The Texas property tax timeline runs all twelve months, and nearly every decision that shapes your bill happens before that bill is ever printed.
- January 1 is the valuation date. Your home’s condition and the surrounding market on that single day set the tax appraised value used for the entire year.
- Spring is the only window to push back. The Notice of Appraised Value that reaches homestead owners around April 1 reports what your home was worth on January 1, and the protest deadline is May 15 or 30 days after your notice was delivered, whichever is later.
- Rates come later than most people expect. Local taxing entities adopt tax rates in the fall, well after values are finalized, which is why nobody can quote your exact bill in the spring.
- The bill is the last step, not the first. Statements go out starting October 1, and payment is due by January 31 of the following year.
Treat the quiet months as preparation time, because the spring window rewards homeowners who arrive ready instead of rushed.
Most Texas homeowners engage with property taxes exactly twice a year: once when a notice arrives in spring, and again when a bill lands in fall. Everything that actually determines the number on that bill happens in the gap between those two moments. Texas is committing $51 billion over two years to property tax cuts, and yet what an individual homeowner pays still hinges on a value set months before any statement is printed. Learning the Texas property tax timeline is the difference between reacting to your bill and influencing it.
This guide walks the full cycle in order and points out where a homeowner actually has leverage. If you are still getting oriented to how Texas property taxes are calculated, start here and the rest of the year will make far more sense.
What Does the Texas Property Tax Timeline Look Like Each Year?
The cycle has four distinct phases, and two separate county offices are involved. Confusing them is the most common source of homeowner frustration. The County Appraisal District, or CAD, determines property values and handles protests. The County Tax Assessor-Collector is an entirely separate office that mails the bill and collects payment. Neither one sets your tax rate.
Winter: January 1 Starts the Clock
January 1 is the valuation date. Under the state’s property tax law deadlines, taxable values and qualification for certain exemptions are determined as of that date, and a tax lien attaches to the property the same day. Whatever condition your home is in on January 1 is the condition the appraisal district is supposed to reflect. Damage that occurs in June is not part of this year’s valuation, and neither is a repair completed in March. Both belong to next year’s conversation.
This is also when appraisal districts begin mass appraisal work, valuing entire neighborhoods at once using sales data and cost schedules. Mass appraisal is efficient, and it is also imprecise at the level of any individual home. That gap is precisely why the protest process exists.
Spring: Notices Arrive and the Protest Window Opens
This is the busiest stretch of the appraisal timeline in Texas. The chief appraiser must mail Notices of Appraised Value by April 1 for single-family residence homesteads, and by May 1 for other property types.
The Notice of Appraised Value comes from your CAD and deserves a careful read rather than a glance at the headline number. It shows what the district believes your property was worth as of January 1, what it was worth the prior year, and how and when you can protest. The notice labels the figure you can challenge as “Market Value.” That figure is your tax appraised value, and it is the number a protest addresses. Understanding the difference between those two figures makes the rest of the document far easier to interpret.
The protest deadline is May 15, or the 30th day after your notice was delivered, whichever falls later. Two neighbors on the same street can end up with different deadlines depending on when their notices went out, so the mechanics of that deadline rule are worth knowing before you need them.
Summer: Hearings, Then Certification
Informal reviews with appraisal district staff generally begin shortly after protests are filed, often in late May and June. Many protests resolve at this stage. Those that do not proceed to a formal hearing before the Appraisal Review Board, an independent panel of county residents that weighs evidence from both the property owner and the district. Homeowners may present their own case or have a representative appear for them, which is why many Texans hand this stretch of the year to licensed, local property tax professionals.
The Appraisal Review Board must approve the appraisal records by July 20 in most counties, and the chief appraiser certifies the appraisal roll to each taxing unit by July 25. Certification is where the appraisal timeline in Texas effectively ends for most properties. Protests that have not been resolved by then continue past that date. Homeowners who have worked through the protest process by then see the result locked into every number that follows.
Fall and Winter: Rates, Bills, and Payment
Here is the step most guides skip entirely. A certified appraisal roll does not by itself produce a tax bill. Local taxing entities including school districts, cities, counties, and special districts must each adopt a tax rate, and they have until September 29 or the 60th day after receiving the certified roll, whichever is later. That is why no one can tell you your exact bill in April.
The County Tax Assessor-Collector then mails statements starting October 1, and actual delivery spans October and November depending on how quickly each county’s rates were finalized. Of all the property tax due dates in Texas, the last one is the one homeowners know best: payment is due by January 31 of the following year, and unpaid taxes become delinquent February 1 when a bill was mailed on or before January 10.
Which Texas Property Tax Deadlines Matter Most to Homeowners?
Most dates on the Texas property tax calendar govern appraisal districts and taxing units rather than property owners. Only a handful require action from you. These are the Texas property tax deadlines worth putting on a calendar:
- January 1. The valuation date. Condition and market as of this day set your tax appraised value for the year.
- Around April 1. Notices of Appraised Value are mailed to homestead property owners, and by May 1 for other property.
- May 15, or 30 days after your notice was delivered. The protest filing deadline, whichever date falls later.
- July 25. The appraisal roll is certified to each taxing unit. Values are final for properties whose protests have been resolved by then.
- September and October. Local taxing entities adopt rates and hold rate hearings, the only stretch of the year where the rate side of your bill is open to public input.
- October 1 onward. Tax bills are mailed by the County Tax Assessor-Collector.
- January 31. Last day to pay without penalty and interest.
What Should Homeowners Do at Each Stage of the Texas Property Tax Calendar?
