taxesProperty Tax Assistance

Property Tax Professionals Education

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts approves all core educational courses, examinations, and continuing education programs for people registered with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) as property tax professionals (Occupations Code Section 1151.1015). The Comptroller's office may approve publications relating to property appraisal and tax administration, including materials published by The Appraisal Foundation (TAF), the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO), or other professionally recognized organizations, for use in property tax administration (Tax Code Section 5.05).

Accordingly, programs and courses offered by or through TAF, IAAO and the Appraisal Institute (AI) are approved by the Comptroller's office. These programs and courses are not subject to submission for approval.

IAAO courses that meet TDLR certification requirements for the Registered Professional Appraiser (RPA) designation include Income Approach to Valuation, Fundamentals of Real Property Appraisal, Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (National) and Fundamentals of Mass Appraisals.

Continuing education programs and educational courses that have not been approved by the Comptroller's office must be submitted for approval as outlined in the Comptroller’s Guidelines for Education Approval (PDF). The guidelines also outline requirements for approval for instructors to teach approved core educational courses.

Tax Professional Education Opportunities

The Comptroller's office must provide information on the education needs of and opportunities for tax professionals (Occupations Code Section 1151.1015). Many education opportunities are offered through IAAO, AI, Texas Association of Appraisal Districts (TAAD), Texas Association of Assessing Officers (TAAO) and The Tax Assessor-Collectors Association of Texas (TACA). Other vendors may offer additional tax professional education opportunities that have been separately submitted for continuing education credit. If you have questions regarding continuing education credit for a particular continuing education program or educational course, please contact the sponsor to determine if approval has been received.

Certification Examinations

The Comptroller's office must approve content of certification examinations for property tax professionals (Occupations Code Section 1151.1015). Accordingly, the Comptroller's office has approved the following examinations administered by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR):

  • Appraiser Level III;
  • Registered Professional Appraiser (RPA);
  • Registered Texas Assessor-Collector (RTA); and
  • Registered Texas Collector (RTC).

Additional Information

Further information regarding licensing, registration, education and examination requirements for property tax professionals can be found on TDLR’s website or by contacting TDLR using their web form.

For information regarding education or instructor approval, contact the Comptroller’s office at PTPEdu@cpa.texas.gov.