TexasLast checked: October 28, 2026
Form 50-132: Notice of Protest Form
Form 50-132 is the Comptroller's Property Owner's Notice of Protest, which an owner or an owner's designated agent can use to file a protest with the appraisal review board. Under Tax Code 41.44(d), a notice is sufficient if it identifies the owner and the property and shows apparent dissatisfaction with an appraisal office determination, and it need not be on an official form. The form says to file it with the appraisal district office, not with the Comptroller.
This page describes what the Texas Tax Code and the Comptroller's Form 50-132 say about a written notice of protest. It covers the form's parts, what makes a notice sufficient, and where it is filed. 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 is Form 50-132?
Form 50-132 is titled Property Owner's Notice of Protest for Counties with Populations Greater than 120,000, and the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Property Tax Assistance Division, developed it.
Its general information says a property owner or an owner's designated agent can use it to file a protest with the appraisal review board under Tax Code 41.41.
It adds that a lessee contractually obligated to reimburse a property owner for property taxes may be entitled to protest as a lessee if all Tax Code requirements are met, including those in Tax Code 41.413.
A companion version, Form 50-132-A, is titled for counties with populations less than 120,000, and the Comptroller's property tax forms page lists both.
The copies of both forms read for this page carry the revision mark 03-26/28.
Tax Code 41.44(d) directs the Comptroller to prescribe a form that provides for more detail about the nature of the protest, and it directs the Comptroller, each appraisal office and each appraisal review board to make the forms readily available and deliver one to an owner on request.
Under Tax Code 25.19(j), the chief appraiser includes with a notice of appraised value a copy of the notice of protest form the Comptroller prescribes, along with instructions for completing and mailing the form to the appraisal review board and requesting a hearing.
The parts of that notice are laid out on the notice of appraised value page.
What are the parts of Form 50-132?
Form 50-132 has eight sections, and its Section 3 is the checklist of reasons for the protest.
| Section | What the section asks for |
|---|---|
| Section 1: owner or lessee | The name, mailing address and telephone number of the owner or lessee, with boxes to mark a person age 65 or older, a disabled person, a military service member, a military veteran, or the spouse of a service member or veteran. |
| Section 2: property | The physical address if it differs from the mailing address, a legal description if there is no street address, and the make, model and identification of a mobile home where that applies. |
| Section 3: reasons for protest | A checklist of reasons for the protest, with the instruction to select every box that applies to preserve the right to present each reason. |
| Section 4: additional facts | Space for facts that may help resolve the protest and an optional line for the owner's opinion of the property's value. |
| Section 5: hearing type | Whether the owner requests an informal conference with the appraisal office, a single-member panel or a regular panel of at least three members, and how the owner intends to appear: in person, by telephone, by videoconference, or on a written affidavit. |
| Section 6: hearing notice and procedures | Whether the hearing notice goes by regular first-class mail or by certified mail, whether the owner wants a copy of the board's hearing procedures, and whether the owner wants a text or email reminder of the hearing. |
| Section 7: special panel | A request for a special panel, which the form ties to property appraised at 62.9 million dollars or more in four listed classes: commercial, utilities, industrial and multifamily. |
| Section 8: certification and signature | The printed name, signature and date of the owner or the owner's authorized representative, with boxes for property owner, property owner's agent, or other. |
The form says a property owner does not waive the right to appear in person at a protest hearing by submitting an affidavit to the board or by electing to appear by telephone or videoconference.
The Important Information panel of the form says special panels are available in counties with a population of 1.2 million or more.
Form 50-132-A has seven sections instead of eight: it joins the telephone and videoconference choices in one box and has no electronic reminder question and no special panel section.
What makes a notice of protest sufficient?
Tax Code 41.44(d) says a notice of protest is sufficient if it does three things: it identifies the protesting property owner, it identifies the property that is the subject of the protest, and it indicates apparent dissatisfaction with some determination of the appraisal office.
The owner it identifies can be a person claiming an ownership interest in the property, even if that person is not listed on the appraisal records as an owner.
The same subsection says the notice need not be on an official form.
The Comptroller's protests page agrees: a notice of protest is sufficient if it identifies the property, the owner and a subject showing dissatisfaction, and using the form is not required.
Under Tax Code 41.44(e), a notice may not be found untimely or insufficient based on a finding of incorrect ownership if it names a person who owned the property at any time during the tax year, the person shown on the appraisal records if that person filed the protest, a lessee authorized to file a protest, or an affiliate or related entity of one of them.
The same protection applies if the notice uses a misnomer of one of those persons.
Tax Code 41.41(a) lists the actions an owner is entitled to protest before the appraisal review board, among them the determination of the appraised value of the owner's property, unequal appraisal of the owner's property, and inclusion of the owner's property on the appraisal records.
Who may file Form 50-132?
