Property taxes · Fort Worth
Does remodeling raise property taxes in Fort Worth?
It can. Texas lets the appraisal district add the market value of a new improvement, like an addition, on top of the 10 percent homestead cap. Repairs and ordinary maintenance don’t count as new improvements.
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From the Texas Tax Code, the Texas Comptroller and Tarrant Appraisal District, read November 7, 2026. General information, not tax advice: Tarrant Appraisal District sets your value.
The homestead cap
Does the 10 percent homestead cap cover a remodel?
Not the part that’s a new improvement. The cap limits how much last year’s appraised value can grow in a year, and the market value of new improvements can be added on top of it.
Or the market value, if that’s lower
The 10 percent cap
“the sum of: (A) 10 percent of the appraised value of the property for the preceding tax year; (B) the appraised value of the property for the preceding tax year; and (C) the market value of all new improvements to the property.”
The cap protects a homestead from a fast-rising market. A room you add that raises the house’s market value sits outside it, in line (C). The Texas Comptroller adds the other half: the appraisal district only determines a property’s value, and each taxing unit’s governing body determines potential tax increases.
New improvements
What counts as a new improvement, and what doesn’t
A new improvement is work that raises your house’s market value and wasn’t in last year’s appraisal. Repairs and ordinary maintenance aren’t new improvements.
Counts
- An improvement made after the last appraisal that raises the house’s market value, and whose value wasn’t in last year’s appraised value. (§23.23(e))
Doesn’t count
- Repairs to an existing structure, the grounds or another feature of the property. (§23.23(e))
- Ordinary maintenance of the same. (§23.23(e))
- A replacement for a structure a fire, storm or flood left unlivable or unusable, unless the replacement is bigger than what stood before or has a better-built exterior. (§23.23(f))
Which side a given project lands on is Tarrant Appraisal District’s call, made on your house. It doesn’t publish a list of project types, so no one can promise you a kitchen or a bath won’t count.
How it’s found
How Tarrant Appraisal District learns about a remodel
From building permits, among other sources. Every city in Tarrant Appraisal District’s area sends it permit information, and its appraisers also work from field reviews and aerial photography.
“Each city within TAD’s jurisdiction provides permit information either electronically or in paper form.”
- What appraisers work from p. 8
- “city-issued building permits and building plans; … biennially updated aerial imagery”
- How a house gets a second look p. 25
- “The appraiser identifies individual properties in need of field review through examples such as sales ratio analysis, ARB hearings, building permits, property owner’s requests, aerial photography and other sources.”
- What they look at p. 8
- “Residential appraisers observe property characteristics from the property’s exterior”
The permit itself is the City’s rule, not the appraisal district’s. See which Fort Worth projects need a permit
The calendar
When a remodel shows up on your Tarrant County value
The appraisal is of your house as it stood on January 1. If the value goes up, the notice comes in the spring, and you have until May 15 or 30 days after the notice arrives, whichever is later, to protest.
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January 1
The value date. Texas appraises property at its market value as of January 1, so each year’s value is for the house as it stood that day. (§23.01(a))
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By April 1, or soon after
The notice. For a homestead house, the appraisal district sends a notice of appraised value by April 1 or as soon after as it can when the value is higher than last year’s. Tarrant Appraisal District mailed 2026’s on April 17. (§25.19(a); TAD, April 17, 2026)
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May 15, or 30 days after the notice
The protest deadline, whichever is later. Tarrant Appraisal District marks your date on the notice and takes protests online, by mail or in person. (§41.44(a)(1); TAD, April 17, 2026)
Tarrant’s rule for houses
- Reappraisal p. 8
- “residential properties will only be reappraised in odd years to coincide with the property value study starting in 2027.”
- New improvements p. 15
- “New improvement value will still be added to the roll.”
That’s Tarrant Appraisal District’s plan as its board approved it on September 8, 2026. It doesn’t say how soon a remodel’s value is added. If it is, your notice will show it.
Your remodel
Plan the remodel with the whole picture
The tax is one line in a bigger decision. We design, draw and build remodels and additions in Fort Worth, and we pull and manage city permits and inspections, so you see the design and a detailed budget before work starts.
- What a home addition costs in Fort Worth
- What a whole-home remodel costs in Fort Worth
- What your house is worth today: a free home valuation
Buying a house instead? Taxes change after a sale for a different reason. Read what changes after you buy
We build and we sell houses; we aren’t tax advisers. For your value, call Tarrant Appraisal District. For your bill, the taxing units that set the rates.
Will an addition raise my property taxes in Texas?
If an addition raises your house’s market value, Texas treats it as a new improvement, and the appraisal district can add that value on top of the 10 percent homestead cap. Whether your bill goes up, and by how much, depends on the value Tarrant Appraisal District sets and the rates your taxing units adopt. Only they can tell you that.
Does a kitchen or bathroom remodel raise property taxes?
It can, if it raises the house’s market value and isn’t repairs or ordinary maintenance. That’s the Tax Code’s test for a new improvement, and Tarrant Appraisal District applies it to each house. It publishes no list of which projects count.
Do repairs raise my property taxes?
Repairs to an existing structure, the grounds or another feature, and ordinary maintenance of them, aren’t new improvements under Tax Code §23.23(e). So they aren’t added on top of the 10 percent cap.
What if I rebuild after a fire or a storm?
A replacement for a structure that a casualty or wind or water damage left unlivable or unusable isn’t treated as a new improvement. It is one if the replacement has more square footage than what stood before, or a higher-quality exterior. That’s Tax Code §23.23(f).
Will skipping the permit keep a remodel off the tax roll?
Don’t count on it. Building permits are one of Tarrant Appraisal District’s sources, and its appraisers also use field reviews and aerial photography. The permit is the City’s requirement anyway, and work that needed one still has to pass inspection.
When would a remodel show up on my appraisal notice?
Your house is appraised as of January 1. If the value is higher than last year’s, the notice for a homestead house goes out by April 1 or as soon after as practicable. Tarrant Appraisal District’s plan reappraises houses only in odd years, starting in 2027, and says new improvement value will still be added to the roll.
Can I protest the value Tarrant Appraisal District puts on my remodel?
Yes. The deadline is May 15 or 30 days after your notice was delivered, whichever is later, and Tarrant Appraisal District marks your date on the notice. You can file online, by mail or in person.
Every line about the law on this page is quoted or paraphrased from Texas Tax Code §§23.01, 23.23, 25.19 and 41.44, the Texas Comptroller’s Valuing Property page, and Tarrant Appraisal District’s 2027–2028 Reappraisal Plan and its April 17, 2026 notice of the year’s value notices, read November 7, 2026. It’s general information, not tax advice.
Your remodel
Plan your Fort Worth remodel or addition
The value is Tarrant Appraisal District’s to set. The design, the plans and the cost to build are ours to walk through with you. A designer and a builder walk your house and give you an honest estimate. No charge, no obligation.
Or call or text (817) 631-9803