DIY Property Assessment Appeal Guides

Q: Do I need a lawyer to appeal my BC Assessment?

No. Any property owner can file their own appeal with the Property Assessment Review Panel and, if needed, the Property Assessment Appeal Board.

Q: Which guide should I start with?

Start with the free property record card guide. It shows what BC Assessment has on file for the home, which is where many errors are found.

Q: When is the deadline to appeal my 2027 assessment?

The Review Panel deadline is normally January 31. In 2027 it falls on a Sunday, so it moves to February 1, 2027. The Appeal Board deadline is April 30, 2027.

Q: What if I would rather have help?

Book a BC Assessment Check, a 1 hour one on one call that reviews the sold comparables in your neighbourhood and whether you have an appeal.

Step by step help to prepare and argue your own BC Assessment appeal, from your property record card to the Appeal Board.

DIY Property Assessment Appeal Guides give you the templates, lessons and steps to prepare and argue your own BC Assessment appeal with real evidence.

Can I appeal my BC Assessment myself?

Yes. Every homeowner is their own appellant, and you do not need a lawyer to file. What most homeowners are missing is not the right to appeal. It is knowing what evidence to gather, how to lay it out and what the Review Panel and the Appeal Board actually read.

Much of the guidance on how to appeal comes from BC Assessment, the very people you are appealing against. These guides are an independent resource, written from the homeowner's side of the table.

steps, from your property record card to the Appeal Board

to start, with the free property record card guide

Feb 1

2027 deadline to file with the Review Panel

Apr 30

2027 deadline to appeal to the Appeal Board

The guides

3 steps, in the order your appeal happens

How To Get Your Property Record Card with Internal Notes

CA$0.00

The Property Assessment Review Panel Guide

The Property Assessment Appeal Board Guide

Why start with the record card

Your value is only as good as what BC Assessment has on file.

BC Assessment values every home at once, using the size, age, condition, view and other details it has on record. If those details are wrong, the value is wrong, and you will not know unless you ask for your property record card. Data errors and the wrong comparable sales are among the most common reasons a value misses.

Start with the free property record card guide. It takes minutes to request and it is useful every year, whether you appeal or not.

Common questions

About the DIY Appeal Guides

Do I need a lawyer to appeal my BC Assessment?

No. Any property owner can file their own appeal with the Review Panel and, if needed, the Appeal Board. The guides show you how to prepare it yourself.

Which guide should I start with?

Start with the free property record card guide. It shows you what BC Assessment has on file for your home, which is where many errors are found, and it is useful every year whether you appeal or not.

When is the deadline to appeal my 2027 assessment?

The deadline to file with the Review Panel is normally January 31. In 2027, January 31 falls on a Sunday, so it moves to February 1, 2027. The deadline to appeal to the Appeal Board is April 30, 2027.

What if I would rather have help?

Book a BC Assessment Check. On a 1 hour one on one call I go through the sold comparables in your neighbourhood with you and tell you plainly whether you have an appeal.

Doing it yourself? Start by checking your number.

Start with your address and see how your BC Assessment compares to what homes like yours actually sold for.

Check My Property

My Record: January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2026

$22.6M+

cut from the values BC Assessment put on homeowners' properties

My 3 largest reductions for a homeowner: $2,063,000, $1,954,000 and $1,438,000

$110K+

in estimated property tax refunds and credits for homeowners

My 3 largest estimated refunds or credits for a homeowner: $10,315, $9,770 and $7,190

homeowners I helped appeal their BC Assessment

100% won a reduction. The average homeowner had approximately $566,000 taken off their value and an estimated $2,800 back in property tax.

appeals won, out of the 65 those homeowners took to a decision

97% won, at BC Assessment, the Review Panel and the Appeal Board

91%

of written Appeal Board decisions, made by an independent adjudicator, lowered the value

30 of the 33 that went that far

7,079

Vancouver Island home sales I checked against their BC Assessment

Less than 1% were assessed at what they sold for, and 40% were assessed above it

news stories about the appeals I helped with

Run more than 400 times in 68 news outlets across BC

freedom of information requests to BC Assessment for its records

$11,047.06 in fees BC Assessment estimated to release them. I paid $30 in total, after fee waiver requests on public interest and hardship grounds.

Are You Overassessed?

When BC Assessment gets your home's value wrong, I prove what it is actually worth using real sales of similar homes, so you don't pay more property tax than your fair share.

Jason Anson

See every result on my appeal record →

Get Help

The Story

The Research

The Record

I am not a lawyer or an appraiser, and nothing on this site should be considered legal or tax advice. When I help you, you are still the appellant and you file your own appeal. Every result depends on the evidence for that property, and the decision belongs to the Property Assessment Review Panel or the Property Assessment Appeal Board, not to me. My past results do not predict yours, and I cannot guarantee any outcome.

Helping homeowners with property assessment appeals is not a licensed activity in the province of British Columbia. It is not regulated by the BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) or the Real Estate Services Act, and it is not considered a real estate service.

I am also a licensed real estate agent with eXp Realty. That work gives me my experience in valuation and market movement, which is the evidence of market value the Review Panel and the Appeal Board weigh. This site and my appeal work are completely separate from eXp Realty. They are not affiliated with, endorsed by or provided through my brokerage, and the views here are my own, not eXp Realty's.

What I write about BC Assessment, the Property Assessment Review Panel, the Property Assessment Appeal Board, the Minister and Ministry of Finance, and the other public offices on this site is my own opinion, and I consider it fair comment on a matter of public interest. My opinions are my honest views, marked as my view, and based on facts anyone can check: Appeal Board decisions, public records and records released under freedom of information. Quotes from documents and news stories are the words of the people quoted. If anything here is inaccurate, let me know and I will correct it.