Austin, Texas
Travis County commercial property tax appeals
Appeals start with the Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD) and go to the Travis Appraisal Review Board (TARB). Here is how commercial evidence is built, filed and heard in Travis County.
- Assessor
- Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD)
- First-level board
- Travis Appraisal Review Board (TARB)
- Filing deadline
- May 15 or the 30th day after the Notice of Appraised Value is mailed, whichever is later (Tex. Tax Code §41.44(a)(1))
- Commercial assessment level
- 100% of market value (no fractional assessment ratio)
- Value standard
- Market value (Tex. Tax Code §1.04(7) and §23.01)
- Valuation date
- January 1 of the tax year
- Assessment cycle
- Annual: market value as of January 1 every year, under TCAD's biennial reappraisal plan (the 2025 to 2026 plan, with the 2027 to 2028 plan moving to annual appraisal of all real and personal property)
- Notices mailed
- Notices of Appraised Value begin mailing in late March (2026 notices went to more than 427,000 owners); informal settlement opened April 6 in 2026
How Travis County assesses commercial property
Travis County protests run through the Travis Central Appraisal District, which mails Notices of Appraised Value starting in late March and reports market value as of January 1 at 100% of value. Austin's commercial roll has carried most of the county's recent growth, with healthcare, industrial and office property leading the 2026 increase while single-family values softened, so commercial owners are where the appeal volume concentrates. The protest deadline is May 15 or 30 days after the notice is mailed, whichever is later, and filing through the TCAD portal gives immediate confirmation, an evidence upload channel and access to settlement offers.
Most commercial protests are settled informally with a TCAD appraiser, a process that opened April 6 in 2026. Accounts that do not settle go to the Travis Appraisal Review Board, which convened on May 26 in 2026 with 23 three-member panels and two single-member panels, scheduled agent work at about 300 properties a week, and aimed to finish scheduled hearings by mid-August. Each hearing runs about 15 minutes, split between the owner and the district, so the packet has to make its value case on the first two pages.
Because Texas does not require disclosure of sale prices, TCAD's commercial values lean heavily on income and market survey models, and its hearing evidence posts to the portal 14 days before the hearing. After the ARB, owners choose between binding arbitration for property valued at $5 million or less, a SOAH appeal for non-industrial property above $1 million, and district court.
Major commercial submarkets
- Austin CBD and Rainey Street
- The Domain and North Burnet
- Southwest Austin and Barton Creek office
- East Austin creative office
- Northeast Austin and SH 130 industrial (Pflugerville, Manor)
- Southeast Austin and airport industrial
Uniformity authority
Tex. Const. art. VIII, §1; Tex. Tax Code §41.43(b)(3) and §42.26(a)
Appeal statute
Tex. Tax Code §41.41 and §41.44 (protest); §42.21 (district court); Chapter 41A (binding arbitration)
After the board
District court petition within 60 days of receiving the ARB's order (Tax Code §42.21); binding arbitration through the Comptroller within 60 days for property valued at $5 million or less (Chapter 41A); or a State Office of Administrative Hearings appeal, noticed within 30 days, for non-industrial property valued above $1 million
Official forms ATALI ELECTRIC fills for Travis County
| Form | Filed with | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Form 50-132, Property Owner's Notice of Protest (or an online protest in the TCAD portal) | Travis Appraisal Review Board, through TCAD | Starts the protest. The hearing type (in person, affidavit, telephone or videoconference) should be chosen on or with the notice; with no selection the TARB defaults to a telephone hearing. |
| Form 50-162, Appointment of Agent for Property Tax Matters | Travis Central Appraisal District | Authorizes a consultant to file, negotiate and appear. An agent appearing for an owner generally needs a signed appointment on file with TCAD. |
| Property Owner's Affidavit of Evidence to the TARB (or Property Owner's Unsworn Declaration) | Travis Appraisal Review Board | Required to offer evidence at a telephone or videoconference hearing and used for affidavit hearings; the TARB encourages filing at least three business days before the hearing. |
| Form AP-219, Request for Binding Arbitration | Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts | Appeals an ARB order on property valued at $5 million or less; filed with the deposit within 60 days, or through the Comptroller's online system. |
Filing system: TCAD online portal (traviscad.org/portal), using the owner ID and PIN printed on the Notice of Appraised Value
Hearings and evidence
Three-member TARB panels by default, or a single-member panel if requested in writing by the 10th day before the hearing (Tax Code §41.45(b-4)). Hearings are held in person at TCAD's 850 East Anderson Lane office, by telephone, by videoconference through the portal, or on affidavit. The target is about 15 minutes per property, split equally between owner and TCAD and including deliberation. Agent dockets are scheduled date- and time-specific, about 300 properties a week, and owners may request a special panel for a complex property under §41.66(k-1). The Final Order arrives by certified mail, email or the portal.
