Harris Central Appraisal District (HCAD) Guide

The Harris Central Appraisal District (HCAD) puts a market value on more than a million properties in Harris County every year, and that value drives every tax bill from Houston ISD to the smallest MUD. HCAD was called the Harris County Appraisal District until its name change, so you'll see both names on older paperwork.

Most people come to HCAD for one of three things: to look up a property, to file a homestead exemption, or to protest a value. Here's how to do each.

HCAD Phone Number and Addresses

During protest season, the ARB also holds Saturday hearings in June and July.

Finding Your Property on HCAD

Start with HCAD property search. You can search by owner name, street address, or the 13-digit account number on your notice. Your account page shows the current and prior-year value, the exemptions on file, the building details HCAD has recorded, and a list of every taxing unit that taxes the property.

Two numbers matter on your Notice of Appraised Value:

• Account number: identifies the property in every HCAD and tax office record.
• iFile number: printed in bold in the upper right corner. You need it to protest online unless your owner account is already linked to the property.

Lost your notice? HCAD's free mobile app can pull up your iFile number when you scan your Texas driver's license, as long as the name and address match HCAD's records. You can also view the notice itself on your account in property search.

While you're on your account, check the quality grade, square footage, and bathroom count. A wrong detail there raises your value the same way a bad comparable sale does.

HCAD Sets Values; the Tax Office Sends Bills

HCAD doesn't set tax rates, send bills, or collect payments. The Harris County Tax Office does that, using the rates each taxing unit adopts in the fall. Your bill is your taxable value (appraised value minus exemptions) times the combined rate of every unit on your account.

Harris County's own units adopted these rates for the 2026 tax year:

Source: Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector, adopted rates. The county's rate rose about 9.6% for 2026. Your school district, city, and any MUD add their own rates; see the Harris County property tax rate breakdown for those.

Harris County Homestead Exemptions

Exemptions lower your taxable value, not your appraised value, and HCAD only applies them after you file.

Sources: Harris Central Appraisal District; Harris County Commissioners Court, which raised the county's over-65 and disabled exemption from $275,000 to $320,000. Amounts for cities, MUDs, and other units vary, and any unit can change its amount each year; the jurisdictions list on your HCAD account shows what applies to your property.

Timing is strict at both ends. File between January 1 and April 30; HCAD doesn't accept applications early. If you missed a year, HCAD accepts a late homestead application for up to two years after the taxes became delinquent. Apply on the HCAD homestead page, or use the Exemption Wizard if you're not sure which form you need.

Learn more in our guide to Texas property tax exemptions.

iFile and iSettle: Settling With HCAD Online

HCAD's online protest has two parts, and the difference trips people up.

• iFile is the protest itself, filed through the owner portal with your iFile number.
• iSettle is a separate option that lets HCAD make you a settlement offer by email, without a hearing. Filing through iFile doesn't opt you in by itself.

To be eligible for iSettle, the property must be a single-family home, and you must iFile with a valid email address and give your opinion of value. A few rules once you're in:

• Evidence has a five-day window. You can upload a closing statement, deed, or photos for up to five calendar days after you iFile, counting weekends. Each file can be up to 25 MB.
• You can take the offer late. You can accept it online up to the day before your formal hearing, about a three-week window.
• Uploads don't reach the ARB. Files you upload go to an HCAD appraiser for iSettle only. If you end up at the Appraisal Review Board, bring four printed copies of your evidence.
• The ARB starts fresh. It isn't bound by any HCAD offer, and its value can come in higher or lower than your notice.

Filing an HCAD Protest by Mail or in Person

You don't need an iFile number to protest on paper. Use the protest form that came with your notice, or Form 50-132 from the HCAD forms page. Bring it to the Northwest Freeway office before 5 p.m., or mail it to P.O. Box 922004.

HCAD goes by the postmark, and the postmark now shows when a sorting machine processed the envelope, not when you dropped it in the box. If you're mailing close to the deadline, have the envelope hand-stamped at the post office counter.

For step-by-step filing, see how to file a Harris County property tax protest online and our ARB hearing tips for Harris County.

HCAD Calendar

Rather Not Handle iFile and the ARB Yourself?

Ballard Property Tax Protest reviews your HCAD value every year, pulls comparable sales and unequal appraisal evidence, and represents you through iSettle and the ARB. There's no upfront cost, and you only pay if we lower your value.

Sign up in a few minutes or see how our Harris County property tax protest service works.

Sources

• Harris Central Appraisal District, hcad.org (exemptions and property records)
• Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector, hctax.net (2026 adopted rates)
• Community Impact, Harris County raises property tax exemptions for seniors, disabled homeowners (county over-65 and disabled exemption)
• Texas Comptroller, Property Tax Exemptions (school district amounts under Tax Code Section 11.13)
• Texas Comptroller, Property Tax Rates

Rates and exemption amounts in this guide come from the sources above and were current when we checked them in October 2026. They're for general information only. Taxing units can change their rates and exemptions each year, and your tax bill and your HCAD property record are the official figures for your property.