Virginia property tax appeals
Review the sourced process overview below, then get the Virginia DIY Appeal Kit with an evidence workbook, filing controls, official links, and an editable appeal letter in one PDF. No parcel-specific comps.
How a Virginia appeal actually works
Every statement below is cited to its primary source and shows the date we verified it. Where we could not confirm something from a primary source, we say so instead of guessing. Dataset last re-verified 2026-08-13.
Missed the main deadline? Virginia has 5 remedies most homeowners never hear about
County pages rarely surface these. Each one is a distinct legal route with its own clock.
Application to the commissioner of the revenue or other assessing official for correction of an erroneous assessment
Any person, firm or corporation aggrieved by a local tax assessment may apply to the commissioner of the revenue or other official who made the assessment for a correction. Sections 58.1-3980 through 58.1-3983 also apply to erroneous assessments of REAL ESTATE where the error sought to be corrected was made by the commissioner of the revenue or that official, or is due to a factual error made by others in connection with conducting general reassessments under § 58.1-3981(C). This is a distinct, non-valuation route aimed at factual and clerical error.
When:
primary source · verified
Local exemption or deferral of real estate taxes for elderly individuals and individuals with disabilities
The governing body of any locality MAY, by ordinance, provide for exemption from, deferral of, or a combined program of exemptions and deferrals of real estate and manufactured home taxes, on such conditions and in such amounts as the ordinance prescribes. The real estate must be owned by, and occupied as the sole dwelling of, a person at least 65 years of age or (if the ordinance so provides) a person found permanently and totally disabled as defined in § 58.1-3217. A dwelling jointly held by married individuals with no other joint owners qualifies if either spouse is 65 or over or is permanently and totally disabled. Qualifying ownership includes life estates and property held in specified revocable or irrevocable trusts, but not leaseholds or terms of years. Because this is permissive, both availability and the income/asset limits are set locally.
When:
primary source · verified
Assessment reduction for damaged, destroyed or decaying buildings
The assessed value of a building can be adjusted when the building is wholly destroyed or reduced in value below $100 by natural decay or other causes, and assessment adjustments are also allowed where the value of the building has been impaired by violence to the extent of $100 or more. Fairfax County applies any resulting adjustment prorated from the time of the incident until the property is repaired or the end of the year, whichever is sooner, and takes these requests directly by email, phone, mail or in person rather than through the standard appeal form.
When:
primary source · verified
Land use (use-value) assessment program
Localities may adopt a special use-value assessment program under which qualifying agricultural, horticultural, forest or open-space land is assessed on its value in use rather than its fair market value. Loudoun County operates a Land Use Assessment Program; participation, application windows and rollback tax consequences are set locally.
Refund of erroneously assessed or collected local taxes
Virginia provides a statutory refund mechanism for local taxes following correction of an erroneous assessment; § 58.1-3984(D) also directs the commissioner of the revenue or other assessing official who learns that an assessment is improper or based on obvious error, and who cannot correct it under § 58.1-3981, to apply to the court for relief of the taxpayer (and such application may cover several taxpayers).
What evidence wins in Virginia
Both comparable SALES (fair market value theory) and comparable ASSESSMENTS (uniformity theory) are available — § 58.1-3379(B) and § 58.1-3984(B) each state the disjunctive test 'valued at more than its fair market value OR that the assessment is not uniform in its application.' Va. Code § 58.1-3378 directs the BOE to hear 'complaints of inequalities wherein the property owners allege a lack of uniformity in assessment, or errors in acreage,' and separately to 'hear complaints that real property is assessed at more than fair market value.' Constitution of Virginia, Article X, Section 2 requires assessments to represent fair market value. TIMING CUTOFF: § 58.1-3379(C) permits consideration of any statement of income and expense or market sales occurring through December 31 immediately preceding the effective date of the assessment, provided it is submitted no later than the locality's application deadline; no studies or analyses published after that December 31 may be considered. VALUATION DATE: the BOE establishes fair market value as of January 1 of the applicable year, or July 1 if the locality has adopted a July 1 tax day under § 58.1-3011. Fairfax County instructs residential owners to 'provide market value sales that demonstrate the assessment is not at fair market value or provide similar comparables to prove lack of uniformity,' and for commercial/income-producing property to file the income and expense survey. Arlington County instructs owners to compare 'recorded arm length transaction sales' within the stated analysis period and to 'show that similar properties have inequitable values.' Income approach is expressly contemplated for commercial/multifamily/industrial property (§ 58.1-3378 and § 58.1-3379(C)–(D)). Mistakes of fact, including computation errors, are statutorily deemed not to be in accordance with generally accepted appraisal practice.
