Nobody can protest the end of the cap. Texas’s 20% limit on yearly appraisal increases for rentals, second homes, vacant lots and small commercial property is written to expire, and the Comptroller says so in one sentence: “The circuit breaker limitation expires Dec. 31, 2026.” Starting with tax year 2027, a property that has been taxed on a capped number will be taxed on whatever market value the appraisal district sets for January 1, 2027.
The only thing an owner can contest is that market value, and for three years many owners had no reason to look at it. Your 2026 notice already prints it next to the capped figure. The distance between those two numbers is the best preview you will get of your 2027 bill, and it tells you now whether the May 2027 protest is one you need to prepare for.
The cap was always temporary. It was added by Senate Bill 2 in the 2023 second special session, took effect January 1, 2024, and its last subsection reads “This section expires December 31, 2026.” While it lasted, an appraisal district could raise the appraised value of a covered property to no more than the lesser of its market value or last year’s appraised value plus 20%, plus the value of new improvements.
Coverage was broad but had a ceiling. The Comptroller’s published limit was $5,000,000 for 2024, $5,160,000 for 2025 and $5,320,000 for 2026. Farm, ranch and timber land under special appraisal was excluded, and so were homesteads.
Recent buyers never got it. The cap starts on January 1 of the tax year after the first tax year the owner holds the property on January 1. Someone who bought during 2025 would first have qualified in 2027, after the section is gone. If you bought in 2025 or 2026, you are already taxed on market value, and the expiration changes nothing for you.
A capped owner had no money at stake in the market value. Take a rental with a market value of $400,000 and a capped appraised value of $310,000. A protest that knocked the market value down to $370,000 would have saved nothing, because the tax was computed on $310,000 either way. Owners in that position reasonably skipped the protest, and the appraisal district’s figure stood without anyone testing it.
That was only true where the cap was binding. Market value still set the tax for any property whose value fell or rose less than 20% in a year, and those owners had every reason to protest all along. The owners with something new to worry about are the ones whose notices show two different numbers.
The law requires both figures to be on the record. The chief appraiser must appraise a covered property at market value and include in the appraisal records both the market value and the capped amount. The notice of appraised value also has to state whether the property qualifies for the circuit breaker. If you no longer have the notice, the appraisal district’s online property search shows the same two values.
The gap sizes the jump. The table below works through one hypothetical rental using a 2.0% combined tax rate, which is an illustration and not any county’s actual rate.
| Scenario | Taxable value | Tax at 2.0% | Change from 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026, capped | $310,000 | $6,200 | — |
| 2027, if the cap had continued (20% increase) | $372,000 | $7,440 | +$1,240 |
| 2027, no cap, market value stays at $400,000 | $400,000 | $8,000 | +$1,800 |
| 2027, no cap, protest lowers market value to $370,000 | $370,000 | $7,400 | +$1,200 |
Two things stand out. The bill rises in every row, because even a continued cap would have allowed a 20% step. And a successful protest of a modest size does about as much as the cap would have done. For this owner the protest is the replacement for the cap.
The 2026 market value is a preview and not the 2027 number. Texas appraisal districts reappraise every year, so the district will set a new market value as of January 1, 2027. It may be higher or lower than the 2026 figure. What the 2026 notice tells you is how far apart the two values were the last time anyone measured.
Under the cap, last year’s appraised value was the anchor for this year’s. That link is what expires. In 2027 the prior year’s appraised value no longer limits anything for a non-homestead property, so there is no base to protect by reopening 2026. The useful work between now and spring is evidence about what the property was worth on January 1, 2027.
Start with the record itself. A market value that sat untested for three years can rest on a wrong square footage, a condition rating that ignores a failing roof, or an improvement that was never built. Pull the district’s record for your property and compare it line by line with the building. Record errors are the easiest protest to win, and you can raise them with the district before the 2027 notices go out.
