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How to appeal property tax in San Francisco

To appeal property tax in San Francisco, compare your enrolled value to market value as of January 1. If you qualify, file a free informal decline-in-value review with the Assessor-Recorder between January 2 and March 31. If you need a hearing or missed that window, file form BOE-305-AH with the Assessment Appeals Board from July 2 through September 15 and pay the $120 fee. Present adjusted comparable sales at the hearing.

That is the whole sequence. This page is the worked San Francisco version of our national how-to. Deadlines, fees, and evidence rules here are county-specific; do not import another California county's calendar. AppealKit is a flat-fee tool that helps you build the packet. It is not a law firm, and this is not legal or tax advice.

The local hub is San Francisco property tax appeal. The date-only version is the deadline calendar.

What date is my San Francisco assessment actually for?

Everything points at January 1, the lien date. A decline in value exists in any year when market value on that date is less than the factored base-year value on the roll (Apply for a decline-in-value). You are not proving what the house would sell for today, or what Zillow says this week. You are proving January 1.

The tax year those numbers feed is July 1 through June 30. For a 2026 filing, the roll year is 2026/2027 and the value date is January 1, 2026. Comparable sales must be timed to that date — the comps guide is the method; the rule of thumb is: older than January 1 is allowed, later than 90 days after January 1 is not (BOE FAQs).

Should I start with the free informal review?

Yes, if you still can and you qualify. The Assessor-Recorder's informal review runs January 2 through March 31, costs nothing, and has no hearing. Eligible property: single-family dwellings, residential condominiums, townhouses, live-work lofts, and cooperative units. The office will not accept third-party filings. Submit two comparable sales as close as possible to January 1 and no later than March 31; later sales are ignored. Results are mailed in July as the Notice of Assessed Value (SF.gov).

If the Assessor agrees, your enrolled value comes down for that year. If not, the number simply stays. There is no penalty for asking, and a Proposition 8 reduction is reviewed again the following January 1.

Two limits. First, tenancy-in-common units cannot use informal review because they lack separate parcel numbers; TIC owners go straight to the Assessment Appeals Board (decline-in-value FAQ). Second, the informal window does not extend September 15. If March 31 has passed — as it has for the 2026 cycle — use the formal path. You may also file both: informal first, formal later if you disagree with the July notice.

How to file the informal request: the Assessor prefers the community portal (search the parcel, then Other Filings → Informal Assessment Review Request). Paper still works: mail, fax, or email the form to the Assessor-Recorder, City Hall Room 190, attention Informal Review (apply page).

How do I gather evidence the San Francisco board will actually use?

Use the sales-comparison approach in Publication 30. Three tests for every sale: Was it arm's-length and exposed to the market? Is the property physically similar (distance, zoning, beds and baths, year built, living-area square footage, lot, view, quality, condition)? Is the closing date relevant to January 1?

Then adjust. A sale with an extra bathroom or a better view is worth more than yours, so you adjust that sale price down before you compare. Compare on price per square foot of living area, excluding garage, porch, and patio. Three to five tight closed sales beat a long list of weak ones. Listing-site automated estimates are not evidence.

The error the state calls the most common in all assessment appeals is using sales more than 90 days after the valuation date. For a January 1 lien date, that bars closings after about April 1. Informal review is stricter: March 31. A perfect June sale is still out.

San Francisco neighborhoods are not interchangeable. Planning lists 37 named neighborhoods; Noe Valley is not the Mission, and Inner Sunset is not Outer Sunset. Condos: start in the same building. Condition: dated photos plus a contractor's written estimate. Record-card errors (wrong square footage, phantom bedrooms) are the easiest wins because they are facts, not opinions. See how assessors value your home for the method you are arguing against.

How do I file the formal San Francisco property tax appeal?

The window is July 2 through September 15. For fiscal year 2026/2027 that means Thursday, July 2, 2026 through Tuesday, September 15, 2026. Applications must be submitted or postmarked by that date. The Board will not accept late filings. No exceptions (AAB).

Use San Francisco's BOE-305-AH, Assessment Appeal Application — also still called Application for Changed Assessment in local materials. Do not use another county's form or a generic state sample. If someone other than you, a spouse, parent, child, or a California-licensed attorney will handle the case, attach the Agent Authorization form.

State an opinion of value. Leaving it blank makes the application incomplete. For a residential decline-in-value case, that opinion is fair market value as of January 1, backed by the comps. Be modest: claim the number the grid supports, not a wish.

File online for regular assessments of secured and unsecured property during the July 2–September 15 window. Base-year, supplemental, escape, and roll-correction appeals cannot be filed online; those go by mail or in person to Assessment Appeals Board, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, City Hall, Room 405, San Francisco, CA 94102; phone (415) 554-6778 (AAB).

Why is San Francisco's deadline September 15, not November 30?

Some California counties use November 30. San Francisco does not. State law gives counties the later date unless the Assessor mails a notice of assessed value to all secured-roll owners by August 1. San Francisco typically mails the Notice of Assessed Value in July, which is why this county sits in the September 15 group. Mark September 15. The deadlines page covers the 60-day clocks for supplemental and escape notices, which are easy to miss because they are not the regular window.

