How to protest your property appraisal and lower your taxes
By now, most homeowners have received property tax appraisals in the mail. If your jaw hit the floor when you opened yours, you should protest your homeโs market value with your county appraisal district. Here are some ideas to get your appraisal and your property taxes lowered.
If your property was damaged in the freeze, do this now to save money on your taxes
HOUSTON โ Hereโs a little help for homeowners who have property damage from last weekโs severe weather. The Harris County Appraisal District says you can apply for a temporary disaster exemption. A change in state law after Hurricane Harvey allows a property that is at least 15% damaged by a governor-declared disaster area to receive a temporary exemption of a portion of the appraised value of the property. The disaster application form can be found online at www.hcad.org under FORMS > General Information > Form 50-312, Temporary Exemption for Property Damaged by Disaster. The form should be mailed to the address in the top left of the form, which is Harris County Appraisal District, Information and Assistance Division, P.O.
Tackle your taxes: How to lower your property tax and even get money back
If you own the home where you live, you should have a homestead exemption applied to your account. It will lower your property taxes by 20%. The more your house is worth, the more youโll save on property taxes. Why your homestead exemption could go awayEven though we think we can set it and forget it, there is one reason why the homestead exemption can fall off and stick you with a much higher property tax bill. They presume that youโve moved out.โAtkins says the appraisal district will cancel your homestead exemption without alerting you.
Got some free time? Get paid to serve on the Appraisal Review Board
HOUSTON โ The Harris County Appraisal Review Board (ARB) needs new members to preside over property tax protest hearings. Three board members serve at each hearing but there are 190 board members in any given year. Currently, they need 40 new board members. Board members are paid per diem. Members serve one or two years, as appointed by the state administrative judge.
Property owners demand relief from property tax appraisals
Now, some homeowners are calling on the Harris County Appraisal District to cut taxpayers some slack. Taxpayersโ plea for reliefโHereโs your stimulus check for $1,200; and hereโs your bill for $4,000 for your property tax,โ quipped retired southwest Houston homeowner Ed Hobson. โWe have to follow the state tax code.โBarnett said the tax code requires that properties in Harris County be appraised on Jan. 1 of every year. Rather than changing the tax code and laws, he said taxing and other government agencies will have to be flexible. What you can do if your property appraisal increasedLike every year, you can protest your appraisal online using iSettle or iFile.