TexasLast checked: October 28, 2026
Can a Texas property tax protest raise the appraised value?
Tax Code 41.47(c-2) says the appraisal review board may not set the appraised value of a protested property above the value in the records the chief appraiser submitted, except as requested and agreed to by the owner. It does not apply when the action protested is the cancellation, modification or denial of an exemption, or a determination that the property is not eligible for appraisal under Subchapter C, D, E or H of Chapter 23. This page describes the rule, not any one protest.
This page describes what the Texas Tax Code says about the decision an appraisal review board makes on a protest. It covers the hearing notice, the written order and the burden rules, with the Comptroller's published process guidance. It does not say whether an owner should protest or what any protest will produce. Who provides this service is on the about page. How pages are made is in the editorial policy. Last checked: October 28, 2026.
What does the board decide on a protest?
Under Tax Code 41.47(a), the appraisal review board hearing a protest determines the protest and makes its decision by written order.
If the board dismisses a protest on jurisdictional grounds, it notifies the owner in writing and states the grounds for its determination in that notification.
Tax Code 41.47(b) says that when the board finds the appraisal records are incorrect in some respect raised by the protest, its order corrects the records by changing the appraised value placed on the owner's property or by making the other changes necessary to conform the records to the requirements of law.
The first sentence of Tax Code 41.47(c-2) reads: “The board may not determine the appraised value of the property that is the subject of a protest to be an amount greater than the appraised value of the property as shown in the appraisal records submitted to the board by the chief appraiser under Section 25.22 or 25.23, except as requested and agreed to by the property owner.”
The second sentence of that subsection names two situations where the first sentence does not apply: when the action being protested is the cancellation, modification or denial of an exemption, and when it is the determination that the property is not eligible for appraisal as provided by Subchapter C, D, E or H of Chapter 23.
This page quotes the rule and its stated exclusions. It does not say how the rule applies to any one property or any one protest.
Tax Code 41.41(a)(1) and (2) lists the protestable actions that the burden rules below refer to: the determination of the appraised value of the owner's property, and unequal appraisal of the owner's property.
The records the chief appraiser sends to the board, and the value shown on a notice of appraised value, are described on the notice of appraised value page.
What does the hearing notice say?
Tax Code 41.46(a) requires the appraisal review board before which a protest hearing is scheduled to deliver written notice to the owner who initiated the protest not later than the 15th day before the date of the hearing.
The statute says the notice must include four things.
- The date, time and place of the hearing.
- A description of the subject matter that is sufficient to identify the specific action being protested, such as the determination of the appraised value of the owner's property, the denial in whole or in part of a partial exemption, or a determination that the owner's land is not eligible for appraisal under Subchapter C, D, E or H of Chapter 23.
- A statement that the owner is entitled to a postponement of the hearing as provided by Tax Code 41.45, unless the owner waives notice of the hearing in writing.
- The notice required by Tax Code 26.04(e-2).
Under Tax Code 41.46(b), the board gives the chief appraiser advance notice of the date, time, place and subject matter of each protest hearing.
Tax Code 41.461(a) says that at least 14 days before a hearing on a protest, the chief appraiser must do three things.
- Deliver a copy of the pamphlet the Comptroller prepares under Tax Code 5.06 to the owner who initiated the protest, or to an agent representing the owner if the agent requests it.
- Inform the owner that the owner or the owner's agent is entitled on request to a copy of the data, schedules, formulas and all other information the chief appraiser will introduce at the hearing to establish any matter at issue.
- Deliver a copy of the hearing procedures the appraisal review board adopted under Tax Code 41.01.
Under Tax Code 41.66(a) and (b), the board conducts hearings under its adopted hearing procedures, and those procedures are informal to the greatest extent practicable.
Each party to a hearing is entitled to offer evidence, examine or cross-examine witnesses or other parties, and present argument on the matters subject to the hearing.
An owner who is a party to a protest may elect to present the owner's case either before or after the appraisal district presents the district's case.
The board may not consider any appraisal district information on a protest that was not presented to the board during the protest hearing.
An owner who is entitled to appear at a hearing may appear personally or by an agent.
The notice of protest itself is described on the Form 50-132 page, and an owner names an agent on the Form 50-162 page. Filing dates are on the protest deadline page.
What does the written order say?
Tax Code 41.47(c) says that when the protest is of the determination of the appraised value of the owner's property, the order must state the appraised value, with the land and any improvement listed separately for real property as allocated by the chief appraiser.
The order states that value two ways.
- The appraised value as shown in the appraisal records the chief appraiser submitted to the board under Tax Code 25.22 or 25.23.
- The appraised value as finally determined by the board.
Under Tax Code 41.47(d), the board delivers a notice of issuance of the order and a copy of the order to the owner and the chief appraiser, either electronically if the owner or the owner's agent elected electronic communications under Tax Code 1.085, or by certified mail.
With the order, the board delivers a copy of the appraisal review board survey prepared under Tax Code 5.104 and instructions for completing and submitting the survey.
Tax Code 41.47(e) requires the notice of issuance to carry a prominently printed statement in upper-case bold lettering telling the owner, in clear and concise language, of the owner's right to appeal the order to district court.
That statement must describe the deadline in Tax Code 42.06(a) for filing a written notice of appeal and the deadline in Tax Code 42.21(a) for filing the petition for review with the district court.