Tax Code 41.41(a) says a property owner is entitled to protest the listed actions before the appraisal review board.
The form's general information says an owner's designated agent can use it as well.
Under Tax Code 1.111(i), the appraisal review board accepts and considers a protest filed by an owner's agent if an agency authorization is filed at or before the hearing.
How an owner designates an agent is covered on the Form 50-162 page.
Tax Code 41.413(b) lets a person leasing real property who is contractually obligated to reimburse the owner for taxes protest a determination of the appraised value if the owner does not file a protest relating to the property, and it limits that to a single protest by either the owner or the lessee.
For a protest under that section, the person bringing the protest is considered the owner of the property for purposes of the protest.
Where and when is the form filed?
The form's filing instructions say to file it and all supporting documentation with the appraisal district office in the county in which the property is taxable, and not with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
Tax Code 41.44(a) frames the filing as a written notice of protest filed with the appraisal review board that has authority to hear the matter protested.
The general deadline in Tax Code 41.44(a)(1) is not later than May 15 or the 30th day after the date the notice to the property owner was delivered as provided by Section 25.19, whichever is later.
The form's Important Information says that, with exceptions, the typical deadline is midnight, May 15, and it tells the owner to contact the appraisal review board for the county for the specific filing deadline.
Under Tax Code 41.44(b), an owner who files after the deadline but before the board approves the appraisal records is entitled to a hearing if the owner shows good cause, as the board determines, for failing to file on time.
Tax Code 41.44(c-1) and (c-2) entitle two groups to a hearing on a protest filed after the deadline but before the taxes become delinquent: an owner continuously employed in the Gulf of Mexico for at least 20 days during which the deadline passed, and an owner serving on full-time active duty in the United States armed forces outside the United States on the day the deadline passed.
Each of those owners must give the board the evidence the statute names.
The dates are set out in more detail on the protest deadline page. This page does not describe the filing methods of any one appraisal district.
How does Tax Code 1.08 treat a notice sent by mail?
Tax Code 1.08 applies when a property owner is required by the Property Tax Code to file or deliver a report, application, statement or other document or paper by a specified due date.
The owner's action is timely if the document is properly addressed with postage or handling charges prepaid and one of three things is true.
- It is sent by regular first-class mail and bears a post office cancellation mark dated on or before the due date and within the specified period.
- It is sent by common or contract carrier and bears a receipt mark dated on or before the due date and within the specified period.
- It is sent by either method and the owner furnishes satisfactory proof that it was deposited with the mail or the carrier on or before the due date and within the specified period.
This page describes the text of the section. It does not say how any one appraisal district handles mailed filings.
What hearing choices does the form carry?
Tax Code 41.45(b-4) requires an appraisal review board to sit in a single-member panel for a protest hearing if the owner requests it in the notice of protest or in writing submitted to the board not later than the 10th day before the hearing.
Under Tax Code 41.45(b-1), the board holds a hearing by telephone or videoconference, as the owner elects, if the owner says so in the notice of protest or by written notice filed not later than the fifth day before the hearing, or the 10th day if the owner has designated an agent under Tax Code 1.111.
Tax Code 41.46(f) applies in a county with a population of 120,000 or more: on the owner's written request, the board delivers an electronic reminder of the hearing date, time and place by email or text message, and the owner provides the email address or telephone number.
The form's Important Information names Form 50-843 for requesting electronic communications from a tax official under Tax Code 1.085(a-1).
Sources
- Texas Tax Code. Section 1.08, Timeliness of Action by Mail or Common or Contract Carrier Section 1.111, Representation of Property Owner Section 25.19, Notice of Appraised Value Section 41.41, Right of Protest Section 41.413, Protest by Person Leasing Property Section 41.44, Notice of Protest Section 41.45, Scheduling and Conduct of Hearing Section 41.46, Notice of Protest Hearing Read: October 28, 2026.
- Texas Comptroller. Form 50-132, Property Owner's Notice of Protest (PDF) Form 50-132-A, counties under 120,000 (PDF) Property tax forms Property tax protests Read: October 28, 2026.
Questions
Is Form 50-132 required to file a protest?
No. Tax Code 41.44(d) says the notice need not be on an official form, although the Comptroller prescribes a form that provides for more detail about the nature of the protest.
Which version of the form is for a county with fewer than 120,000 residents?
Form 50-132-A is titled for counties with populations less than 120,000, and Form 50-132 is titled for counties with populations greater than 120,000.
Can an appraisal district require a payment to file a protest?
Tax Code 41.41(d) says an appraisal district or appraisal review board may not require a property owner to make a payment in connection with a protest the owner files with the board.
Can the Comptroller advise on a protest that is pending?
The Notice panel of the form says the Comptroller's office may not advise an owner, an owner's agent, the chief appraiser or an appraisal district employee on a matter the office knows is the subject of an ARB protest.
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