If you opened your Notice of Property Value in January and felt your stomach drop, you have one fight available — and it is not with the Department of Finance. It is with the New York City Tax Commission, an independent agency that exists for one reason: to review the assessed value, tax class, and exemption status that Finance assigned to your property. You file the right form, by the right deadline, with the right backup paperwork. If you miss any of those three, the assessment is locked in until next January.
This is the pre-filing walkthrough — how to build and file your Application for Correction before the March deadlines for the 2026/27 tax year. It is the step that has to happen BEFORE a hearing officer ever looks at your case. Get it right and you have a real shot at a reduction. Get it wrong and the case never starts.
The Two Deadlines That Cannot Be Extended
For the 2026/27 tax year, the NYC Tax Commission has set hard deadlines on its Forms page:
- Tax Class 2, 3, and 4 properties (most rental buildings, co-ops, condos, commercial, and utility property) — your completed Application for Correction must be received by 5:00 PM on Monday, March 2, 2026.
- Tax Class 1 properties (1–3 family homes and most small residential) — your completed Application for Correction must be received by 5:00 PM on Monday, March 16, 2026.
The Tax Commission states these deadlines in capital letters on its own materials, and then states one more time that deadlines cannot be extended. Mail that arrives on March 3 will not be considered. A FedEx envelope tracked but not delivered by 5:00 PM on the deadline date will not be considered. The rule is receipt, not postmark.
There are two narrow exceptions. If Finance sends you a Revised Notice of Property Value dated after February 1 that increases your assessed value or reduces or removes an exemption, you have 20 calendar days from the date of the revised notice to file — and that window overrides the March deadlines. Separately, if Finance issues a decision about a personal exemption dated after May 1, you have 30 calendar days from the date on that notice. Source: Challenging Notice of Property Valuation.
Pick The Right Application Form Before You Touch Anything Else
The most common reason an application gets rejected on the back end is that the owner picked the wrong base form. The Tax Commission uses different application forms for different tax classes and property types. Use the wrong one and your case can be dismissed without a hearing.
- Form TC108 — Valuation claims for all Tax Class 1 properties (1, 2, and 3-family homes; small condos in Class 1; most small residential).
- Form TC101 — Valuation claims for Tax Class 2 or Tax Class 4 properties, OTHER than condominium units. This covers rental apartment buildings, co-op buildings filed at the building level, hotels, office buildings, retail.
- Form TC109 — Valuation claims for condominium units in Tax Class 2 or 4. Individual condo unit owners use TC109. The condo board, when filing on behalf of common elements, uses TC109 with the supplemental schedule.
- Form TC106 — Claims relating to tax classification (you think Finance put you in the wrong class) and certain nonprofit and commercial exemptions including J-51 and 421-a exemption disputes. If you file TC106, the instructions are explicit: you must include all valuation claims on that form.
Two practical notes. First, the form names and numbers are the same year over year, but the Tax Commission re-issues each form with a year suffix (TC108-2026, TC101-2026, etc.) for the 2026/27 cycle — always download the current year’s form from the Application Forms page. Last year’s PDF is not accepted. Second, if you are requesting a change in tax class, the deadline that applies is the deadline for the tax class shown on your Notice of Property Value — not the class you are asking to be moved into. So if Finance has you as Class 2 and you want to be reclassified to Class 1, you still have to file by the Class 2 deadline of March 2.
The Supporting Forms You Will Almost Certainly Need
The base application is one piece of paper. The Tax Commission’s review almost always requires more. The supporting forms most owners get tripped up on:
- Form TC201 — Income and Expense Schedule for rental properties. If your property produces rent, you must file TC201 with the application. The numbers on this form are how the Tax Commission tests whether the assessment makes sense compared to actual cash flow. Honest income reporting is the heart of a successful Class 2 or Class 4 grievance.
- Form TC203 — Income and Expense Schedule for cooperatives and condominiums when the board files on behalf of the building.
- Form TC309 — Accountant’s Certification. Required when the assessed value crosses a threshold. For the 2026/27 tax year, the threshold has moved: under NYC Administrative Code §11-216(b)(2)(d), the assessed value threshold for filing a TC309 is now $5,400,000. If your AV is at or above that figure, an independent CPA has to certify the income and expense statement. Source: Tax Commission Forms page.
- Form TC600 — “How to Appeal a Tentative Assessment.” This is the master instruction packet. The Tax Commission tells every applicant to read TC600 before starting. It is not a form you submit, it is the user manual.
- Form TC610 — Registration for Representatives. If a lawyer, accountant, or other representative is going to file on your behalf, they must register annually. For the 2026/27 cycle, TC610 must be submitted on or before February 12, 2026 — well before the March filing deadline.
The $175 Fee That Surprised Owners in 2025
This one is buried at the top of the Forms page and worth reading twice. The Tax Commission has a rule imposing a $175 fee on Applications for Correction where the assessed value on the Notice of Property Value for 2026/27 is $2 million or more. If multiple condo units file on a single application, the fee applies if the aggregate AV is $2 million or more.
Three things to understand about the fee. One, you do not pay it with the application — the Tax Commission is explicit on that point. Two, the fee gets added to the real property tax bill issued by the Department of Finance, so it shows up downstream. Three, no fee is due if the applicant or representative waives review before the application is scheduled for review. If the fee goes unpaid, the Tax Commission can refuse to review the application and revoke any offer of correction already made. So pick your fights — filing a $2M-plus application that you are not going to follow through on is now an expensive way to make a point.
