Texas Tax Code Section 25.25 gives property owners a route to correct errors on the appraisal roll after the regular May protest deadline has passed. The statute sorts errors into categories, and the category decides everything else: who can fix it, how far back the correction reaches, when the motion must be filed, and whether a penalty applies. Clerical mistakes, duplicate listings, and nonexistent property can be corrected for up to five prior years. Substantial overvaluations can be challenged only for the current year, and only if the overstatement is large enough to clear a statutory threshold.
What Kind of Error Do You Have
Before anything else, identify which subsection of 25.25 fits your situation. The wrong path wastes the hearing.
Section 25.25(b) covers changes the chief appraiser can make administratively, with no motion and no hearing. These include fixing a name, address, ownership determination, or property description, removing duplicate listings, correcting clerical errors that do not increase anyone’s tax bill, and reversing the mistaken denial or cancellation of homestead exemptions for owners who are disabled or 65 or older.1State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 25.25 – Correction of Appraisal Roll If your issue falls here, call or write the appraisal district directly.
Section 25.25(c) is the five-year lookback. Either you or the chief appraiser can file a motion asking the Appraisal Review Board to correct the roll for any of the five preceding years when one of three things happened: a clerical error that changed how much tax you owed, the same property appearing more than once on the roll for the same year, or property listed on the roll that does not actually exist in the form or at the location described.1State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 25.25 – Correction of Appraisal Roll
The five-year window is generous, but it covers objective factual errors only. A disagreement about market value is not a clerical error. If your home was appraised at $350,000 and you think the right number is $310,000, that is a valuation dispute, and 25.25(c) will not get you there.
Section 25.25(c-1) is the business personal property path. If an error or omission in a rendition statement or property report led to an inaccurate appraised value, the board can order a correction for the current tax year and up to two preceding years. This path is closed off for any year in which you were penalized for filing the rendition late, already protested and received a merits determination, already filed a 25.25 motion on the same property, or agreed to the appraised value in writing with the appraisal district.1State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 25.25 – Correction of Appraisal Roll
Section 25.25(d) is the current-year overvaluation remedy for owners who missed the regular protest deadline. It carries its own threshold, its own deadline, and a penalty, all covered below.
The 25.25(d) Threshold and the February 1 Deadline
You can use 25.25(d) only when the appraisal exceeds the correct value by more than:1State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 25.25 – Correction of Appraisal Roll
- One-fourth for property that qualifies as the owner’s residence homestead.
- One-third for all other property.
Take what you believe the correct value is and add 25 percent for a homestead or roughly 33 percent for other property. If the district’s number is above that figure, you qualify. A homestead correctly valued at $400,000 would need to be appraised above $500,000. A commercial property worth $900,000 would need to show an appraised value above $1,200,000.2Jefferson Central Appraisal District. After Protest Deadline
The motion applies only to the current tax year and must be filed before February 1, the date Texas property taxes become delinquent.3Texas Comptroller. Property Tax Law Deadlines If the board agrees and corrects the roll, you owe a late-correction penalty equal to 10 percent of the taxes calculated on the corrected appraised value.1State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 25.25 – Correction of Appraisal Roll When the overstatement clears the threshold, the net savings after the penalty are usually still worth filing.
Pay the Undisputed Taxes Before the Delinquency Date
Filing a motion does not pause your tax bill. Under Section 25.26, you must pay the taxes due on the portion of the property’s value that is not in dispute before the delinquency date, or you forfeit your right to a final determination of the motion.4State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 25.26 – Forfeiture of Remedy for Nonpayment of Taxes In practice, pay taxes based on what you believe the correct value is and contest the rest.
Paying more than the required amount does not cost you anything procedurally. Taxes paid on property that is the subject of a timely 25.25 motion are automatically treated as paid under protest, even if you paid before filing.4State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 25.26 – Forfeiture of Remedy for Nonpayment of Taxes
There is a hardship exception. If prepayment would be an unreasonable barrier to your access to the board, file an oath of inability to pay. If the board finds the hardship claim valid after a hearing, it can waive the prepayment requirement and set reasonable conditions.4State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 25.26 – Forfeiture of Remedy for Nonpayment of Taxes
Filing the Motion and Building the Record
Get the correct motion form from your local Appraisal Review Board. You will need the property identification number, a description of the error, and a clear statement of which subsection you are filing under. Section 25.25(c) and Section 25.25(d) follow different standards and timelines, and naming the wrong one slows the process. Match the owner name and address on your motion to your most recent tax records.
The hearing turns on evidence. For a clerical error, proof is usually concrete: a survey showing square footage was entered wrong, a deed showing the wrong owner, utility records confirming a demolished structure, or appraisal district records showing the same parcel listed twice. For a 25.25(d) valuation challenge, bring comparable sales data, a recent independent appraisal, or closing documents showing what the property actually sold for. Owners who arrive with an opinion and no documentation generally lose.
Submit the motion to the chief appraiser or the Appraisal Review Board by certified mail or hand delivery. The board schedules a hearing where you present evidence to a panel, then issues a written order either directing a change to the roll or denying the motion. If the correction is ordered, the tax office issues a corrected bill or refunds overpaid taxes.
If the Board Denies the Motion
You have 60 days from the date you receive notice of the board’s determination to file suit in district court to compel the board to order the correction.1State of Texas. Texas Code TAX 25.25 – Correction of Appraisal Roll The same 60-day window applies if the board determines you forfeited your right to a final determination by failing to meet the prepayment requirements under Section 25.26. District court litigation involves procedural rules that most owners handle better with counsel.
When a Property Tax Consultant Is Worth It
Texas requires anyone who provides property tax consulting services or expert testimony on behalf of clients to hold a license from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.5Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Property Tax Consultants Most Texas firms work on contingency, collecting a percentage of your first-year tax savings rather than charging upfront. Rates run from roughly 25 percent to 50 percent of savings, with many mid-size firms in the 35 to 40 percent range. No reduction, no fee.
For a large 25.25(d) overvaluation where you need comparable sales analysis and a persuasive valuation case, the fee is often easy to justify. For a straightforward 25.25(b) or (c) correction where the evidence is a document the district already has in another file, you can usually handle it yourself.