How much does filing cost, and can the fee be waived?

A non-refundable $120 administrative processing fee must accompany each application, effective August 1, 2025, checks payable to City and County of San Francisco ("CCSF"). The fee is waived if (a) you would qualify for a waiver of court fees under Government Code section 68632, (b) the property is assessed at $7,500 or less, or (c) the difference between the assessed value and your opinion of value is $7,500 or less (AAB fees).

If the case is heard by a full Board panel and the property is assessed above $250,000, a hearing fee is due at least 30 days before the hearing ($100 in the $250,001–$2,000,000 band, then a published ladder). No hearing fee if you elect a hearing officer or the property is assessed at $250,000 or less. Withdraw in writing at least 30 days before the hearing to get that hearing fee back. Findings of fact, if you want them for Superior Court, are $430 per hour.

The county fee is separate from AppealKit's flat fee for building the packet. We do not take a percentage of savings. You file the county form yourself.

What is the San Francisco Assessment Appeals Board hearing like?

Less formal than court, in the state's own words (Publication 30). The Board is independent of the Assessor. You will be notified at least 45 days before the first hearing. The Board has up to two years from a timely filing to hear and decide. Many files resolve by a written stipulation with the Assessor before anyone sits down.

For an owner-occupied single-family principal residence, the Assessor bears the burden of proof and presents first. Bring the evidence anyway: the Board can only consider what is presented live. Hearing officer (single-family, condo, co-op, or four units or fewer): three document sets, less formality, either side has 14 days to reject the recommendation and demand a three-member panel. Full Board: six sets. The Board can decrease, confirm, or increase the value (BOE FAQs). That risk is why a thin case belongs in the free informal review, not at a formal hearing. Fail to appear and the application is denied. The dedicated walkthrough is the AAB hearing guide. You do not need a lawyer (do I need a lawyer?).

What if I received a supplemental or escape notice instead of the July roll?

Do not use September 15 blindly. A supplemental assessment (change in ownership or new construction) is appealed within 60 days of the Assessor mailing the supplemental notice — or, if no notice arrived, within 60 days of the supplemental tax bill, with a perjury declaration that no notice was received. An escape assessment is appealed within 60 days of the tax bill. A calamity reassessment is appealed within six months of the notice. Base-year challenges have their own multi-year window. Those filings are paper-only. The deadlines page is the calendar; this paragraph is the warning not to miss a 60-day clock because you were waiting for July (AAB information page; BOE Publication 30).

What should I do while I wait — and what else lowers the bill?

Keep paying. Secured installments are delinquent after 5:00 p.m. on December 10 and April 10; late payments take a 10% penalty (Treasurer). A win produces a refund with interest, not permission to skip the bill.

Check the homeowners' exemption if you occupy the home: up to $7,000 off assessed value, about $80 a year, full amount if filed by 5:00 p.m. February 15 (exemption page). It is a separate lever from the appeal.

Ready to test whether the January 1 comps actually support a lower number? The free check does that without an account. If they do not, we say so — before you spend $120.

FAQ

How do I appeal my property taxes in San Francisco?

Anchor on January 1 market value. If you qualify, file the Assessor's free informal review by March 31 with two comps no later than that date. File a formal BOE-305-AH with the Assessment Appeals Board between July 2 and September 15 (September 15, 2026 for the current cycle) with the $120 fee, then present adjusted comparable sales at the hearing. Informal review does not extend the formal deadline (sf.gov).

Can I still use the informal review in 2026?

Not for 2026/2027. That window ran January 2 through March 31, 2026 and is closed. Use the formal Assessment Appeals Board process by September 15, 2026. The informal cycle repeats each year (sf.gov apply-decline-value).

Are TIC units eligible for San Francisco informal review?

No. The Assessor excludes tenancy-in-common units because they do not have separate parcel numbers. TIC owners file a formal Application for Changed Assessment with the Assessment Appeals Board during July 2–September 15 (sf.gov decline-in-value FAQ).

What form do I use?

BOE-305-AH, Assessment Appeal Application, from the San Francisco Assessment Appeals Board — not another county's form. Local materials may still say Application for Changed Assessment; it is the same instrument (BOE; sf.gov AAB).

Can I file a San Francisco property tax appeal online?

Yes, for regular assessments of secured and unsecured property during July 2–September 15. Base-year, supplemental, escape, and roll-correction appeals must be filed on paper at City Hall Room 405 (sf.gov AAB).

Do I have to attach all my comps to the application?

Anything attached still has to be presented at the hearing to count as evidence. The application needs a complete opinion of value; the hearing is where the grid does the work (BOE Publication 30; BOE FAQs).

Can the Board raise my assessment?

Yes. Based on the evidence, it can decrease, confirm, or increase the value. The free informal review cannot raise you; disagreement leaves the roll unchanged (BOE FAQs).

Do I need a lawyer?

No. You may represent yourself. Family members and California-licensed attorneys do not need a separate agent authorization; other agents do (Publication 30; AAB information page).

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This is general information, not legal or tax advice. AppealKit is a self-service tool, not your representative.