A higher Texas property tax bill has three possible causes — a higher appraised value from the county appraisal district (CAD), a higher adopted tax rate from your city, county, school district, or special districts, or a lost or missing exemption — and a protest only fixes the first one. Homeowners routinely conflate the value side and the rate side, then file a protest that cannot win because the value was never the problem. The five checks below tell you which lever moved and whether you have a case.
Value, rate, or exemption: which one moved?
Your bill is roughly (appraised value − exemptions) × the combined rate adopted by every taxing unit on your account. Three different institutions control those three inputs, and each has a different remedy and a different deadline.
| What changed | Who controls it | Where you see it | The actual fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appraised or market value | County appraisal district | Notice of Appraised Value (Tax Code §25.19), spring | Protest to the Appraisal Review Board under §41.41 |
| Adopted tax rate | City, county, school, MUD, college, hospital districts | Truth-in-Taxation notices and your fall tax bill | Public hearings and, where required, a voter-approval election — not a protest |
| Exemption dropped or never applied | Appraisal district | Exemption line on your notice and CAD account page | File or re-file the exemption application with the CAD |
| Wrong facts on the property record | Appraisal district | CAD property detail page | Protest, or a correction motion under §25.25 |
The five-check audit
Work these in order. Each one takes a few minutes with your notice and your CAD account page open.
Check 1: Is your homestead exemption applied this year, and did the 10% cap work?
Open your Notice of Appraised Value and your CAD account page and confirm the residence homestead exemption is listed for the current tax year. Exemptions get removed after a sale, a deed change, a name change, or a periodic district audit, and nobody calls to tell you. The Comptroller's exemptions page lists the homestead, over-65, disability, and disabled-veteran exemptions you may qualify for.
Then check the cap. Under Tax Code §23.23, a qualified residence homestead's appraised value cannot increase more than 10% per year over the prior year's appraised value, plus the value of new improvements. The cap generally applies beginning the year after the homestead qualifies. Your notice should show both a market value and a lower capped appraised value when the market number jumped. If the market value rose 24% and your taxable value rose 24% too, either the cap was not applied or the exemption is missing. Start with our Texas homestead exemption guide.
Check 2: Pull your CAD property record and verify the facts
Appraisal districts value thousands of homes with mass appraisal models fed by county records, permits, and aerial imagery. The model is only as good as your record. Verify:
- Living area square footage (compare to your closing documents or an appraisal)
- Year built and effective year built
- Bedroom and bathroom count
- Pool, spa, detached garage, shop, barn, or other outbuildings that do not exist
- Condition and quality grade — a home with a failing roof, foundation movement, or original 1985 interiors should not carry the same grade as a remodeled neighbor
- Land size and any sliver of unusable or easement-encumbered land
Clerical and factual errors can be addressed through a motion under Tax Code §25.25, which is a separate track from the annual protest and is not bound by the May protest deadline. §25.25(c) covers clerical errors, multiple appraisals, and property that does not exist; other subsections are narrower and can carry conditions or a late-correction penalty, so read the statute before relying on them. If you are still inside protest season, raising the error in your protest is usually faster. See the CAD record correction guide.
Check 3: Compare your value per square foot to similar homes
This is the strongest residential argument in Texas and the one most owners skip. Under Tax Code §41.43(b)(3) and §42.26, you win if your appraised value exceeds the median appraised value of a reasonable number of comparable properties, appropriately adjusted. Note what that does not require: you do not have to prove what your house is worth. You have to prove you are valued above the median of your peers.
Divide your appraised value by your living area to get your value per square foot, then do the same for 5–10 comparable homes in your neighborhood with similar size, age, and condition. If your number sits well above the median, you have an unequal-appraisal case. Our guide to finding comparables walks through selection and adjustments. The TaxStand analyzer runs this comparison free by pulling your district's own record.
Check 4: Check the rate side before you blame the appraiser
If your value barely moved but your bill climbed, the rate side did it. Every taxing unit must publish its proposed rate, its no-new-revenue rate, and its voter-approval rate through the Truth-in-Taxation process, and most counties run a public Truth-in-Taxation portal where you can enter your address and see each unit's adopted rate, the hearing dates, and whether an election was required. A protest cannot touch an adopted rate. The remedy there is the hearing calendar and the ballot.
Check 5: Confirm your rights and the filing deadline
Under Tax Code §41.41, every owner may protest excessive appraised value, unequal appraisal, denial of an exemption, inclusion of property on the roll, and several other grounds. Three rights matter in practice:
- §41.44 — file by May 15 or the 30th day after your notice of appraised value was delivered, whichever is later. For the 2026 season that is May 15, 2026; for 2027, May 15, 2027.
