Appealing Tax Relief Eligibility

To apply for Tax Relief: contact your county trustee, if your property is within city limits, you may also contact your city collecting official to apply. Click here to locate a County Trustee or here to locate a city collecting official. 

The collecting official will make a preliminary determination of eligibility and forward the application to the Comptroller’s Office for final approval. 

To learn more about applying for Tax Relief, including elgibility requirements and applicable deadlines, visit our Tax Relief page. 

For more information, contact: 
State of TN Tax Relief Department
Main Phone Line: 615.747.8871
Main Phone Line (Toll Free): 1.800.221.9927
Email: TRInfo@cot.tn.gov

To file an appeal of an eligibility determination complete a “value appeal” filing through our online filing system. When asked to identify "the basis of this complaint is" select "Denial of Property Tax Relief Program" from the dropdown menu.  

For assistance in completing an appeal filing or to request a paper appeal form, contact our office at 615.401.7883 or email sb.web@cot.tn.gov.

Watch the video below for a demonstration on how to navigate the online filing system. 

How to Schedule an Appeal Hearing:

Once your appeal is filed and pending with the Tennessee State Board of Equalization, the next step is to schedule your hearing. To request a hearing date, please contact us at:

Call: 615.401.7883 (extension 2 for Scheduling)

Email: sb.web@cot.tn.gov 

If You Do Not Request a Hearing Date:

If you do not request a hearing date, you may be scheduled for a Status and Scheduling Conference, or a hearing date may be selected for you. If a date is chosen for you, you will be sent a Notice of Hearing at least 60 days in advance with the details.

Once your Appeal Hearing is Scheduled:

• A Notice of Hearing will be emailed and mailed to you at least 60 days before the hearing date.
• Once the Notice of Hearing is issued, the appeal will be transferred to the Administrative Procedures Division (APD), which will assign an Administrative Judge.
• The Administrative Judge will provide the link and details for joining your hearing closer to the hearing date.
• Instructions for pre-filing exhibits or other materials will also come from the Administrative Judge.
• After the Notice of Hearing is issued, any requests to reschedule or postpone should only be made in the case of an emergency and must be made in writing to the Administrative Judge.

The State Board of Equalization is tasked with reviewing eligibility determination of applicants for Tennessee’s Property Tax Relief program. A taxpayer or any owner who has applied for and been denied entry to the Property Tax Relief program has the right to appeal to the State Board of Equalization. 

 Appeals of tax relief cases must be filed within ninety (90) days from when the determination was sent. 

The law requires that you pay at least the undisputed portion of your taxes prior to the delinquency date to avoid penalties and interest.  You also must pay the full amount of any delinquent taxes due against the property for prior years. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1512(b). By so doing, you avoid the usual penalty and interest for delinquent taxes and the possible delay or dismissal of your appeal.  When a final certificate of assessment is issued by the State Board of Equalization, the taxpayer will owe the amount of any underpayment of taxes, along with interest at the rate provided by law.

To calculate the undisputed portion of taxes, subtract the value you claim in good faith to be the fair market value for your property, from the assessor’s value, and multiply the result times the applicable tax rate.  For more information about calculating your taxes owed see "How to Calculate Your Tax Bill." County taxes for the year under appeal may be obtained from the office of county trustee.  City taxes (if any) may be obtained from the city collecting official, who may be either the city treasurer, city recorder, or the county trustee, who sometimes also serves as the city tax collector.

The interest rate applicable to taxes under appeal is the composite prime rate published by the Federal Reserve Board, minus two points. (available below).

Decisions of an administrative judge or the State Board of Equalization are only final once further opportunity for agency review has concluded.  The time period for further review differs depending on what level the appeal is.  If no party appeals a decision, the typical periods are as follows:

• Initial Decisions and Orders of an administrative judge are typically final thirty (30) days from the date of the signed order.
• Orders of the State Board of Equalization are typically final as of the date they are issued.
  

Once a decision becomes final, the parties will receive an e-mailed notice from the State Board of Equalization and the results will be available on the SBOE Public Portal.  Additionally, any delinquency penalty and interest postponed during the pendency of an appeal shall begin to accrue thirty (30) days after any decision becomes final.

Public Chapter 691 of 2014 abolished routine issuance of paper "official certificates" of SBOE action in appeals.  Instead the Board will post actions via the SBOE Public Portal and send e-mail notifications to taxpayers, assessors and trustees as new postings occur effective July 1, 2014.  Therefore, please provide this office with and maintain an updated email address for this purpose.  This means significant savings in mailing and handling costs, but also may change how you close records of appeals.

Assessors may continue to certify appeal revisions to their collecting officials if this is your present practice, as a means of assuring the collector has an accurate basis to refund or collect tax due following the appeal.  Collectors who have used the State Board certificates as the sole basis for further refund or collection may use the posted State Board actions instead, perhaps allowing a routine lag time to allow the assessor to review the postings for error.  If you detect an error in a posting, send your correction request to Shirley.Marriott@cot.tn.gov for counties beginning with A - R and Rhonda.Wright@cot.tn.gov for counties beginning with S - Z and include the following information:

· Record
· Number
· County Name
· Tax Year
· Correction Description
· Business or Appellant Name (under which the original application was filed)
· Final Result Date

Please call 615.401.7883 if you need additional assistance.

A taxpayer may request to withdraw an appeal before a decision has been entered on the primary issue of the complaint and appeal.  A taxpayer who withdrawals their appeal, also waives their right to further appeal or for reconsideration.

When the taxpayer submits a withdrawal request, the board will issue an Order of Dismissal, which becomes the final action of the State Board of Equalization. After the action has become final an Official Certificate will be issued pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1512, enabling the appropriate collecting official to process any applicable payment.

For additional information or to submit a withdrawal, please email sb.web@cot.tn.gov. 

If your appeal has been transferred to the Administrative Procedures Division (“APD”) for assignment to an Administrative Judge, follow the filling guidelines for APD on their website (link below).