Travis County, TX property tax protest guide for 2027

Travis County property owners protest appraisal notices through Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD) and, if needed, the Travis Appraisal Review Board (ARB). For tax year 2027, the valuation date is January 1, 2027. Texas appraisal districts generally appraise taxable property at market value as of January 1, and Travis CAD describes its work as appraising property at 100% market value as of that date (Texas Comptroller).

Key 2027 dates

For the shared 2027 regular appraisal-protest cycle, the modeled filing window is April 1, 2027 through Monday, May 17, 2027. TCAD states that the protest deadline is May 15 or 30 days after your Notice of Appraised Value is mailed, whichever is later (Travis CAD Protest Process). Because May 15, 2027 falls on a Saturday, Texas Tax Code Section 1.06 moves a weekend deadline to the next regular business day, which is Monday, May 17, 2027 for the primary regular cycle (Texas Tax Code Section 1.06).

Later-mailed notices can create later parcel-specific deadlines. Use the date on your own notice if it gives you more time.

Main protest reasons for value issues

For most market-value disputes, the relevant Form 50-132 reason is “Incorrect appraised (market) value.” Use it when comparable open-market sales, adjusted for differences and time, support a lower market value as of January 1, 2027 than the noticed value. The Texas Comptroller’s Form 50-132 is the standard Property Owner’s Notice of Protest for large counties (Form 50-132).

Texas also separately permits “Value is unequal compared with other properties.” This is not just a sale-price argument. Texas Tax Code Section 41.43 looks to appraisal ratios, similarly situated properties, or whether the appraised value is at or below the median appraised value of a reasonable number of comparable properties after appropriate adjustments (Texas Tax Code Section 41.43).

Other official protest reasons include special appraisal changes, taxing-unit errors, property description errors, owner-name errors, exemption denials, temporary disaster exemption issues, failure to send required notice, and “Other” issues allowed by Texas Tax Code Section 41.41(a). Choose the reason that matches the action you are disputing.

Evidence that fits Travis County’s 2027 valuation date

Comparable-sale evidence should reflect an open-market, arm’s-length value. Texas’s market-value definition assumes a cash-equivalent sale under prevailing market conditions, reasonable exposure to the market, knowledgeable buyer and seller, and neither party being in a position to take advantage of the other (Texas Comptroller).

For the market-data comparison method, Texas Tax Code Section 23.013 requires comparable sales to be adjusted to the subject property. For residential property in a county with population over 150,000, the statute requires residential comparable sales to have occurred within 36 months of the valuation date. This guide therefore uses January 1, 2024 through January 1, 2027 for residential Travis County comparable-sale screening (Texas Tax Code Section 23.013).

Start with close Travis County or TCAD-area comparables, then expand only as needed to find reasonably similar properties. Texas and Travis CAD do not publish a hard countywide maximum comp radius or maximum number of sales for homeowner protests, so any radius or candidate cap should be treated as an operational default, not a legal limit.

Useful evidence can include sale documents, listings, closing statements, photos, repair estimates, repair receipts, surveys, drawings, engineering reports, affidavits, and calculations supporting unequal appraisal. TCAD allows evidence upload through its online portal, and TCAD states that property owners with an online account can review TCAD’s evidence packet there (Travis CAD Protest Process).

Filing options and hearing body

TCAD lists three ways to initiate a protest: online, by mail, or in person. Online filing provides immediate confirmation and lets the owner upload comments and evidence, review appraisal district evidence, and accept or decline any settlement offer through the portal (Travis CAD Protest Process). Paper protests may be mailed to TCAD or dropped off at the TCAD office during normal business hours.

After filing, TCAD may offer an informal meeting with an appraiser. If the owner does not accept a settlement offer or no agreement is reached, the owner can be heard by the Travis Appraisal Review Board (ARB). TCAD’s 2025 Annual Report describes the ARB as an independent body of citizens that hears property owner protests and makes determinations (TCAD 2025 Annual Report).

Travis County protest volume context

Travis County is a high-volume protest county. TCAD’s 2025 Annual Report shows a 10-year history ending with 210,038 property appeals in 2025, and its Residential Appraisal performance table reports 189,382 total residential protests for 2025 (TCAD 2025 Annual Report). That volume is not a prediction for 2027, but it shows why clean evidence organization and deadline tracking matter.

The same report shows that 149,062 2025 appeals were electronically filed, or 71% of appeals by filing method (TCAD 2025 Annual Report).

Planning tax impact

This page uses a 1.30% countywide median effective tax-rate estimate for Travis County. On that estimate, each $10,000 of value equals about $130 of annual tax difference, before parcel-specific exemptions, homestead limitations, and the actual combined rates for the property’s taxing units. Ownwell reports a 1.30% median effective property tax rate for Travis County and notes that rates vary across the county (Ownwell Travis County Property Taxes).

TaxSauce can help estimate tax impact, organize comparable evidence, and prepare a protest packet. The property owner should review the materials, choose the protest reasons, and submit or share the filing according to TCAD’s official instructions.