By Daniel Ambrose, MAI, Executive Vice President, Tax Services — The Ambrose Group
The Texas property tax protest deadline for 2027 is May 15, 2027, or the 30th day after your notice of appraised value was mailed, whichever is later (Tax Code §41.44). May 15, 2027 falls on a Saturday, so under Tax Code §1.06 the last timely day is Monday, May 17. Neither date is the one that decides your bill. The owners who do best have their evidence together before the notice arrives.
Most owners meet this calendar for the first time in the week they’re already behind. A notice lands, a deadline is printed on it, and the hearing is a few weeks out. That’s an understandable spot, and we hear it all the time. I’m publishing this early on purpose: here is the full 2027 season in order, with the work I’d do before each date. If you’d rather have a team run it, that’s what our property tax consulting group does. And if any step is new to you, ask.
Key takeaways
- Texas values property as of January 1, so your evidence has to describe the property on that day.
- Notices go out by April 1 (single-family homesteads) or May 1 (everything else), or as soon after as practicable. You may get none if your value didn’t rise.
- The protest deadline is May 15 or 30 days after the notice was mailed, whichever is later. In 2027 that means May 17 at the earliest.
- After an ARB order, the clocks are 60 days for district court or arbitration, and 30 days to start a SOAH appeal.
- Taxes are due on receipt of the bill and late after January 31, 2028. Penalties start at 6%.
- One 2027 change matters for commercial owners: the 20% annual limit on non-homestead values is set to expire after 2026.
Before the notices: January through April
The season starts before you hear from the district. These are the 2027 dates and their weekdays.
- Friday, January 1. The appraisal date. Texas values property at market value as of January 1 (Comptroller calendar). Rents, occupancy, condition, and deferred maintenance all have to be shown as they stood that day.
- Thursday, April 1. Notices of appraised value for single-family homesteads are due, or as soon after as practicable (§25.19). The law requires a notice when your value goes up, so no notice isn’t proof of no change.
- Thursday, April 15. Renditions and property reports are due, extendable to May 15 on written request. This one bites at the hearing: skip a required rendition and the burden of proving value shifts to you (§41.43(d)).
- Friday, April 30. Many exemption applications are due.
- Saturday, May 1. Notices for everything other than single-family homesteads are due, or as soon after as practicable.
The deadline: May 15, which in 2027 means May 17
Tax Code §41.44 sets the filing date as the later of May 15 or the 30th day after the notice was delivered. A mailed notice is presumed delivered the day it is mailed (§1.07), so count from the date printed on it. Two 2027 examples:
- Notice mailed April 8. The 30th day is May 8. May 15 is later, and because it’s a Saturday, the last timely day is Monday, May 17.
- Notice mailed April 20. The 30th day is Thursday, May 20. That’s later than May 15, so May 20 controls.
A paper protest is timely if its post office cancellation mark is on or before the due date (§1.08). The Comptroller’s own calendar lists May 15 without any weekend adjustment and tells owners to confirm with their district. My advice doesn’t change: don’t use the extra weekend. File the week your notice arrives.
If you do miss it, the door isn’t always shut. The ARB can grant a late hearing for good cause if you file before it approves the appraisal records (§41.44(b)). There are separate paths for owners who were offshore in the Gulf of Mexico or on active military duty abroad, for owners who never received a required notice (§41.411), and, where a value is at least one-fourth too high on a homestead or one-third on other property, a motion to correct the roll. Good cause is the board’s call, not yours. Don’t plan on it.
Hearing season: May through the summer
Once you file, you can ask for an informal conference with the district’s appraiser, and the district must hold one before your hearing if you ask (§41.445). If you don’t settle, the ARB hears the case. It must give you at least 15 days’ written notice (§41.46), and you can appear in person, by phone, or by videoconference. By July 20, the ARB must finish substantially all timely protests and approve the appraisal records (§41.12). In a county of one million or more, like Harris, the district’s board can postpone that to August 30. The chief appraiser then certifies the roll to the taxing units by July 25, which in 2027 is a Sunday, so expect Monday, July 26.
Harris Central Appraisal District lists protest hearings from May through October, so dates in the largest counties can run well past the approval date. We staff for this stretch instead of putting up out-of-office messages, because after the summer, it’s already too late.
After the ARB order: three windows, three clocks
In a county of four million or more, the ARB has 45 days after the hearing to deliver its written order (30 days elsewhere, §41.47). Your clocks start the day you receive the order, not the day of the hearing.
- District court: 60 days. A petition for review must be filed within 60 days of receiving the order (§42.21). Miss it and the appeal is barred.
