DIY is free. Contingency firms charge 25-50% of savings. TaxAppeal USA charges $89 flat. See the full cost breakdown for Texas property tax protests in 2027 — and which option is right for you.
Filing a Texas property tax protest yourself costs nothing. You file Form 50-132 (Notice of Protest) with your county appraisal district before May 15 or 30 days after your notice is mailed. The filing is free. The hearing is free. If you win, the reduction is entirely yours. The cost is your time — researching comparable sales, completing the paperwork, attending the informal and potentially formal ARB hearing.
Major contingency services include Ownwell (25%), Texas Protax (~33%), Five Stone (~40%), O'Connor (30-40%), and HomeTaxShield. These services charge nothing upfront and take a percentage of your first-year savings only if they win. The effective cost depends entirely on how much you save — on a $1,800 reduction, Ownwell takes $450, O'Connor might take $540-720.
TaxAppeal USA charges a flat $89 per protest kit, regardless of outcome or the amount saved — and checks first whether a protest will lower your bill, so you don't pay for one that can't. You keep 100% of whatever you save. No auto-enrollment. No annual recurring charge. We mail you Form 50-132 filled in with your evidence and a return envelope addressed to the appraisal district; you sign it and mail it before your deadline. At any expected annual savings above $356, the flat fee costs less than Ownwell's 25% contingency.
Choose DIY if you have real estate knowledge, time, and a clear-cut case. The savings from avoiding any fee are maximum but the investment of time is significant. Choose contingency if you have a complex property, want in-person ARB representation, or are uncertain whether you will win. The no-upfront-cost structure eliminates financial risk. Choose TaxAppeal USA if your expected savings are above $400 per year and you want to keep 100% of what you save. The $89 flat fee beats the contingency model on savings above $356 and takes about 4 minutes to start.
We check first. If an appeal will lower your bill, we mail you a ready-to-sign kit for $89 flat. You sign it and mail it, and you keep 100% of your savings.
TaxAppeal USA is a self-service document-preparation service. We prepare a ready-to-sign appeal kit and mail it to you; you sign it and mail it to the county yourself. In every state we serve, including Florida, we are not property tax consultants, agents, or representatives, we do not provide tax or legal advice, and we do not file appeals or represent customers before any appraisal district, board of assessors, board of equalization, value adjustment board, or review board. Every appeal, protest and petition is prepared for the property owner, signed by the owner, and mailed by the owner in the owner’s name. In Florida your petition is signed by you as the property owner under section 194.011(3), Florida Statutes, and the county’s Value Adjustment Board filing fee is paid by you directly to the county. TaxAppeal USA does not sign as your representative, does not appear before the Board, and does not present evidence or argument at a hearing.