No state income tax means Texas leans hard on property taxes — but it also gives homeowners the friendliest protest system in America. File Form 50-132 by May 15 (or 30 days after your notice), meet the appraiser informally, and if that doesn't work, take it to the ARB. Most protesters who show up with evidence walk out with a reduction.
Your Notice of Appraised Value lands in spring. Check the market value, the assessed (capped) value, and your exemptions. File by May 15 or 30 days after delivery — whichever is later.
Request the CAD's own evidence packet (they must share it), pull comps with our free CAD scraper, and photograph anything the appraiser can't see from the street — foundation cracks, dated interiors, drainage.
Most CADs settle a majority of residential protests at the informal meeting — often online in Harris, Dallas, Travis, Tarrant, and other big counties. Bring your comps worksheet.
No deal? Present to the Appraisal Review Board — a 15–30 minute informal hearing. Still not satisfied? Binding arbitration, SOAH, or district court.
Texas has no automatic value freeze after a win, and CADs re-run mass appraisal annually. Homeowners who protest every single year compound their savings — the 10% homestead cap works off your prior assessed value, so every reduction lowers the ceiling for years to come.
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Texas appraises at 100% of market value; your bill = taxable value × combined local rates (school, county, city, special districts). If your homestead assessed value is capped below market value, a protest pays off only when you push market value below the capped figure — but it always lowers future cap growth. The 1.63% default approximates the statewide average. Estimates only; not tax advice.
Enter recent sales of similar homes (or import a CSV from our free CAD scraper). Texas is a non-disclosure state — sale prices aren't public record — so use MLS printouts from an agent, your own purchase documents, and the CAD's evidence packet. The worksheet computes price per square foot and a suggested value.
| Address | Sale Date | Sale Price ($) | Sq Ft | $/Sq Ft |
|---|
| Item | Texas Rule |
|---|---|
| Protest deadline | May 15, or 30 days after your Notice of Appraised Value is delivered — whichever is later (Tax Code § 41.44) |
| Form | Form 50-132, Property Owner's Notice of Protest — or your CAD's online portal (iFile in Harris, uFile in Dallas, etc.) |
| Grounds | Over market value · Unequal appraisal vs. comparable properties · Exemption denial · Errors |
| Informal meeting | Optional but recommended — most residential protests settle here |
| ARB hearing | 15+ days' notice; informal, ~15–30 minutes; you may appear by phone/video or affidavit |
| After the ARB | Binding arbitration (values ≤ $5M), SOAH, or district court within 60 days |
| Records | CADs publish full appraisal-roll exports and online search — see our scraper |