How do I file a Dallas County property tax protest online with DCAD uFile?

Dallas County uses an online protest and settlement system called uFile to let homeowners protest and submit evidence electronically.

What uFile is. uFile is the Dallas Central Appraisal District (DCAD) online protest and settlement program. DCAD's uFile help explains that you search for your property using the Search Appraisal function, open your property's page, and click the Online Protest link to file. DCAD encourages owners to file and submit evidence through uFile because it streamlines the appraisal staff's settlement review.

When it opens. DCAD typically brings uFile online in mid-April each protest season (around April 15), once notices of appraised value have mailed.

How to file: 1. Search your account at dallascad.org using the property search. 2. Open your property page and click Online Protest / uFile. 3. Authenticate with the information DCAD requests (account details from your notice). 4. Select your grounds — for a home, typically both value over market and unequal appraisal under Tex. Tax Code §41.43. 5. Upload your evidence — comparable sales, an equal-and-uniform comparison, photos, repair estimates — directly through uFile. 6. Request the district's evidence so DCAD provides its data at least 14 days before any hearing under Tex. Tax Code §41.461. 7. Submit and keep your confirmation.

Deadline. File by May 15 or within 30 days of your notice's delivery, whichever is later, per Tex. Tax Code §41.44.

After you file. Through uFile, DCAD may propose an online settlement value you can accept, or schedule an informal review and/or a formal Appraisal Review Board hearing under Tex. Tax Code §41.45. Accept a fair settlement or proceed to the ARB with your evidence. Verify the current uFile link and open date on DCAD's site each season, since the appraisal district updates its online system annually.