Texas Tax Code 41.415 – Electronic Filing of Notice of Protest
(a) This section applies only to an appraisal district established for a county having a population of 500,000 or more.
(b) The appraisal district shall implement a system that allows the owner of a property that for the current tax year has been granted a residence homestead exemption under § 11.13, in connection with the property, to electronically:
(1) file a notice of protest under § 41.41(a)(1) or (2) with the appraisal review board;
(2) receive and review comparable sales data and other evidence that the chief appraiser intends to use at the protest hearing before the board;
(3) receive, as applicable:
(A) a settlement offer from the district to correct the appraisal records by changing the market value and, if applicable, the appraised value of the property to the value as redetermined by the district; or
(B) a notice from the district that a settlement offer will not be made; and
(4) accept or reject a settlement offer received from the appraisal district under Subdivision (3)(A).
Terms Used In Texas Tax Code 41.415
- Appraisal: A determination of property value.
- Appraised value: means the value determined as provided by Chapter 23 of this code. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Market value: means the price at which a property would transfer for cash or its equivalent under prevailing market conditions if:
(A) exposed for sale in the open market with a reasonable time for the seller to find a purchaser;
(B) both the seller and the purchaser know of all the uses and purposes to which the property is adapted and for which it is capable of being used and of the enforceable restrictions on its use; and
(C) both the seller and purchaser seek to maximize their gains and neither is in a position to take advantage of the exigencies of the other. See Texas Tax Code 1.04 - Population: means the population shown by the most recent federal decennial census. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- Tax year: means the calendar year. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
(c) With each notice sent under § 25.19 to an eligible property owner, the chief appraiser shall include information about the system required by this section, including instructions for accessing and using the system.
(d) A notice of protest filed electronically under this section must include, at a minimum:
(1) a statement as to whether the protest is brought under § 41.41(a)(1) or under § 41.41(a)(2);
(2) a statement of the property owner’s good faith estimate of the value of the property; and
(3) an electronic mail address that the district may use to communicate electronically with the property owner in connection with the protest.
(e) If the property owner accepts a settlement offer made by the appraisal district, the chief appraiser shall enter the settlement in the appraisal records as an agreement made under § 1.111(e).
(f) If the property owner rejects a settlement offer, the appraisal review board shall hear and determine the property owner’s protest in the manner otherwise provided by this subchapter and Subchapter D.
(g) An appraisal district is not required to make the system required by this section available to an owner of a residence homestead located in an area in which the chief appraiser determines that the factors affecting the market value of real property are unusually complex or to an owner who has designated an agent to represent the owner in a protest as provided by § 1.111.
(h) An electronic mail address provided by a property owner to an appraisal district under Subsection (d)(3) is confidential and may not be disclosed by the district.
Text of section as added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1267 (H.B. 1030), Sec. 3
For text of section as added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1370 (S.B. 873), Sec. 1, see other Sec. 41.415.
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