Philadelphia Property Tax Appeal Deadline
Philadelphia gives you two separate routes to challenge a 2027 assessment, and they close on different dates. Both are free, and neither requires an attorney. The dates below are fixed by statute, not by when your notice happened to arrive.
Check my assessment free →The two 2026 deadlines
September 1, 2026 — First Level Review
The First Level Review is an informal re-examination by the Office of Property Assessment, the same office that set your value. You submit it on the form that came with your notice. It is not a hearing, there is no filing fee, and it does not use up your right to a formal appeal — you can do both.
October 5, 2026 — Board of Revision of Taxes
The formal appeal goes to the Board of Revision of Taxes, a body independent of the OPA, on the Property Assessment Appeal Application. The statutory deadline is the first Monday in October, which falls on October 5 in 2026. This is the route that carries legal weight, and it is the one to use if you only do one.
Assessment appeals in cities of the first class are governed by 72 P.S. § 5341.1 et seq. (Act 404 of 1939). The uniformity ground — that your assessment is out of line with similar surrounding properties — rests on Pa. Const. art. VIII, § 1.
If a deadline has already passed
Missed September 1? Nothing is lost. The First Level Review is optional, and the BRT appeal is still open until October 5.
Missed October 5? Your 2027 assessment stands for that year. Philadelphia revalues every property annually, so the next opportunity comes with the 2028 notice the following spring — worth a note in your calendar, because the evidence that supports an appeal rarely changes much from one year to the next.
What to have ready before you file
Both routes come down to evidence. The Board is not persuaded that your taxes feel high; it is persuaded that comparable properties tell a different story than your assessment does. That means recent sales of similar homes near you, or the assessments carried by similar homes near you, presented so the numbers can be checked against the city's own records.
That evidence is what our $39.99 packet assembles. The savings estimate before it is free, needs no email, and will tell you plainly if your property does not have a case worth filing.