Under Tax Code 41.47(f), the board takes the actions required by subsections (a) and (d) not later than the 30th day after the hearing is concluded, if its appraisal district is in a county with a population of less than four million.
In a county with a population of four million or more, the limit is the 45th day after the hearing is concluded.
Who carries the burden of proof at the hearing?
Tax Code 41.43(a) says that, except as provided in subsections (a-1), (a-3) and (d), in a protest of the determination of the appraised value or of unequal appraisal, the appraisal district has the burden of establishing the value of the property by a preponderance of the evidence presented at the hearing.
The same subsection provides that if the appraisal district fails to meet that standard, the protest is determined in favor of the property owner.
Under Tax Code 41.43(a-1), the standard is clear and convincing evidence, instead of a preponderance, in a protest relating to property with a market or appraised value of 1 million dollars or less as determined by the appraisal district, if the owner meets two conditions.
The owner files with the appraisal review board and, not later than the 14th day before the first day of the hearing, delivers to the chief appraiser a copy of an appraisal of the property.
The appraisal must have been performed not later than the 180th day before the first day of the hearing by an appraiser certified under Chapter 1103, Occupations Code, and it must support the appraised or market value the owner asserts.
Subsection (a-2) then lists what the appraisal must contain to be valid.
- The appraisal must be attested to before an officer authorized to administer oaths.
- It must include the name and business address of the certified appraiser and a description of the property that was the subject of the appraisal.
- It must include a statement that the value was the appraised or market value as of January 1 of the current tax year and was determined using a method of appraisal authorized or required by Chapter 23.
- It must include a statement that the appraisal was performed in accordance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.
Tax Code 41.43(a-3) sets the same clear and convincing standard in a protest of the determination of the appraised value or of unequal appraisal when three conditions are met.
The first is that the appraised value of the property was decreased under the subtitle in the preceding tax year.
The second is that the preceding year's appraised value was not established by a written agreement between the owner or agent and the appraisal district under Tax Code 1.111(e).
The third is that, not later than the 14th day before the first day of the hearing, the owner files with the board and delivers to the chief appraiser information sufficient to allow a determination of the value, such as income and expense statements or information on comparable sales, or sufficient to allow a determination of whether the property was appraised unequally.
Subsection (a-5) adds that the third condition does not impose a duty on an owner to provide any information, and is merely a condition to the applicability of the clear and convincing standard.
Under Tax Code 41.43(d), if the owner fails to deliver before the hearing a rendition statement or property report required by Chapter 22, or a response to the chief appraiser's request for information under Tax Code 22.07(c), the owner has the burden of establishing the value by a preponderance of the evidence.
This section describes the statute's burden rules. It does not say which of them applies to any one protest.
What does the Comptroller's guidance say?
The Comptroller's protests page says an owner may protest if the owner disagrees with the appraisal district's value or with any of the district's actions concerning the owner's property.
It says that at the formal hearing the board listens to both the owner and the appraisal district representative, and that an owner may request an informal conference with the district before the board hearing.
It says the board's decisions are binding only for the tax year in question.
It says that once the board rules on a protest, the owner receives a written order by email or certified mail.
It says the board must send notice of the hearing date, time, place and subject matter at least 15 days in advance, and that at least 14 days before the hearing the appraisal district must send the Comptroller's Taxpayer Assistance Pamphlet, the adopted hearing procedures and a statement that the owner can request copies of the information the district will use at the hearing.
It says an owner can appear at the hearing in person, by telephone or videoconference, or by filing a written affidavit.
It says the Tax Code prohibits the Comptroller's office from advising a property owner, authorized representative or appraisal district about a matter under protest and from intervening in a protest.
The Tax Code sections above are the source for each rule on this page. This section lists what the Comptroller's page says about the process, as read on October 28, 2026.
Sources
- Texas Tax Code. Section 41.41, Right of Protest Section 41.43, Protest of Determination of Value or Inequality of Appraisal Section 41.46, Notice of Protest Hearing Section 41.461, Notice of Certain Matters Before Hearing; Delivery of Requested Information Section 41.47, Determination of Protest Section 41.66, Hearing Procedures Read: October 28, 2026.
- Texas Comptroller. Property tax protests Read: October 28, 2026.
Questions
Does Tax Code 41.47 let the board set a value above the one in the appraisal records?
The first sentence of Tax Code 41.47(c-2) says the board may not determine the appraised value of the protested property to be greater than the value shown in the records the chief appraiser submitted, except as requested and agreed to by the property owner. The second sentence names the exclusions listed above.
When must the board send the hearing notice?
Tax Code 41.46(a) says the board delivers written notice to the owner who initiated the protest not later than the 15th day before the date of the hearing.
What must the written order state about the value?
When the protest is of the determination of the appraised value, Tax Code 41.47(c) requires the order to state the value as shown in the records the chief appraiser submitted and as finally determined by the board.
How soon after the hearing must the board act?
Tax Code 41.47(f) sets a limit of the 30th day after the hearing is concluded in a county with a population of less than four million, and the 45th day in a county with a population of four million or more.
Does this page say whether an owner should protest?
No. It describes the text of the rules and the Comptroller's published process guidance, and it does not say whether any owner should protest or what any protest will produce.
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