When is your mineral tax protest due?

You file a written notice of protest with the appraisal review board not later than May 15 or the 30th day after the appraisal notice was delivered to you, whichever is later (Tax Code section 41.44(a)(1)). If that day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the act is timely the next regular business day (section 1.06).

An owner who files after the deadline but before the appraisal review board approves the appraisal records is entitled to a hearing if the owner shows good cause, as the board decides, for filing late (section 41.44(b)). After the records are approved, that door is closed.

No. A notice of protest is sufficient if it identifies the person protesting, identifies the property, and indicates dissatisfaction with some determination of the appraisal office. It need not be on an official form (section 41.44(d)). The district's portal or form is the easiest way to be sure it reaches the right desk.

The appraised value of the property, unequal appraisal, inclusion of the property on the appraisal records, and other actions of the chief appraiser or board that apply to and adversely affect you (section 41.41(a)). For a mineral interest the usual grounds are the value and unequal appraisal.

When a mineral interest in place is appraised by a method that counts the future income from the oil or gas, the method must use the average price of the oil or gas from the interest for the preceding calendar year multiplied by a price adjustment factor, and the district uses the Comptroller's appraisal manuals for the discounting (section 23.175). Your own statements show what the interest actually earned.

The district must deliver the notice by May 1 or as soon after as practicable when the value went up or the property was new to the roll (section 25.19). A notice sent by first-class mail is presumed delivered when it is mailed, and you may rebut that with evidence you did not receive it (section 1.07(c)). Write to the district and to the appraisal review board. A protest filed by May 15 is on time whatever the notice date, moved to the next business day when May 15 falls on a weekend or holiday (sections 41.44(a)(1) and 1.06).

A filing sent by first-class mail or a common or contract carrier is timely if it bears a post office cancellation mark of a date on or before the due date, or you can prove it was deposited with the mail or carrier by then (section 1.08). A portal filing is easier to prove.

You may file a petition for review in district court within 60 days after you received notice that a final order was entered (section 42.21(a)). To keep the appeal, you must pay the taxes required by section 42.08(b) before they become delinquent. Both are strict, so read chapter 42 before the board hearing.