- §41.43 — in a value or unequal-appraisal protest, the appraisal district carries the burden of proof.
- §41.461 — you may request and receive the district's evidence at least 14 days before your hearing. Always request it; it frequently contains the comparables that win your case.
After the ARB issues its order under §41.47, you may pursue binding arbitration under Chapter 41A or a judicial appeal under §42.01. File on Comptroller Form 50-132 or through your district's online portal. Dates by county are in the 2026 deadline guide.
So do you have a case?
| What the audit showed | Verdict | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Your value per sq ft is above the median of true comps | You have a case | File a §41.41 protest on market value and unequal appraisal |
| Square footage, pool, or year built is wrong on the record | You have a case | Protest now, or file a §25.25 correction motion |
| Homestead or cap missing from the notice | You have a case | File the exemption application with the CAD; late homestead filings are allowed within statutory limits |
| Value flat, rates up | No protest case | Truth-in-Taxation hearings and elections |
| Value at or below the neighborhood median, record accurate, exemptions on | Weak case | Re-check next spring when the new notice arrives |
DIY, software, or a contingency firm
Contingency firms such as Ownwell, O'Connor, and Texas Tax Protest are legitimate and typically charge 25–50% of first-year savings. They make sense if you own many properties, have a complex commercial or mixed-use parcel, or simply will not attend a hearing. For a single-family homestead, the evidence that wins is the appraisal district's own data, which you are entitled to under §41.461, and many owners win informal settlements before an ARB hearing ever happens.
TaxStand is self-serve software, not a protest firm and not a licensed agent: you file and you argue. Checking whether you have a case is free. A hearing-ready packet — comparable-sales and unequal-appraisal evidence, county-specific filing instructions, and a pre-filled Form 50-132 — is $199 flat per property per tax year, with no contingency and no percentage of your savings.
TaxStand provides information and document preparation, not legal advice or representation. Deadlines, exemption rules, and local procedures vary by county — verify dates with your appraisal district before you file.
Last reviewed: February 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have the right to challenge my property value in Texas?
Yes. Tax Code §41.41 gives every property owner the right to protest an excessive appraised value, an unequal appraisal, a denied exemption, and several other grounds before the Appraisal Review Board. You do not need an agent or an attorney to exercise it.
Is it worth fighting your property tax assessment in Texas?
It is worth it when your value per square foot sits above the median of comparable homes, when your property record contains factual errors, or when an exemption is missing. If your value is already at or below the neighborhood median and the record is accurate, a protest is unlikely to move much.
My value barely changed but my bill jumped. Can I protest that?
No. If the value held steady and the bill rose, a taxing unit raised its adopted rate. That is handled through the Truth-in-Taxation hearing process and, where required, a voter-approval election — not through an appraisal protest.
What is the deadline to protest property taxes in Texas?
Under §41.44, you must file by May 15 or the 30th day after your notice of appraised value was delivered, whichever is later. For the 2026 tax year that is May 15, 2026 for most homeowners.
What happens if my homestead exemption disappeared?
Your taxable value loses the exemption amount and the 10% annual cap under §23.23 may not apply, which can spike your bill sharply. File a homestead exemption application with your appraisal district; late filings are permitted within statutory limits.
Does the appraisal district have to prove its value is right?
In a protest over market value or unequal appraisal, §41.43 places the burden of proof on the appraisal district. You are also entitled under §41.461 to the district's evidence at least 14 days before the hearing.
Is your appraisal out of line with your neighbors'?
TaxStand pulls your appraisal district record, runs the equal-and-uniform comparable analysis, and produces a hearing-ready protest packet. $199 flat — one property, one tax year. No contingency fee, no percentage of your savings. Live in 45 Texas counties.
Run the free analyzer on your addressSources & further reading
- Texas Tax Code Chapter 41, Local Review (protest rights, deadlines, ARB hearings) — statutes.capitol.texas.gov
- Texas Tax Code Chapter 25, Local Appraisal (notice of appraised value, §25.25 corrections) — statutes.capitol.texas.gov
- Texas Comptroller — Property Tax Protests and Appeals — comptroller.texas.gov
- Texas Comptroller — Property Tax Exemptions — comptroller.texas.gov
- Texas Comptroller — Truth-in-Taxation — comptroller.texas.gov
- This analysis is informational and not legal or tax advice. Figures are as reported on the dates cited and may change as jurisdictions finalize budgets, rates, and rolls. Your outcome depends on your property, your county, and your evidence. Verify against your own appraisal notice and your CAD's published figures.