AssessCheck

Virginia Property Tax Deadlines

Virginia’s deadlines are the most locally variable on this site: the statute sets a 15-day notice floor and a 30-day minimum between the notice hearing and the BOE deadline, but the actual dates come from your locality’s ordinance and your own notice. The one long, uniform window is the circuit court’s — the latest of three statutory limits, open even to owners who never filed with the board.

The 100% standard: no cap, annual assessment

All real estate in Virginia is assessed at 100% of fair market value — the state's assessment standard — by the Commissioner of the Revenue or the local assessor. There is no fractional assessment ratio to model and no cap on year-over-year change: a market rise can pass straight through to the assessment.

Anchor: the locality's annual assessment of real estate · Basis: rule tied to an event

15 days: the notice showing two prior years

Where a real estate assessment has been increased, the local board must give the owner notice of the change and an opportunity to be heard. The notice must state the new assessment AND show the two preceding years' assessments, and it must reach the owner at least 15 days before the hearing. That two-year comparison printed on the notice is what makes a year-over-year look at the figures legitimate here.

Anchor: the hearing before the local board of assessment reviews · Basis: rule tied to an event

The locality's deadline: ordinance, with a 30-day floor

An application to the locality's board of equalization is filed by a deadline the LOCALITY sets by ordinance, and the ordinance cannot set it earlier than 30 days after the notice hearing required by § 58.1-3330. There is no single statewide date: read your locality's ordinance or your notice. An application is deemed timely if the postmark falls within the period.

Anchor: the locality's ordinance, no earlier than 30 days after the notice hearing (§ 58.1-3330) · Basis: rule tied to an event

The latest of three: the circuit court window

An appeal of a real property assessment to the circuit court is an original proceeding heard de novo. The filing window is the LATEST of: three years from the last day of the tax year, one year from the first notice of assessment, or one year from the final determination of a board of equalization application. Whether or not an administrative appeal was filed, the circuit court route stays open until those limits close it — and the assessment is presumed correct, with the burden on the taxpayer (§ 58.1-3379).

Anchor: the first notice of assessment, the tax year, and any board determination — the latest of the statutory limits · Basis: rule tied to an event

The shape of an appeal year (illustrative)

Illustrative sequence with a locality that assesses January 1 and hears board matters in the fall — your locality’s ordinance and notice control.

  1. January 1: the annual assessment date — 100% of fair market value.
  2. Spring – fall: assessment notices mail; where an assessment increased, the § 58.1-3330 notice shows the new value and two prior years, at least 15 days before the hearing.
  3. The notice hearing: the event the 30-day BOE floor is measured from.
  4. By your locality’s ordinance date: the BOE application — postmark suffices if it falls within the period.
  5. The BOE determination: a one-year court window opens from it (or keep the three-year tax-year window in view).
  6. Within the latest-of-three limits: the de novo circuit court appeal — tried fresh, presumption of correctness against the taxpayer.

What this tells you: a Virginia deadline check has exactly two documents in it — your locality’s ordinance (for the BOE date) and your notice (for the hearing date the 15-day and 30-day rules anchor to). The court window, by contrast, is fully statutory and the most forgiving on this site.

What it does not tell you: your locality’s actual ordinance date and hearing calendar — published by your commissioner of the revenue, assessor, or circuit court.

Where the processes are explained

Sources