Filing A Washington Property Tax Appeal

To file an appeal against a property valuation, you must complete a Taxpayer Petition for Review of Property Valuation Determination form in the county where your property is located. A letter or phone call will not be accepted as a substitute for this process.

Anyone with an account on the assessment roll or authorized by that person can file for an appeal.

Where To Find Appeal Forms

If you want to appeal your property tax assessment, the forms available at dor.wa.gov and in-person with a local county assessor or board of equalization office.

Appeal Filing Deadlines

The deadline for filing an appeal is the latter of:

July 1 of the assessment year; or
Within 30 days of when your assessor’s office issued a Change in Value Notice.

Do not wait until the last minute to mail your appeal form. The deadline is midnight of the deadline date noted above, and it must be postmarked for this work. You can also hand-deliver the form, but make sure you have a date stamp on there before they close!

Filing Deadline Exceptions

There are several reasons why you may be able to obtain a waiver of the filing deadline:

Death or serious illness of the taxpayer or member of the taxpayer’s immediate family.
The taxpayer was absent from their home, where the change of value notice is mailed.
The taxpayer relied on incorrect written advice from a board member, board staff, assessor, assessor staff, or property tax advisor.
The loss or delay of the petition by the postal service.
The taxpayer is a business, and the employee responsible for dealing with property taxes was unavailable due to an illness or unavoidable absence.
Boards of equalization must waive the filing deadline when the assessor did not issue a revaluation notice, and the assessment did not change compared to the prior assessment year.

The board’s decision to waive the filing deadline is not appealable.

Reasons Why The Board of Equalization May be Reconvened

If you didn’t receive a change of value notice at least 15 days before the filing deadline and can show proof that it changed for this year’s assessment.
The assessor submits a sworn statement to the board, stating that they were unaware of facts that would have been discoverable at the appraisal time. This lack of information impacted their assessment.
The taxpayer purchased the property after July 1, but on or before December 31 of the assessment year, the sale price was less than 90% of the assessed value. The seller must be a willing party that is not obligated to sell their house to qualify as an arms-length transaction.
You received a change of value notice for a property that existed but was not included in your previous assessment.
The property was overvalued by at least 100 percent.