How to Fill Out and Submit Texas Form 50-283: Affidavit of Evidence

Texas Form 50-283, the Property Owner’s Affidavit of Evidence, lets you protest your property’s appraised value without appearing at the Appraisal Review Board hearing in person. You submit sworn written testimony and your supporting documents in advance, and the board considers them during the hearing just as it would live testimony. The form is free from the Texas Comptroller’s website or your county appraisal district office.¹

File Your Notice of Protest First

Form 50-283 does not start your protest. It supports one that is already underway. Before the affidavit matters, you must have filed a Notice of Protest (Form 50-132) with the Appraisal Review Board for your county by May 15 or 30 days after the appraisal district mailed your notice of appraised value, whichever is later.²

Once that notice is filed, the ARB schedules your hearing. The hearing date becomes your hard deadline to complete, notarize, and deliver Form 50-283. There is no filing fee, and appraisal districts must provide the affidavit form at no charge.³

How to Complete Each Section

The form has six sections plus a notarization block. Work through them in order, and check every entry against your most recent notice of appraised value or tax bill. Identification errors are the most common reason affidavits get set aside.

Section 1: Property Owner or Lessee

Enter your full legal name exactly as it appears on the appraisal district’s records, along with your mailing address, phone number, and email. The ARB sends the written order to this address after your hearing, so an outdated entry can cost you appeal deadlines you didn’t know had started.⁴

Section 2: Property Description

Provide the physical address and the appraisal district account number if you have one. If there is no street address, use the legal description. For a mobile home, include the make, model, and identification number. The account number links your affidavit to the correct parcel and appears on your notice of appraised value, your tax bill, or your county appraisal district’s online property records.⁴

Section 3: Reasons for Protest

Check every box that applies. The form warns that failing to select a box may prevent you from raising that issue at the hearing. The most common grounds are incorrect appraised value and unequal appraisal compared with similar properties, but the list also includes denied exemptions, agricultural-use valuation disputes, and incorrect property descriptions.⁴ When in doubt, check more rather than fewer. You can narrow your argument in Section 5, but you cannot raise a ground at the hearing that you did not check here.

Section 4: Evidence

This is where you list the supporting documents you are attaching and the total page count. Everything attached becomes part of your sworn testimony, so include only materials you can attest are true and correct.

Section 5: Statement of Facts or Arguments

Write out the facts and reasoning that support your protest. Texas Tax Code Section 41.45(j) sets a low bar: a statement identifying the appraisal district action you are challenging and the relief you are seeking is enough.³ More detail still helps. State the value you believe your property should carry and explain why, pointing back to the exhibits you attached. For an unequal-appraisal claim, name the comparable properties and explain how they show yours is overvalued.

Section 6: Hearing Type

Pick one option:

Written affidavit only. You will not appear. The board decides on your affidavit and attached evidence alone.
In person. You plan to attend. The affidavit is set aside if you actually show up.
Telephone conference call or videoconference. You will connect remotely, with the affidavit and evidence submitted in advance. You must notify the ARB in writing at least 10 days before the hearing date.

Filing the affidavit does not lock you out of attending. If you change your mind and appear at the hearing, the board sets the affidavit aside and takes your live testimony instead.³

What to Attach as Evidence

The strength of your affidavit depends almost entirely on what you attach. Board members who have never seen your property are deciding on paper, so make the case as specific and visual as possible.

For an overvaluation protest, comparable sales data is the most persuasive exhibit. Pull sales from the same neighborhood within the past year, focusing on homes similar in square footage, age, and condition. Many county appraisal districts publish this data on their websites, and real estate listing services carry it as well.

Photographs of damage, deferred maintenance, or conditions that reduce value also carry weight. Dated photos of foundation cracks, roof damage, outdated systems, or flood-prone areas work best when paired with written repair estimates from contractors. Receipts for recent major repairs can show that significant work was needed during the appraisal period.

For an unequal-appraisal protest, the point is not sales prices but how the district valued neighboring properties relative to yours. Pull appraisal records for comparable homes and show that yours carries a higher value per square foot or less favorable treatment than similar or better properties nearby.

If you commission an independent appraisal, make sure the appraiser follows the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. An appraisal that does not meet USPAP standards carries less weight and may be disregarded. Independent residential appraisals generally run several hundred dollars, so weigh the cost against the potential tax savings.

Getting the Affidavit Notarized

Because Form 50-283 is a sworn affidavit, you must sign it before a notary public, who verifies your identity, watches you sign, administers the oath, and applies the official seal.³

Texas caps the fee a notary can charge for administering an oath with certificate and seal at $10 under Government Code Section 406.024.⁵

Remote online notarization is also allowed. An online notary holds a separate commission from the Secretary of State and must be physically located in Texas during the session.⁶ Online notaries can charge up to $25 per notarization on top of the standard fee, so the total can reach $35. This option helps if you are protesting from out of town or cannot easily get to a notary in person.

Everything in the affidavit is sworn. Knowingly making a false statement in a sworn document is perjury under Texas Penal Code Section 37.02, a Class A misdemeanor.⁷ Stick to facts you can verify. If you are estimating a value, say so. If a contractor gave you a verbal quote, get it in writing before swearing to it.

Delivering the Affidavit on Time

The notarized affidavit and every attached exhibit must reach the Appraisal Review Board before the board begins the hearing on your protest.³ Not the day of, not the morning of. Before it starts. Late submissions are not considered.

You have three practical options:

Hand delivery to the appraisal district office. Ask for a date-stamped copy as proof of receipt.
Certified mail with return receipt, which gives you a verified paper trail.
Electronic upload through your appraisal district’s online portal, where available. Check the district’s website for file format rules.

Give yourself a cushion. If your hearing is Thursday, do not mail the affidavit Tuesday. Certified mail can take several business days, and a packet that arrives an hour after the hearing starts does nothing for you. Hand delivery or electronic upload several days early is the safest route.

What the Board Does With Your Affidavit

If you selected written-affidavit-only, the board proceeds without you. A representative from the appraisal district presents the district’s case, and the board members review your sworn statements and attached evidence alongside the district’s data to reach a decision.⁸

Evidence quality decides most of these cases. A statement that your house is worth less, with no comparable sales, no photos, and no estimates, almost never moves the board off the original value. Specific comps, dated condition photos, and written repair quotes give the board something concrete to weigh against the district’s valuation models.

After the Order: Your Appeal Options

The ARB issues a written order with its final determination of your property’s value, delivered by email or certified mail.² The order must address each issue you raised separately and show both the district’s appraised value and the value the board determined.⁸

If the result disappoints, three appeal paths are available:

District court. File a petition in the county where the property sits within 60 days of receiving the ARB’s order.
Binding arbitration. File a request with the Comptroller within 60 days of receiving the order, with a deposit ranging from $450 for homestead properties appraised at $500,000 or less to $1,550 for non-homestead properties appraised between $3 million and $5 million.⁹
State Office of Administrative Hearings. File an appeal with the appraisal district within 30 days of receiving the order. This path is limited to certain property types and situations.

Choosing one path generally forfeits the others. Filing in district court, for instance, waives your right to binding arbitration on the same property’s value.⁹ The deadlines are strict, and the clock starts the day you receive the order.

1
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Property Tax Forms
2
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Appraisal Protests and Appeals
3
State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Section 41.45 – Hearing on Protest
4
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. 50-283 Property Owner’s Affidavit of Evidence
5
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Notary Public Educational Information
6
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Online Notary Public Educational Information
7
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 37.02 – Perjury
8
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Informational Guide to Model Hearing Procedures for ARBs
9
State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Section 41A.03 – Request for Arbitration