Then collect the value evidence. Take dated photographs of deferred maintenance around the first of the year, since condition on January 1 is what counts. Save sales of similar properties from the months before that date; the comparable sales guide covers how to choose them. For a rental, keep the rent roll and expense records for 2026.
Plan as if it will not. The 2025 regular session had two bills on the subject. House Bill 1622, captioned as “making permanent the limitation on increases in the appraised value of certain real property,” was referred to a House subcommittee on March 12, 2025 and went no further. Senate Bill 322 was referred to the Senate Local Government Committee on February 3, 2025 and stayed there.
The timing of a 2027 fix works against owners. Each of those bills was filed as enabling legislation for a proposed constitutional amendment (HJR 104 and SJR 23), which suggests a revival would need a statewide vote and not just a bill. The next regular session convenes in January 2027 and runs 140 days, which carries it past the May 15 protest deadline. Lawmakers have made property tax changes retroactive before, as they did with the 2025 homestead exemption increase, so relief for 2027 is possible. It would arrive after the deadline to protest has passed.
Protesting costs you nothing if the cap returns. A lower market value is still a lower ceiling on the appraised value under any future cap, and a missed protest deadline is hard to recover from.
A firm cannot get the cap back for you, and its fee is not measured against the jump. Expect mail in early 2027 that pairs the expiration with an offer to protest for a share of the savings. On a contingency contract, “savings” almost always means the reduction from the noticed value, and the site’s contingency-fee math walks through how that is calculated.
Run the hypothetical. The noticed value is $400,000 and the protest ends at $370,000. That $30,000 reduction is worth $600 in tax at 2.0%. Contingency fees in Texas commonly run 25% to 40% of one year’s savings, so the fee is $150 to $240, and the bill still goes up $1,200 from 2026. The firm did real work for that money. It is the same work an owner of one or two properties can do with a record check and three or four comparable sales.
Paying someone makes more sense as the count goes up. An owner with a dozen parcels across several appraisal districts is buying filing volume and calendar management, which is what agents are good at. The DIY-versus-hire matrix and the breakeven calculator put numbers on that choice. Whichever way you go, read the agreement for automatic renewal before signing.
| When | What happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Now through December 2026 | 2026 bills arrive, still computed on the capped value | Find the market and appraised values on the 2026 notice or the district’s website. Check the property record for errors. |
| December 31, 2026 | §23.231 expires | Nothing to file. |
| January 1, 2027 | Appraisal date for tax year 2027 | Photograph condition. Save recent comparable sales. |
| Spring 2027 | Notices of appraised value are mailed | Compare the new market value with your evidence. |
| May 15, 2027, or 30 days after the notice is mailed, whichever is later | Protest deadline | File the protest. Ask for the informal conference first. |
| Fall 2027 | First bills computed without the cap | Budget for the new amount; adjust escrow or rents with it in view. |
Lenders and tenants feel this a year late. A mortgage servicer will not raise an escrow payment until it sees the 2027 bill, and a lease signed this winter will still be running when that bill arrives. The escrow shock guide explains how the catch-up payment is calculated. Setting the money aside from January is cheaper than finding it in one month.
This week, in order
1. Look up your non-homestead property on the appraisal district’s website and write down the 2026 market value and the 2026 appraised value. 2. If they match, stop; the expiration does not change your position. 3. If they differ, multiply the gap by your total tax rate to estimate the added 2027 tax. 4. Read the district’s record of the property and list anything that is wrong. 5. Put January 1 on the calendar for photographs and May 15 for the protest. 6. Hold off on signing an agent agreement until you have the 2027 notice in hand and can see what a reduction would be worth.
What this guide doesn’t settle. We could not find a published count of how many Texas properties are still taxed below market value because of the cap, so we cannot say how common the jump will be; your own notice answers that for your property. The statute, the Comptroller’s page and the two bill histories were read on October 13, 2026. If the Legislature acts in 2027, this page will be updated. The statewide protest process is in the Texas property tax appeal guide.
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