appraised value cannot rise more than 10% per year (plus the value of new improvements), under Tax Code §23.23. Owners who have held the exemption for consecutive years often sit under this cap, which means their assessed value can lag well behind true market value.

That cuts both ways in a protest. A capped owner who wins a market-value reduction may simply be pulling a number down that was never going to reach market value for years. The unequal-appraisal ground often matters more in these cases, because the question becomes whether you are assessed equally with neighbors rather than whether the number matches the market.

If you do not have a homestead exemption on your primary residence, file for one with your appraisal district before worrying about a protest. Our homestead exemption guide covers what the exemption does and how it interacts with the 10% cap.

What evidence actually moves the board

The Comptroller's own guidance says it plainly: you must present actual evidence, not just complaints. Emotional arguments and stories about your tax bill do not count. The board decides on market evidence.

What works:

• Recent sales of comparable properties, with the detail to show they are truly comparable
• A closing statement if you bought the home recently
• An independent appraisal
• Photographs of condition problems, paired with repair estimates or contractor bids
• For an unequal-appraisal argument, per-square-foot comparisons against similar homes

Numbers in hand beat descriptions every time. Our guide to protest evidence goes deeper on building the packet, including how many comps you want and how to order your exhibits.

What this costs you

Filing a protest is free. The appraisal district does not charge, and you can run the entire process yourself. The real cost is a couple of hours: reading the notice, pulling comparables, sitting through an informal call or a hearing.

Paid help exists at two levels. A one-time evidence package (comps, a protest letter citing the correct statute, and charts) runs about $49 from services like this one. A full-service protest agent that handles filing and negotiation runs $149, though you should expect any service to require you to approve the key decisions, because it is your protest and your property. Be wary of anyone promising a specific savings outcome. Nobody can promise that; the ARB decides based on the evidence presented.

Homeowners who successfully protest typically save $800 to $2,400 per year, though your result depends entirely on your property and the strength of your evidence. That figure is a typical outcome, not a prediction. Our methodology explains how we estimate it.

The short version

1. Read the notice when it arrives in April or May.
2. File your protest by May 15 (or 30 days after the notice, whichever is later).
3. Claim your ground deliberately: market value, unequal appraisal, or both.
4. Show up to the informal review with evidence. Most protests end here.
5. If needed, take the formal ARB hearing with the same evidence, organized.
6. Decide on appeals only after the ARB order arrives.

The single highest-leverage step is pulling real comparable sales for your address before the informal call. If you want to see what that looks like for your home, check your address and we will pull the nearest sales from public county data in about a minute.

Not legal advice. Estimate only. Based on public county appraisal data.