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Houston, Texas Property Tax Reduction

One of the largest cities in the United States in terms of size and population, Houston is quickly becoming one of the nation’s key economic powerhouses. Known for its affordability and employment opportunities, Houston is experiencing rapid growth every year. Of course, this also means that the demand for housing and business real estate is also climbing. With property taxes rapidly spiraling out of control and new increases constantly appearing, the myth of Houston as an inexpensive city is unraveling. There are plenty of ways that Texans can slow or even reverse the taxable value and high taxes, including using their constitutionally protected right to protest their taxes.

Houston Residential Property Tax Reduction

The median home in Houston sells for around $324,000, but many are appraised much higher than their sale price. Appraisal districts, such as the Harris County Central Appraisal District (HCAD), are usually behind when it comes to market values, often chasing market trends for years in the past. This means they are often pricing homes as if they were still at the heights of the pandemic buying spree, instead of reflecting the cooling market that we see today. That means you could be paying far more for your house than you could sell it for. This is the perfect opportunity to use a property tax appeal, but you can combine it with exemptions to maximize your savings. There are two main pillars of Houston tax reduction:

Why Personal Access Matters

Exemptions:

Texas has seen a major overhaul of exemptions in recent years, and you could be saving more than you know. The homestead exemption was increased to $140,000 in 2025, making the humble baseline exemption even more appealing. If you are 65 years or older, you also qualify for an additional exemption of $60,000. By combining these two exemptions, you could easily eliminate school property taxes. Homestead exemptions in Houston and the rest of Harris County also reduce your taxable value for county taxes by 20% , which not all cities do. There are many more exemptions to use, so this is just scratching the surface.

A Higher Standard of Client Care

Property Tax Appeals:

These protests enable you to fight HCAD’s appraised value of your home. This figure is used to calculate your taxes, so lowering it can also grant you a smaller tax bill. Tax protests work well with exemptions, as their benefits can combine to boost your savings to the next level.

Houston and Harris County Property Tax Appeals

When you receive your notice of appraisal in March, be sure to go over it. Look for missing exemptions, clerical errors, and other basic mistakes. These can be fixed with an appeal easily. If your appraised value is too high or inaccurate, then you can file an appeal as well to get it more in line with reality. You will need evidence to prove an incorrect assessment, including sales records for similar homes or appraisal records for comparable homes close to you. Be sure to document the condition of your property, including photographs, along with records that show needed repairs or deferred maintenance. All of these pieces of evidence can then become a portfolio that you can use to challenge HCAD in both informal and formal hearings.

scheduleImportant Deadlines in Houston

Exemption Filing Deadline: April 30

Appeal Deadline: May 15

Houston Commercial Property Tax Reduction

Houston is a city of business, and countless industries make H-Town the icon that it is. While Texas is friendly to businesses, property taxes tend to be one of the biggest expenses. Businesses do not have the robust exemptions to fall back on like homeowners do, so keeping your taxes in check can be a challenge. Still, there are ways to mitigate growing taxes, lower your costs, increase your cash flow, and give you an edge over your competitors. With recent economic woes, getting the correct value for your business is paramount, as it prevents you from paying taxes that date back to a boom period that might no longer exist. To achieve excellent tax reductions, businesses have a few key options:

Real-Time Case Tracking

Commercial Property Appeals:

Like homes, you can challenge the taxable value of your business. With accurate financial data, hard evidence, and dedication, you can land a solid reduction in your tax burden. It is recommended that businesses protest their taxes every year, as it acts as an excellent cost-cutting measure. An appeal done with precision can save you thousands or even millions of dollars, depending on the size of your business.

Manage Your Properties

Cost Segregation:

Rather than lowering your property taxes, cost segregation uses accelerated depreciation of real property to mitigate your federal income taxes. These levies can be just as burdensome as property taxes, and getting a savings on them could yield even more results. 2025 legislative changes have made this more lucrative including 100% bonus depreciation that could shield you from federal taxes entirely.

O’Connor Helps Houston Homeowners and Businesses

We at O’Connor have been helping our clients achieve tax reduction for over 50 years. Based in Houston, H-Town, and Harris County are our backyards. No property tax firm knows the city, county, and HCAD like we do. With this local expertise, we can fight HCAD on your behalf, getting you the best deal possible. We will analyze your appraisal for any errors, advise you on exemptions, gather evidence, use our patented databases to collect property sales records, and find comparable properties to your own. With all of this evidence put together, we will also represent you in hearings, whether with HCAD or before the appraisal review board (ARB). We are also more than locals, and can call upon national resources to give you an edge in your appeal journey.

We also like to take a personal touch with our Houston clients. Our client success team will ensure that you have a person to talk to, not a chatbot or a mysterious email. We also offer a concierge service, which will send out agents to your property to gain an understanding of your real estate’s own unique story. Best of all, there are no upfront fees for these services. You will only pay a contingency fee from your savings if we are able to lower your property taxes. Your taxes can never be raised by protesting, which means that there is zero risk in practicing your right to appeal.

Houston Tax Reduction Frequently Asked Questions

Houston Tax Reduction Frequently Asked Questions

No! This is a common myth that keeps many taxpayers from practicing their rights. These protests are only focused on your appraised or taxable value, not your home’s worth on the open market. The objective is to get your taxable value in line with a realistic sale price, not to make your home cheaper. Having lower taxes can even be a selling point when you wish to put your home on the market.

Texas has the ninth-highest property taxes in the nation, which is not a good start. Thanks to no income tax, property owners must bear the brunt across the Lone Star State. Infrastructure demands, a growing populace, and a rising real estate market also lead to high values, which then generate big bills. The city is also constantly in a budget crunch, which often requires raising taxes. Houston property taxes have broken records every year for over a decade, a trend that looks to continue into the future.

Yes, though not all of them. The homestead exemption and the over-65 exemption can be used together. The exemption for disabled homeowners can be used with the homestead, but not the over 65 one. So, if you are over-65 and disabled, you need to choose which one you wish to use. These two exemptions offer the same benefit, so it is a matter of preference.

That depends on the size of your business and how much you pay in federal income taxes. Cost segregation is an involved process, and while we do offer some of the most competitive rates in the business, a study can have a lot of upfront costs. If you do have the requisite tax burden, then a cost segregation study will often pay for itself in the first year alone, often many times over.

Houston uses the base tax rate for the rest of Harris County, which is around $0.624 per $100 of valuation. Various other taxing entities have their own rates, including school districts, MUDs, and hospital districts. Appraisal districts like HCAD do not set tax rates in Texas. Unlike your valuation, your tax rates cannot be protested.

The Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector is responsible for collecting county property taxes. Depending on your bill, you will pay all of your taxes to the assessor-collector or only your county taxes. Many places in Harris County that are outside of Houston will pay portions of their taxes to their MUD and school districts separately, while those in Houston’s city limits usually only pay a single bill.