- 01TCAD publishes the evidence it intends to use to the owner's or agent's portal account at least 14 days before the formal hearing.
- 02Paper evidence comes in sets: three for a three-member panel (one for a single-member panel), one for TCAD staff, and one to keep. Electronic evidence is accepted in Word, Excel, JPG, PNG or PDF on a USB drive that stays with the TARB, or uploaded to the portal before the hearing.
- 03A presentation shown on a phone or laptop is not considered unless a copy is left for the record.
- 04For a telephone or videoconference hearing, the request must be made in writing at least 10 days before the hearing when an agent is involved (5 days for an unrepresented owner), and the evidence must arrive by notarized affidavit or unsworn declaration.
- 05Proprietary operating data can be heard in a closed hearing on a joint motion of the owner and chief appraiser; operating statements given to TCAD are confidential under Tax Code §22.27.
Income evidence
Texas is a non-disclosure state, so TCAD builds commercial values from voluntarily reported sales, market surveys and income models by property type and submarket rather than from recorded prices. That makes income evidence the main lever on Austin office, retail and multifamily. A packet should restate the account's January 1 occupancy, effective rent after free rent and tenant improvement concessions, a stabilized vacancy and expense load, and a cap rate supported by current Central Texas trades, then show how far TCAD's model rent or cap rate departs from it. Pull TCAD's evidence from the portal 14 days out and answer its specific assumptions; a generic market report rarely moves a panel in a 15-minute hearing.
Practitioner notes
- Office is where the gap tends to open: a TCAD model built on asking rents can lag sublease space and concession packages in the CBD and Domain, so rent rolls with net effective rents are the core exhibit.
- Finish informal negotiations before the panel date. The TARB has told agents it will not pause hearings for negotiation, and protests not completed by the Friday of the week after the scheduled date are dismissed for failure to appear.
- Use the equal-and-uniform claim under §41.43(b)(3) alongside market value: the ARB must reduce to the median appraised value of a reasonable number of appropriately adjusted comparables, even if the market value claim fails.
- Choose the post-ARB route on size: arbitration caps at $5 million of ARB value, SOAH serves non-industrial property above $1 million, and larger office and data center accounts usually go to district court.
Travis County appeal questions
Last verified October 2026 against the assessor, board and statute.
What is the protest deadline in Travis County?
May 15 or 30 days after TCAD mails the Notice of Appraised Value, whichever is later. A protest filed in the TCAD portal is confirmed immediately.
How long is a Travis ARB hearing?
About 15 minutes per property, including both presentations, panel questions, deliberation and the decision, with the time split equally between the owner and TCAD.
Can a commercial owner appear by video?
Yes. The TARB hears protests in person, by affidavit, by telephone or by videoconference. A remote hearing must be requested in writing (10 days ahead when an agent is involved) and the evidence must be submitted by affidavit or unsworn declaration.
When does TCAD release its evidence?
TCAD posts the evidence it plans to use to the portal at least 14 days before the formal hearing.
Nearby jurisdictions
Build your Travis County evidence packet in minutes.
The Travis Appraisal Review Board (TARB) forms, deadlines and exhibit formats are preconfigured. Upload a notice to start.