Straight Answers on Your BC Assessment is where I answer the questions homeowners actually ask, in plain language, from someone who has been through the appeals.
Why straight answers about BC Assessment?
Most of the information about your assessment comes from BC Assessment itself, the same organization that set your value and that you would be appealing against. I think homeowners deserve answers from the other side of the table.
Every question here comes from real searches about BC Assessment, and every answer comes from the appeals I have worked on, the Review Panel and Appeal Board decisions behind them, and the records I have collected. All 75 answers are below, grouped by topic, so you can go straight to the one you need.
All 75 answers
Find your question
Start here
3 answersIs your assessment right?
The 3 questions to answer before anything else.
Your notice
18 answersYour value and your notice
How BC Assessment sets your value, what your notice says, and how to read it.
- When does my BC Assessment come out?
- How do I check my BC Assessment online?
- How do I read my BC Assessment notice?
- How does BC Assessment value my home?
- How accurate is BC Assessment?
- What tools can I use to compare my BC Assessment with real home values?
- How do market changes affect my BC Assessment?
- Is it good if my home is worth more than my BC Assessment?
- How do I track changes to my BC Assessment?
- How do I find past BC Assessment values?
- What is a supplementary BC Assessment?
- How does BC Assessment split my land and building value?
- Why did my BC Assessment go down?
- Why can't I find my property on BC Assessment?
- What is a PID and a roll number?
- Can I look up who owns a property in BC?
- What does actual market value mean in the Assessment Act?
- Why is my BC Assessment based on last July 1?
Appeal season
14 answersAppealing your assessment
How to file, what evidence wins, and what the risks really are.
- How do I appeal my BC Assessment?
- What is the deadline to appeal my BC Assessment?
- How do I file a BC Assessment appeal online?
- What evidence do I need to win a BC Assessment appeal?
- What are my chances of winning a BC Assessment appeal?
- How much could I save by appealing my BC Assessment?
- Should I get an independent appraisal before I appeal my BC Assessment?
- Why do BC Assessment appeals win?
- Is there a template for a BC Assessment appeal letter?
- Does my home's condition affect my BC Assessment appeal?
- How do I appeal a strata BC Assessment?
- How do I fix an error in my BC Assessment?
- I just bought my home. Does my purchase price prove my BC Assessment is wrong?
- Can my BC Assessment go up if I appeal?
Appeal season
9 answersThe Review Panel and the Appeal Board
What happens at each hearing, how long it takes, and what comes after.
- What is the Property Assessment Review Panel?
- How do I prepare for my Property Assessment Review Panel hearing?
- What happens after I file a BC Assessment appeal?
- How long does a BC Assessment appeal take?
- What if the Review Panel says no?
- What is the Property Assessment Appeal Board?
- What happens at a Property Assessment Appeal Board hearing?
- Will appealing my BC Assessment affect next year's value?
- What happens after I win my BC Assessment appeal?
Getting help
6 answersGetting help with your appeal
Who can help, what it costs, and how to do it yourself.
- Can I hire someone to appeal my BC Assessment?
- How much does it cost to get help with a BC Assessment appeal?
- Can I get a free review of my BC Assessment?
- Can I appeal my BC Assessment without a lawyer?
- How do I appoint an agent for my BC Assessment appeal?
- Is there a no win, no fee option for a BC Assessment appeal?
Tax season
11 answersYour property tax bill
How your assessment becomes your tax bill, and the grants and programs that lower it.
- Does a lower BC Assessment lower my property taxes?
- When is my BC property tax due, and how do I pay it?
- How do I calculate my BC property tax?
- Should I defer my BC property taxes?
- Do I qualify for the BC Home Owner Grant?
- What property tax credits and exemptions can I get in BC?
- How do I look up my BC property tax?
- Can I dispute my BC property tax bill?
- Which BC cities have the highest and lowest property taxes?
- How do rural property taxes work in BC?
- How does the BC speculation and vacancy tax work?
Any time of year
4 answersChanges to your home and land
Renovations, inspections, new homes, subdivisions and rezoning.
Any time of year
5 answersHow BC Assessment works
Property classes, commercial property, your rights under the Assessment Act, and who holds BC Assessment accountable.
Farm owners
5 answersFarm status
Qualifying, applying, checking, appealing and what farm status saves.
Before any appeal
Request your property record card. It shows the details your value is based on, and errors on it are some of the easiest evidence to prove.
Where the answers come from
Not opinions. Decisions, records and real sales.
When I say something about how appeals are won, it is because I have seen it happen in front of the Review Panel and the Appeal Board. When I say something about how BC Assessment works, I point you to the record. Where something is my view, I say so.
See every result on my BC Assessment Appeal Record, or prepare your own appeal with the DIY Property Assessment Appeal Guides.
Common questions
Quick answers
When does my BC Assessment come out?
BC Assessment mails and posts assessment notices in early January. Your 2027 notice shows your property's value as of July 1, 2026.
When is the deadline to appeal my 2027 assessment?
The deadline to file with the Property Assessment 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 Property Assessment Appeal Board is April 30, 2027.
Does a lower BC Assessment lower my property taxes?
Usually, yes. Your property tax is your assessed value multiplied by your local tax rates, so a lower assessment means a lower bill, and a reduction after you have paid can mean a refund.
Can I appeal my BC Assessment without a lawyer?
Yes. Any property owner can file their own appeal with the Review Panel and, if needed, the Appeal Board.
Is your BC Assessment right? Check the numbers.
Enter your address and see how your BC Assessment compares to what homes like yours actually sold for.
Check My PropertySources
- My BC Assessment Appeal Record: every homeowner I have helped, by appellant number, with Appeal Board file numbers. 63 of 65 appeals (97%) won a reduction, and 30 of 33 Appeal Board written decisions (91%) lowered the value.
- BC Assessment, Key dates.
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
40
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.
63
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
32
news stories about the appeals I helped with
Run more than 400 times in 68 news outlets across BC
23
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
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.