primary source · verified 2026-08-12
The appeal ladder, in Virginia's own terms
- 1
Local assessing officer — Commissioner of the Revenue, County/City Assessor, or Department of (Real Estate) Tax Administration/Assessments (administrative or 'informal' review)
Deadline: NO STATEWIDE DATE — set locally. Verified 2026 examples: Fairfax County administrative appeal to DTA must be postmarked, filed online, or emailed by 4:30 p.m. EDT on April 1, 2026; Arlington County appeal to the Department of Real Estate Assessments must be filed/postmarked before March 2, 2026; Loudoun County Application for Review must be filed by March 16. Va. Code § 58.1-3330 requires the reassessment notice itself to state the time and place to present objections, and § 58.1-3980 separately allows application to the assessing officer to correct an erroneous assessment within three years from the last day of the tax year, or one year from the date of assessment, whichever is later (as applied to real estate only where the error was made by that officer or is a factual error in a general reassessment).
Clock starts: Mailing of the annual/reassessment notice of change in assessed value under Va. Code § 58.1-3330 (notice mailed at least 15 days before the protest hearing date)
Va. Code §§ 58.1-3330, 58.1-3350, 58.1-3980 · primary source · verified 2026-08-12
Form: Locality-specific administrative/'Application for Review' appeal form (no statewide form). Fairfax County: online residential appeal application plus paper form for commercial. Arlington County: Online Real Estate Appeal Applications. Loudoun County: Real Estate Assessment Application for Review. official form
primary source · verified 2026-08-12
Fee: $0
primary source · verified 2026-08-12
- 2
Board of Equalization of Real Estate Assessments (BOE), appointed by the circuit court (or, in certain counties, by the governing body under § 58.1-3371)
Deadline: NO STATEWIDE DATE — Va. Code § 58.1-3378 lets the governing body set the application deadline by ordinance, and that date may not be earlier than 30 days after the end of the assessor's objection period under § 58.1-3330. Verified 2026 examples: Fairfax County BOE appeals must be postmarked by midnight June 1, 2026 or delivered/uploaded/emailed by 4:30 p.m. EDT June 1, 2026; Arlington County BOE application deadline is April 15, 2026 (with all supporting evidence submitted by April 15, 2026); Loudoun County BOE appeals must be filed by June 1, 2026. An administrative appeal at level 1 is NOT a prerequisite to a BOE appeal (Fairfax expressly states this).
Clock starts: Effective date of the assessment; locality ordinance deadline stated on the notice of assessment (§ 58.1-3378 requires all such deadlines to be clearly stated on the notice of assessment)
Va. Code §§ 58.1-3370 through 58.1-3379 (esp. § 58.1-3378) · primary source · verified 2026-08-12
Form: Locality-specific BOE appeal application (no statewide form). Fairfax County publishes a BOE Appeal Application via the Board of Equalization office; Arlington County provides an online Board of Equalization application; Loudoun County directs filers to the Board of Equalization. Under § 58.1-3378 a residential BOE hearing may not be denied for lack of information so long as the application includes the address, the parcel number, and the owner's proposed assessed value. official form
primary source · verified 2026-08-12
Fee: $0
primary source · verified 2026-08-12
- 3
Circuit Court of the county or city where the assessment was made (application to correct erroneous assessment)
Deadline: The LATER of: (a) three years from the last day of the tax year for which the assessment was made; (b) one year from the date of the assessment; (c) one year from the date of the Tax Commissioner's final determination under § 58.1-3703.1 A 6 or § 58.1-3983.1 D; or (d) one year from the date of the final determination under § 58.1-3981. The application is 'before the court when it is filed in the clerk's office.' The taxpayer and the locality are necessary parties, and the locality must be named as 'City of ____,' 'Town of ____,' or '____ County.' A BOE appeal is not a prerequisite to filing in circuit court.
Clock starts: Last day of the tax year for which the assessment was made / date of assessment / date of the applicable final determination — whichever yields the latest date
Va. Code § 58.1-3984(A) · primary source · verified 2026-08-12
Form: No statewide form. Commenced by filing an application (petition/complaint) with the circuit court clerk under § 58.1-3984; proceedings are conducted as an action at law before the court sitting without a jury. official form
primary source · verified 2026-08-12
Not confirmed from a primary source: Va. Code § 17.1-275 was confirmed as the circuit court clerk fee statute, but the total civil filing fee for a § 58.1-3984 application could not be confirmed: Virginia publishes a separate civil fee schedule per circuit court (locality-specific add-ons), and the fee-schedule PDFs and the fee calculator at vacourts.gov could not be retrieved during this research. Use the official per-court fee schedule or the Circuit Court Civil Filing Fee Calculation tool for the exact amount. Check the official page before relying on this.
