Property Tax Protests in Dallas County, Texas
Dallas County homeowners challenge a Dallas Central Appraisal District action by filing a written protest for consideration by the Dallas County Appraisal Review Board, a citizen board DCAD describes as legally separate from the district. DCAD's own protest-process guide sets the deadline at May 15 or 30 days after DCAD delivers the Notice of Appraised Value, whichever is later, moving to the next business day when that date falls on a weekend or legal holiday. The usual 2026 deadline of May 15, 2026 has passed, and a notice delivered after April 15 carried a later date printed on that notice. DCAD's reviewed materials do not yet publish a 2027 notice-mailing schedule or deadline; verify the 2027 protest deadline on the property's notice and in current appraisal-district guidance. FairPath's owner-guided evidence packet is available for Dallas County properties to help organize county records, comparable sales, and condition documentation for the owner's own filing. It does not file the DCAD or ARB protest, accept a uFile settlement offer, or represent the owner at any hearing.
Assessment context: DCAD's Notice of Appraised Value separates market value from any capped appraised value and from taxable value after exemptions, so a change to one figure does not automatically produce an equal change in the others. Dallas Central Appraisal District appraises property for 61 local taxing units across Dallas County's cities, school districts, and special districts, and those units' separate tax rates are not decided in a DCAD or ARB protest. DCAD's Search Appraisals tool and mapping application let an owner confirm the account number, situs address, property characteristics, land and improvement values, and notice date before selecting evidence, and DCAD states its appraisal data was last refreshed September 22, 2026.
Filing process: DCAD's guide says a written protest needs only to identify the owner, the property, and dissatisfaction with a district action; an official form is not required, though the district provides one. Most owners file through uFile using the PIN printed on the Notice of Appraised Value, which DCAD says produces an automated filing confirmation; DCAD does not accept protest filings by fax or e-mail. A mailed protest must bear a postmark by the deadline and go to DCAD's Stemmons Freeway address or the address on the notice, and an in-person or drop-box delivery must arrive before the office closes on the deadline. DCAD's appraisal staff review submitted evidence and may contact the owner by phone or e-mail before the scheduled hearing; if the matter is not resolved informally, the protest proceeds to a formal hearing before the Dallas County Appraisal Review Board, which DCAD says gives at least 15 days' notice of the hearing date, time, and location.
Evidence to review: DCAD's protest-process guide lists specific grounds an owner may raise, including an excessive proposed value, unequal appraisal compared with other district property, denial of an exemption or agricultural appraisal, an incorrect owner of record, or property taxed by the wrong taxing units, and the Appraisal Review Board has adopted Standards of Documentation describing the data appraisal staff expect to review. For a value-based protest, DCAD's guide points to recent sales, a fee appraisal if one exists, and photographs or professional repair estimates documenting problem areas. An unequal-appraisal protest requires comparing the subject's appraised value with similar Dallas County properties rather than a general market impression. FairPath can prepare sourced comparison analysis and an indexed, owner-reviewed evidence file from available DCAD records and supporting documents; the owner selects the grounds to file and submits the protest. FairPath does not predict the outcome of DCAD's or the ARB's review.
Current deadline guidance: The usual May 15, 2026 deadline has passed; DCAD has not yet published a 2027 notice-mailing date or deadline. Texas Tax Code §41.44 sets a property owner's protest deadline at May 15 or no later than 30 days after the appraisal district delivers the Notice of Appraised Value, whichever is later. DCAD's own protest-process guide states that a deadline falling on a weekend or legal holiday moves to the first business day after that date. For Dallas Central Appraisal District's regular 2026 real-property notices the usual deadline was May 15, 2026; a notice delivered after April 15 carried a later date, 30 days after delivery, printed on that notice. Business personal property had a separate June 11, 2026 online deadline. As of this review, DCAD's published materials do not identify a 2027 notice-mailing schedule or protest deadline; verify the 2027 protest deadline on the property's notice and in current appraisal-district guidance.
DCAD's uFile Online Settlement Offer Program is available for many, but not all, residential accounts; DCAD's guide excludes properties represented by a tax consultant, land-only accounts, accounts with an existing protest, and protests that are not value-related, so an owner should confirm eligibility rather than assume an electronic offer will appear.
Dallas keeps the April 15, 2026 business personal property rendition deadline, the June 11, 2026 business personal property uFile protest deadline, and the usual May 15, 2026 real-property protest deadline separate; an owner with more than one property type should confirm which deadline applies to each account on its own Notice of Appraised Value.
DCAD's guide describes three distinct post-ARB paths: Dallas County District Court, State Comptroller binding arbitration with a deposit ranging from $450 to $1,550, and a State Office of Administrative Hearings appeal with a $1,500 filing fee, each running on its own 60-day or 30-day clock from the ARB's written order.
DCAD's guide states that forgetting to file or not knowing the deadline is not considered good cause for a late protest, and that an owner without a timely protest should expect limited options after August 1; DCAD's own materials, not a general calendar, control what counts as timely for a specific account.
Official filing authority: Dallas County Appraisal Review Board. https://dallascad.org/SearchOwner.aspx
Source: Dallas Central Appraisal District, The Protest Process, https://dallascad.org/Forms/Protest_Process.pdf. Reviewed 2026-09-22.
Source: Dallas Central Appraisal District, Dallas Central Appraisal District, https://dallascad.org/. Reviewed 2026-09-22.
Source: Dallas Central Appraisal District, Search Appraisals, https://dallascad.org/SearchOwner.aspx. Reviewed 2026-09-22.
Source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Appraisal Protests and Appeals, https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/protests/. Reviewed 2026-09-22.
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