How to Protest Your Property Taxes in Texas
Every spring, Texas homeowners open a notice from their county appraisal district and wonder the same thing: is this right, and is there anything I can do about it?
The answer to both questions is often yes — and the process is more accessible than most people think. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, homeowners who file a protest win a reduction more often than not. The informal review stage alone — which most people don't even know exists — resolves the majority of protests before anyone sets foot in a hearing room.
This guide walks through the full protest process from start to finish: how to file, what evidence actually works, what to expect at each stage, and the deadlines you can't miss. If you'd rather watch than read, the video below covers the core of it.
Why Protesting Is Worth Your Time
Texas has some of the highest effective property tax rates in the country. Because there's no state income tax, local governments fund schools, infrastructure, and services almost entirely through property taxes. That means your assessed value isn't just a number — it directly determines a significant recurring expense.
The appraisal district's job is to value every property in the county each year using mass appraisal models. Those models are sophisticated, but they can't see inside your home, don't know about deferred maintenance or functional issues, and sometimes rely on comparable sales that don't actually match your property. That's the gap a protest exists to address.
The numbers from Dallas County's own data tell the story:
Dallas County Appraisal District, 2024 protest data.
If you file with any reasonable evidence, you have a good chance of walking away with a lower value. The informal review stage — where most reductions actually happen — is a conversation with appraisal district staff, not a formal hearing. It's lower-stakes than most people assume.
Are You Protesting as a Homeowner or an Investor?
The fundamentals of the protest process are the same for everyone, but your strategy and leverage points differ depending on how you hold the property.
If you own your primary residence and have owned it for more than a year, your homestead cap is already providing some protection. The protest is still worthwhile — especially if your appraised value jumped significantly this year — but you're working from a better baseline than an investor who has no cap protection at all.
How to Protest: The Full Process
Here's how the process works from the moment you receive your Notice of Appraised Value through to resolution.
Your county appraisal district mails notices each spring — typically in April for Dallas County (2026 notices mail April 14). The notice shows your property's proposed appraised value for the current tax year.
Don't ignore it. Review the value carefully and compare it to what you believe your home is actually worth. If you think it's too high — even slightly — filing a protest costs you nothing. The only way to lose is to not file.
Before you file, pull your property record from your appraisal district's website. Look for factual errors first: square footage, bedroom/bathroom count, lot size, year built. These are the easiest wins — if they have your home wrong on the basics, that's a straightforward correction that often triggers an immediate adjustment.
Also check whether your homestead exemption is applied if you're a primary resident. A missing exemption is a significant error worth correcting regardless of anything else.
The standard protest deadline in Texas is May 15, or 30 days from the postmark date on your notice — whichever is later. For 2026, all major DFW counties share the May 15 deadline.
Filing is simple. Most counties offer an online portal that takes less than five minutes. You can also file by mail or in person. You don't need a reason beyond disagreeing with the value — checking "the value is too high" is sufficient to open your protest.
| County | Serves | Online Portal | 2026 Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collin (CCAD) | Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney | collincad.org | May 15, 2026 |
| Dallas (DCAD) | Dallas, Carrollton, Irving | dallascad.org | May 15, 2026 |
| Denton (DCAD) | Denton, Lewisville, The Colony | dentoncad.com | May 15, 2026 |
| Tarrant (TAD) | Fort Worth, Arlington, Grapevine | tad.org | May 15, 2026 |
All counties default to May 15 or 30 days from notice postmark, whichever is later. Collin County homeowners can file online via CCAD's e-Services portal, by mail to 250 Eldorado Pkwy, McKinney TX 75069, or in person. Collin County informal reviews begin April 16.
Evidence falls into two main categories: comparable sales and property condition. You don't need both — one strong category is enough. But the more specific and relevant your evidence, the better.
Comparable sales: The appraisal district uses sales data to set your value. If recent sales of similar homes in your neighborhood came in lower, that's your argument. Here's the catch: Texas is a non-disclosure state, which means sale prices aren't public record. Zillow and Redfin show list prices, not actual sale prices. A real estate agent can pull true MLS sold data — that's where this becomes a competitive advantage if you know the right person to ask.
Property condition: Anything the appraisal model can't see — a foundation issue, outdated HVAC, deferred maintenance, functional obsolescence. Document with photos, contractor estimates, or recent repair invoices. The district's model assumes an average condition; if your home is below average, that gap is your leverage.
Before you ever appear before the Appraisal Review Board, you'll have an opportunity for an informal review — a meeting directly with appraisal district staff. This is the step most homeowners don't know about, and it's where most protests actually get resolved.
In most DFW counties, you can schedule your informal review online. Bring your evidence, present it calmly and factually, and let the appraiser respond. If they agree your value should be lower, they can adjust it on the spot and you're done — no ARB hearing required.
The informal review is almost always the fastest path to a resolution. It's also lower pressure than a formal hearing. Approach it as a conversation, not a confrontation.
If the informal review doesn't resolve your protest, it proceeds to an ARB hearing — a formal proceeding before a three-person panel of citizens appointed to hear protests. This is not a court; it's an administrative hearing. You don't need an attorney, though you can bring one.
You'll present your evidence and explain your position. The appraisal district staff will present theirs. The board weighs the evidence and renders a decision. The hearing typically takes 15–30 minutes.
One important point: The ARB cannot raise your value as a result of your protest. Your current assessed value is the ceiling. The only direction it can move from a protest is down. There is no downside to appearing.
Dallas County's 2024 data shows roughly 70% of single-family ARB protests resulted in a reduction. That's not a guarantee — but it's a meaningful probability if you've done your homework on evidence.
If you're unsatisfied with the ARB's decision, you have further options — though most homeowners won't need them. You can request binding arbitration (available for properties valued under $5 million) or file suit in district court. Both options have associated costs and timelines that make them most practical for higher-value properties or situations where the potential tax savings justify the effort.
For the vast majority of DFW homeowners, the informal review or ARB hearing will be the end of the road — and the outcome will be satisfactory.
Should You Hire a Protest Service, or Do It Yourself?
Property tax protest services have become a significant industry in Texas, particularly in DFW. They handle the filing, the evidence gathering, the hearing — everything — for a contingency fee, typically 30–50% of your first year's tax savings. If they don't reduce your value, you pay nothing.
For many homeowners, that's a reasonable trade. You do nothing, they handle everything, and the only cost is a share of what you save. The question is whether the math works for your situation.
If you go the DIY route, the informal review stage is where most homeowners can be most effective. You don't need to prepare a legal brief — you need recent comparable sales (ideally from the MLS, not just Zillow) and documentation of any condition issues. That's it. Present it factually, listen to their response, and most of the time you'll walk away with a reduction without ever needing to go to the ARB.
Common Questions
The One Thing That Moves the Needle Most
The most effective evidence you can bring to an informal review or ARB hearing is actual sold data — not Zestimates, not list prices, but closed sale prices pulled from the MLS. Because Texas doesn't require public disclosure of sale prices, that data isn't freely available to homeowners who go it alone. Most people walk in with Zillow printouts. Actual MLS comps are a different conversation entirely.
If you're a current client, reach out and I'll pull comps for your property before your hearing. It's one of the more concrete advantages of having an agent who's active in your neighborhood — and it takes me about ten minutes.
Reach out if you're a current client
