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How do I protest my property taxes in Harris County, and what is the deadline?
Answered by Allen Markel, REALTOR®, Texas Premier Realty ·
Short answer
You can protest your appraised value with the Harris Central Appraisal District. The deadline is May 15, or 30 days after the notice of appraised value is delivered, whichever is later, under Texas Tax Code section 41.44. File a notice of protest online or on paper, meet informally with HCAD, and if you disagree, present evidence to the Appraisal Review Board. Filing is free. On a $320,000 home at the 2.25% median rate, each $10,000 of value removed saves about $225 a year.
What are the steps?
Watch for the notice of appraised value in the spring. File a notice of protest by the deadline, choosing the grounds: the market value is too high, or the value is unequal compared with similar properties. HCAD offers an informal review first; many cases settle here. If not, the case goes to an Appraisal Review Board hearing, where you present comparable sales or equity evidence, and the board decides. After that, you can take the case to district court or, for many residential properties, use binding arbitration or review by the State Office of Administrative Hearings. Keep dates and confirmations. A protest does not delay the tax due date, so pay the undisputed amount. Keep the calendar simple. Notices arrive around April; the May 15 date is the common deadline; hearings run from late spring through summer; the tax bill still arrives in the fall on the value as it stands at that time. If a protest is still pending in the fall, pay at least the undisputed amount by January 31 to avoid penalty and interest.
Is a protest worth it, and what evidence helps, and what if I missed the 2026 deadline?
The savings scale with value. At the median total rate of 2.254%, a $20,000 reduction saves about $451 a year, and a $40,000 reduction about $902. For a homestead, remember the 10% cap: if the cap already holds the appraised value below market, a market-value protest may not lower the taxable value. Useful evidence is recent sales of similar nearby homes closed before January 1, repair estimates for defects, photos, and HCAD's own comparable list. Our closed-sale data, which shows a median 12-month Harris County price of $315,000 (2.2% below the prior year), gives context, but your comparables must be similar homes in your area. The 2026 protest deadline of May 15 has passed. A late protest is allowed only for good cause under limited conditions, so check with HCAD. Otherwise, the next appraisal notice comes in spring 2027. Use the interval to collect comparable sales and photographs, and confirm that your homestead and other exemptions show on the account. If the value on the notice is close to what similar homes have sold for, a protest may not change it.
Amounts and rules change every year. For the most current and accurate answer, contact the county office directly: the Harris Central Appraisal District (hcad.org, 713-957-7800) for values, exemptions and protests.
| Value reduction | Annual tax saved | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | $225 | $19 |
| $20,000 | $451 | $38 |
| $40,000 | $902 | $75 |
| $60,000 | $1,352 | $113 |
Common follow-up questions
What is the deadline to protest property taxes in Harris County?
May 15 or 30 days after the appraisal notice is delivered, whichever is later.
Does it cost anything to protest?
No fee to file with HCAD or the Appraisal Review Board.
Do I still have to pay the tax while protesting?
Yes; the tax due date does not change, so pay the undisputed amount.
Sources
Talk it through with Allen
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