Who has to prove what
Preponderance of the evidence, against a statutory presumption of correctness.
primary source · verified 2026-08-12
When values are set
VARIES BY LOCALITY — do not assume a single cycle. Va. Code § 58.1-3252 (counties): 'There shall be a general reassessment of real estate every four years or, if determined by majority vote of a county's board of supervisors, every three years. Any county that has a total population of 50,000 or less may elect by majority vote of its board of supervisors to conduct its general reassessments at either five-year or six-year intervals. In addition, Augusta County and Bedford County may elect by majority vote of their respective board of supervisors to conduct their general reassessments at either five-year or six-year intervals.' The same section preserves each county's power 'to use the annual or biennial assessment method as authorized by law' (see also § 58.1-3251 for cities of not more than 30,000 population and § 58.1-3253 for biennial general reassessments and annual or biennial assessment). In practice the large Northern Virginia and urban jurisdictions reassess annually: Loudoun County states that 'Annual Real Estate Assessment Notices provide property owners with the value of their real property as of January 1 each calendar year'; Arlington County states that instructions and deadline dates 'are on the assessment notice you receive each January'; Fairfax County mailed its 2026 assessment notices on Feb. 17, 2026. Virginia's 38 independent cities are assessed separately from the surrounding counties, which multiplies the variation.
primary source · verified 2026-08-12
How counties differ
VIRGINIA IS THE MOST COUNTY-VARIABLE STATE IN THIS PAIR — a single statewide deadline does not exist and publishing one would be dangerous. Structural reasons: (1) Virginia has 95 counties PLUS 38 independent cities that are not part of any county and assess separately; (2) Va. Code § 58.1-3378 delegates the BOE application deadline to each governing body by ordinance, subject only to the floor that it be no earlier than 30 days after the assessor's objection period ends; (3) reassessment frequency itself varies under § 58.1-3252 from annual/biennial up to six-year intervals for smaller counties (with Augusta and Bedford named specially), so in a non-reassessment year some localities have no appeal cycle at all; (4) the BOE is appointed by the circuit court in the tax year immediately following a general reassessment or annual/biennial assessment, and its term expires one year after the effective date of the assessment for which it was appointed (§ 58.1-3370), so the board is not continuously in existence everywhere. VERIFIED 2026 EXAMPLES SHOWING THE SPREAD: Fairfax County — administrative appeal April 1, 2026, BOE June 1, 2026 (an ~8-week gap between the two). Arlington County — assessor review March 2, 2026, BOE April 15, 2026 (BOE deadline nearly seven weeks EARLIER than Fairfax's). Loudoun County — review March 16, BOE June 1, 2026, with BOE hearings typically held in August. PRACTICE WARNING that appears in the official guidance of all three: because the level-1 administrative review may not be decided before the BOE deadline runs, the taxpayer should file the BOE appeal protectively rather than waiting for the administrative result. Arlington states that if you have not received your appeal results by April 1, 2026 you should file with the BOE to preserve your rights; Fairfax states an administrative appeal is not a prerequisite to a BOE appeal and urges early filing for the same reason. Loudoun expressly permits filing with the BOE if the owner missed the review deadline or prefers to skip the review entirely. Always read the deadline off the taxpayer's own assessment notice — § 58.1-3378 requires the deadlines to be clearly stated on it.
Virginia appeal deadline
Deadlines varyVirginia deadlines are set locally.
The deadline is almost always printed on the assessment notice your local assessor mails you. Use that date, it is the one that counts.
Are you missing a Virginia exemption?
Exemptions cut your bill before any appeal even starts, and most homeowners never claim all the ones they qualify for. Answer four questions:
Is your Virginia home over-assessed?
The whole appeal hinges on one comparison: your assessed value (from your tax notice) versus your home's market value (what it would sell for today). Put both in:
How to find your home's real market value (free) →
- Pull free estimates. Look up your address on Zillow (“Zestimate”) and Redfin (“Redfin Estimate”). Average them, algorithms run high or low, so two beats one.
- Find 3-5 real comparable sales. Same neighborhood, similar size, beds/baths, age, and condition, sold in the last 6-12 months. Recent sales (not listings) are the strongest evidence a board will accept.
- Adjust for differences. Knock value off comps that are bigger or renovated; add for ones that are smaller or dated, so you're comparing like-for-like.
- Compare to your assessment. If your assessed value sits clearly above that adjusted market figure, you have grounds to appeal.
One catch: some states assess at a fraction of market value (an “assessment ratio”). If your notice shows a ratio or an “equalized” value, compare your implied full value to market, not the raw assessed number.
How property tax appeals generally work
Most states follow the same basic path: your local assessor mails an assessment notice with a value and a deadline; you file an appeal (often called a protest, grievance, or petition) before that deadline; you present comparable sales of similar homes; and a local board reviews the evidence and can lower your value.
The exact form, deadline, and board can vary by county. Use the current assessment notice and the official sources linked above to confirm the controlling local requirements. The paid kit organizes that verification, the evidence, the filing steps, and your editable letter in one place.
Want to see the depth we build per state? Take a look at our Texas, Florida, and Georgia guides.