How To File, Where To File, And What Gets You Disqualified
The Tax Commission accepts completed applications in person or by mail at:
The Tax Commission
1 Centre Street, Room 2400
New York, NY 10007
You can also file at any of the Department of Finance Business Center locations, which sometimes have shorter lines in the final days before the deadline:
- Bronx — 3030 Third Avenue (East 156th Street), Business Center 2nd Floor
- Manhattan — 66 John Street (William Street), Business Center 2nd Floor
- Brooklyn — 210 Joralemon Street, Business Center
- Queens — 144-06 94th Avenue (Sutphin Boulevard), Business Center 1st Floor
- Staten Island — 350 St. Marks Place (Hyatt Street), Business Center 1st Floor
For general questions about your filing, you can reach the Tax Commission by telephone at (212) 669-4410. If you call about a specific property, have the borough, block, and lot ready — without those, staff cannot pull your record. The Tax Commission will only give status on a pending matter when the caller’s contact information matches the record on file. Source: Tax Commission Contact page.
The Finance/Tax Commission Distinction That Trips Owners Up
The Department of Finance and the Tax Commission are separate agencies. Finance values your property and prints the Notice of Property Value. The Tax Commission, an independent body, reviews Finance’s work when a property owner challenges it. The agencies do not share intake counters. Sending the wrong paperwork to the wrong agency does not satisfy your deadline.
One specific trap. If something descriptive on your Notice of Property Value is wrong — the wrong owner name, wrong street address, wrong number of units, wrong square footage — you have to contact Finance, not the Tax Commission, to fix it. Finance has its own request-for-review process for property-description corrections. But filing that descriptive correction with Finance is not a substitute for filing a timely Application for Correction with the Tax Commission about the assessed value. If you only do the Finance description correction, the assessed value sticks for the year.
What Goes In A Strong Application, In Plain English
The Tax Commission is looking for a clear story that the assessment is too high. The best applications:
- State a specific requested value. Don’t say “too high” — say “we believe the correct market value is $X and the correct AV is $Y.”
- Match the income story to TC201 or TC203. If you are filing an income-producing property and your rents are below what Finance assumed, the income schedule has to show it cleanly. Inconsistencies between the narrative and the schedule kill credibility.
- Include comparables. Recent arm’s-length sales of similar buildings in the same neighborhood, by class. For Class 1, recent comparable sales are the heart of the case.
- Surface physical condition issues. Vacancy, deferred maintenance, casualty damage, environmental issues — anything that drags market value below what Finance assumed.
- Attach the TC309 accountant’s certification if your AV is $5.4M or higher. No exceptions for the 2026/27 cycle.
The Three-Week Calendar Before March 2
If you are a small-building or condo owner doing this yourself, the realistic clock looks like this. Pull your Notice of Property Value from the Finance website by mid-February. Download the current TC600 instruction packet and the right base form (TC108, TC101, TC109, or TC106) on the same day. Spend a week gathering rent rolls, expense ledgers, and any comparable sales. Spend a week filling out the application and the income/expense schedule. Build in a final week for proofreading, getting a representative’s signature if needed, and physically delivering the package — never depend on USPS hitting the deadline. If a CPA has to sign a TC309, contact them by early February at the latest; tax-season CPAs are not available the last week of February.
If You Miss The Deadline
The Tax Commission will not consider an Application for Correction received after the deadline, full stop. The next available step is a tax certiorari proceeding in New York State Supreme Court under Article 7 of the Real Property Tax Law (RPTL), but that path requires you to have first exhausted the Tax Commission administrative remedy. Practically speaking: miss March 2 (or March 16), and your only realistic move on the 2026/27 assessment is to plan for next January and the 2027/28 filing window.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a lawyer to file an Application for Correction?
No. The Tax Commission accepts applications filed directly by the owner. For Tax Class 1 properties and most small condo units, owners frequently file pro se. For Class 2 and Class 4 buildings — especially anything at the $2M+ AV threshold — most owners use a tax certiorari attorney or registered representative because the income schedules and supporting documentation are technical. If you do use a representative, they must file Form TC610 by February 12, 2026.
How much does it cost to file?
If your assessed value is under $2 million for the 2026/27 tax year, there is no filing fee. If your AV is $2 million or more, a $175 fee applies — billed through your property tax bill, not paid at filing. Representative fees, if you hire one, are separate.
What is the Tax Commission’s phone number?
The Tax Commission can be reached at (212) 669-4410. Have your borough, block, and lot ready when you call about a specific property.
Where do I mail my application?
The Tax Commission, 1 Centre Street, Room 2400, New York, NY 10007. The application must be received by the deadline — postmark does not count.
Can I file electronically?
The Tax Commission’s published filing instructions for the 2026/27 cycle direct applicants to file in person or by mail at the Centre Street office or at a Department of Finance Business Center. Confirm any electronic options on the current TC600 instruction packet before relying on them, and always retain a stamped copy of the application as proof of timely filing.
What if my Notice of Property Value has the wrong square footage?
Contact the Department of Finance for descriptive corrections. But also file an Application for Correction with the Tax Commission by the deadline — Finance’s description correction does not substitute for the Tax Commission filing.
Tax Disclaimer
Tax advice in this article is informational. Consult a tax professional or the NYC Department of Finance for your specific situation. Statutory citations include NYC Administrative Code §11-216 governing assessed value certifications and the NY Real Property Tax Law (RPTL) governing assessment review procedures. Deadlines, fees, and form thresholds are current to the 2026/27 tax year as published by the NYC Tax Commission; re-verify on the Commission’s official site before filing.
