Tax year
The year an assessment applies to, which is often not the year you pay.
Many states assess in one year and bill in the next. A notice you receive this spring may set the value for a bill that arrives a year later.
This creates a timing trap: by the time a bill looks wrong, the appeal window for the assessment behind it may have closed months earlier. Appeal from the notice, not from the bill.
Related
- Valuation date — The date your assessment is supposed to reflect, often more than a year before the bill.
- Notice of assessment — The letter that starts your appeal clock.
- Appeal deadline — The date after which nothing you can prove matters.
Property tax is state law and the details differ. For what applies where you live, see coverage by state and your appeal deadline.