- Binding arbitration: 60 days. Request it through the Comptroller within 60 days, with a deposit. It’s available for residence homesteads of any value and other property valued at $5 million or less in the order, and the decision binds both sides. Filing in court first gives up arbitration on value (§41A.03). See our binding arbitration consultation.
- SOAH: 30 and 90 days. For property the order values above $1 million (not industrial), give the chief appraiser notice of appeal within 30 days and post a $1,500 deposit within 90 days.
On any route, pay the undisputed part of your taxes before they go delinquent, or you can forfeit the appeal (§42.08).
Fall: rates, bills, and January 31, 2028
Taxing units adopt rates by September 29, or 60 days after receiving the certified roll if that’s later (§26.05). Assessors mail bills on or after Friday, October 1 (§31.01). Your bill is your final value times those rates, less exemptions, and our property tax calculator lets you test what a change in value does to it.
Taxes are due when you receive the bill and delinquent if not paid before February 1, so for 2027 the last day to pay is Monday, January 31, 2028 (§31.02). A bill mailed after January 10 pushes the delinquency date back (§31.04). Where a taxing unit offers it, you can pay half before December 1 and half before July 1 without penalty (§31.03).
Late costs real money. Delinquent tax carries a 6% penalty in the first month, plus 1% each additional month, reaching 12% on July 1, plus 1% interest per month (§33.01). On a $50,000 bill paid in March 2028, that’s about $3,500 in penalty and $1,000 in interest, and a collection-cost penalty can follow after July 1 (§33.07).
The 2027 wrinkle: the circuit breaker lapses
Texas has limited yearly increases in appraised value to 20% for non-homestead real property valued at or under about $5.3 million (the 2026 figure). The Comptroller states that limit expires December 31, 2026. Unless lawmakers extend it, 2027 notices for that property can reflect full market value. If yours jumps, the protest is where you answer it.
What I’d do before the notice lands
- Now through December. Pull your 2026 income and expense statements, rent roll, and last year’s ARB order or settlement. Note what the district never saw.
- January. Document the property as of January 1, with dated photos and occupancy. If you want an independent view of value as of that date, ask about an appraisal for a tax appeal. It reports what the evidence supports, not a target.
- February through April. Decide whether you’ll go it alone or appoint an agent, and file renditions by April 15.
- The week the notice arrives. Note the date on it, file, and ask the district for its evidence. It must tell you that you can have it free at least 14 days before the hearing (§41.461).
Frequently asked questions
Is May 15 always the Texas property tax protest deadline? No. It’s the later of May 15 or 30 days after your notice was mailed. In 2027, May 15 is a Saturday, so the last timely day is Monday, May 17 unless your notice date puts you later.
What happens if I miss the protest deadline? You can ask for a late hearing for good cause, if you file before the ARB approves the appraisal records. The board decides whether your reason counts. Without that, you generally wait until next year.
When do appraisal notices come out in Texas? By April 1 for single-family homesteads and by May 1 for other property, or as soon after as practicable. In Harris County, HCAD lists March through April. You may not receive one if your value didn’t go up.
When are Texas property taxes due, and when are they late? They’re due when you receive your bill, usually in October, and delinquent after January 31. For 2027 taxes, that’s Monday, January 31, 2028.
How long do I have to appeal an ARB decision? Generally 60 days from receiving the order for district court or binding arbitration. A SOAH appeal, for values over $1 million, needs notice within 30 days and a deposit within 90.
If you want your 2027 file built before the notices land, that’s a conversation with our Appraisal Review Board team. If the honest answer is that you’re better off preparing on your own, that’s what you’ll hear. Talk to our team.
Texas Tax Code §§1.06–1.08, 25.19, 26.05, 31.01–31.04, 33.01, 33.07, 41.12, 41.411, 41.44–41.47, 41A.03, 42.08, 42.21 (statutes.capitol.texas.gov). Texas Comptroller, Property Tax Calendar, Property Tax Protests and Appeals, and Valuing Property. Harris Central Appraisal District Dates and Deadlines fact sheet (rev. 3/24/2026). SOAH Rule 165.9. Dates are for tax year 2027 and follow the statute; the deadline on your notice controls. Nothing here is legal or tax advice for your situation.
Daniel Ambrose is Executive Vice President of Tax Services at The Ambrose Group, where he leads property tax consulting and cost segregation for commercial owners across Texas. With 16 years in real estate, Daniel built his practice on a simple premise: property tax firms aren’t interchangeable, and the ones that win value are the ones that understand it.