Knowing the Texas property tax calendar is useful. Acting on it is what changes outcomes.
During the off-season, from summer through winter, track closed sales in your neighborhood as they actually close. Texas does not require sale prices to be publicly disclosed, so estimates pulled from general real estate websites will not hold up at a hearing. Closed sales are one of two evidence types. Comparable properties that have not sold recently can also support an equal and uniform appraisal argument, which compares how your property is appraised against similar properties. If your property has condition problems such as foundation movement, roof damage, or plumbing failures, obtain written contractor estimates for the repairs while the issues are current. Condition issues that exist before January 1 are the ones that belong in a protest.
This is also the season to confirm your exemptions are on file. The Texas Real Estate Research Center suggests pulling up your account on your appraisal district’s website and looking for an “HS” code in the exemptions section of your appraisal record. Watch the mail, too: Senate Bill 1801 requires each appraisal district to review every residence homestead exemption at least once every five tax years to confirm the recipient still qualifies. If a verification request arrives, respond promptly, because losing an exemption over an unopened envelope is expensive and entirely avoidable. Verification is handled directly with your CAD and is separate from any protest.
When your notice arrives in spring, confirm the exemptions listed are correct. The school district homestead exemption now stands at $140,000 following Proposition 13, which Texas voters approved in November 2025 and which applies to tax years beginning January 1, 2025. Homeowners who are 65 or older or who have a qualifying disability may be eligible for additional exemptions on top of that. Filing or correcting an exemption is an administrative action taken directly with your CAD, separate from the protest process, and understanding which exemptions apply to you is worth an afternoon.
If property characteristics on the notice are wrong, such as square footage, bedroom count, or a pool that does not exist, contact your CAD to correct the record. Record corrections are handled directly with the CAD rather than through a protest, but fixing them means next spring’s valuation starts from accurate data.
During the protest window, file. Filing costs nothing. Protesting annually is worthwhile regardless of whether your value rose, held flat, or looks reasonable at first glance, because a protest is the only mechanism that confirms whether your tax appraised value is genuinely fair. For most homeowners, a reduction in tax appraised value flows directly into a lower tax bill.
For a narrower group, typically long-tenured homestead owners whose taxable value is already being held below their tax appraised value by the homestead cap, a reduction may not change the current year’s bill but does lower the baseline that future increases build from. Either way, the tax appraised value you accept this year becomes the floor for next year.
In fall, check your bill against the tax appraised value finalized in summer and confirm your exemptions carried through. If you are 65 or older or disabled, installment and deferral options may be available through your tax office.
Where Do Homeowners Go Wrong on the Texas Property Tax Timeline?
Waiting for the bill to react. By October, the tax appraised value has been settled for months. The bill is a receipt for decisions made back in April and May.
Assuming no notice means no action is needed. If your tax appraised value did not rise enough to trigger a notice, one may not arrive, but your right to protest still exists. Check your tax appraised value on the CAD website in April regardless.
Calling the wrong office. Values and protests go to the County Appraisal District. Bills and payments go to the County Tax Assessor-Collector.
Comparing your home to the neighbors’. Appraisal districts adjust for dozens of property characteristics. An unadjusted side-by-side with the house down the street can weaken a case rather than strengthen it. Properly adjusted closed sales and equity comparables are the evidence that carries weight.
Treating a protest as a one-time event. Tax appraised values reset every January 1. A reduction earned this year does not carry forward on its own, which is why licensed, local property tax professionals approach protesting as an annual discipline rather than an occasional reaction.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the Texas property tax year actually start?
The tax year follows the calendar year, and January 1 is the valuation date. That is the as-of date the appraisal district uses, not the date the number gets assigned. Preliminary values appear on your Notice of Appraised Value in spring and finalize once the protest process closes.
If I protest, when will I know the outcome?
Most protests resolve between late May and July. Informal reviews often settle matters first, formal Appraisal Review Board hearings generally run through July, and the appraisal roll must be certified by July 25.
Why can’t anyone tell me my tax bill amount in April?
Because the rates do not exist yet. Local taxing entities adopt them in the fall, so any spring estimate is using last year’s rates as a placeholder.
Do the bigger exemptions mean I no longer need to protest?
No. Exemptions come in different forms. Some are a set dollar amount, and others are a percentage of value offered by individual taxing units. Either way, an exemption applies after the tax appraised value has been set, so if that underlying value is too high, the exemption is reducing an inflated number rather than a fair one. Exemptions and protests work on different parts of the same formula.
What are the property tax due dates in Texas if I have a mortgage escrow?
Your lender typically pays on your behalf, but the January 31 deadline still governs and the bill is still issued in your name. Reviewing it yourself is worthwhile, because escrow does not verify whether the underlying tax appraised value was fair.
Get Ahead of Next Protest Season
The homeowners who fare best on the Texas property tax timeline are rarely the ones who scramble hardest in May. They are the ones who spent the quiet months tracking closed sales, keeping exemptions current, and documenting condition issues before January 1, so that when the notice arrives they already know whether the number is defensible.
That preparation takes time and access to sales data most homeowners simply do not have. At Home Tax Shield, our licensed, local property tax professionals handle the full cycle for Texas homeowners, from evidence gathering through Appraisal Review Board representation, entirely online without a single in-person appointment. Every property we take on goes through the complete process, including the ones the data says will be hard, because a protest that never gets worked cannot tell you anything. No company can legally promise a specific reduction, but we can commit to carrying your property through the entire process every year so you know whether your value is fair. If you want our team working your case before the next notice arrives, find your property and get started.