Plain-English reference on Texas property tax — exemptions, protests, CAD record correction, and county-by-county filing. Written to be usable by someone who has never protested before. Free.
New to protesting? These walk you from “am I even allowed to protest?” to a filed packet.
Yes — every Texas owner can protest their appraised value each year, for free, with no firm required. Who can protest, what you can protest (market value vs. unequal appraisal), the May 15 deadline, how to file Form 50-132, and what it costs.
The unequal-appraisal §41.43(b)(3) framework, the §25.19 notice clock, what the CAD must produce in response, and where the 25%-of-savings consultants squeeze homeowners who could have done it themselves.
The complete DIY process in six steps: check your value, gather comparable properties, file Form 50-132 by May 15, present at the informal meeting, and handle the ARB hearing — no firm required.
An honest comparison of O'Connor, Ownwell, Texas ProTax, NTPTS, Texas Tax Protest, DIY, and TaxStand — fee models, who keeps the savings, who files, and how to choose the right option for you.
Step-by-step walkthrough of an actual successful protest. Subject property, accepted comparables, hearing transcript notes, final agreed value. The kind of detail every protest service should publish and almost none do.
Deep dives on the law, the forms, the deadlines, exemptions, and the hearing — the same references the paid firms use.
The two kinds of evidence that win a protest: equal-and-uniform comparable $/sqft (§41.43(b)(3)) and market-value proof (sales, appraisals, documented condition defects). Where to pull each — free — from your CAD's own public records.
Filing through your appraisal district's online portal (iFile / iSettle / Online Appeals) instead of mailing Form 50-132: the login code on your notice, choosing both grounds, uploading evidence, and the online settlement offer.
Contingency vs. flat fee, head to head: who files, who represents you, what evidence each provides, the recurring-cost math on a $40,000 reduction, and an honest read on which fits which homeowner.
The four real options for protesting your 2026 appraisal: pure DIY, contingency-fee firms (O'Connor, Texas Tax Protest), flat-fee tech (Ownwell), and DIY-help services like TaxStand. Cost math on a real $475K Tarrant appraisal.
Every section of the Comptroller's 2026 Notice of Protest form, explained in order: the special-circumstance checkboxes in §1, the trap-laden grounds-for-protest checkboxes in §3, the hearing-type decision in §5, and the signature mistake that voids the whole filing.
The constitutional principle, the statutory text, the "median of comparable properties appropriately adjusted" standard, the math on a worked example, and the reason this argument beats market-value protests in a non-disclosure state like Texas.
Every Texas property tax procedural date in 2026 with statutory citation: when notices mail, when protests are due (May 15), when ARB hearings happen, when the tax roll certifies, when bills mail, when payments are due (Jan 31). Plus exception/back-claim windows.
Every major Texas exemption catalogued: homestead, over-65, disability, disabled veteran (100% and partial), surviving spouse, ag/wildlife/timberland, historic site, charitable, religious, freeport, solar/wind. Eligibility, dollar amounts, application forms, statutory citations.
Minute-by-minute walkthrough of the formal Appraisal Review Board hearing. Pre-hearing prep, what to bring, opening statement, evidence presentation, CAD's case, rebuttal, panel deliberation, the written Order. Virtual hearings and appeal paths (district court, SOAH, binding arbitration).
The 2023 reform that capped non-homestead residential appraisal growth at 20% per year. Eligibility (residential under $5M, non-homestead), worked math on a Pflugerville rental, status-change transitions, the 2026 sunset, and how to protest if your CAD applied the cap wrong.
The complete procedural walkthrough: open your CAD's public search, filter for usable comps (±25% sqft, ±10 years age, same subdivision), capture the set, compute the median per-sqft, apply to your property, and build the packet PDF. Plus CAD-by-CAD search interface notes for the 12 major Texas counties.
The under-the-radar appeal path most homeowners don't know about. $450 deposit, 90-day timeline, independent arbitrator, binding decision. When it beats district court for residential cases under $5M, the deposit refund mechanics, and how to file.
Word-for-word language for your informal review and formal ARB hearing. Opening statement template, evidence walkthrough script, rebuttal templates for common CAD arguments, closing statement, and the things you should NOT say. Plus the 5-bullet cheat sheet to bring to the hearing.
What the homestead exemption actually saves you, the §11.431 back-claim window for late filing, the §23.23 10% cap, and the cap-reset trap on recently-purchased properties.
Up to 100% property tax exemption for fully-disabled veterans. Partial exemptions for any qualifying rating. Full benefits for surviving spouses. Most-valuable single filing on this page if you served.
Two combined benefits: an extra $10,000 school-district exemption, plus a permanent school-district tax ceiling that freezes school taxes the year you turn 65. Plus optional city/county freezes, transfer rules, surviving spouse continuation, and the quarter-installment payment option for fixed-income homeowners.
The §25.25(c) and §25.25(d) correction motions, the 5-year lookback window, and how to fix valuation errors AFTER the regular protest deadline has passed.
County-by-county deep dives on the local CAD, portal, and ARB. Beyond these, TaxStand’s free analyzer runs an instant unequal-appraisal read, and builds a filed-ready packet for all 254 Texas counties — check yours.