How to Complete North Carolina Property Tax Forms: Listing, Relief, and Appeals

To meet your annual obligations in North Carolina, you’ll work with a short set of property tax forms: a county listing form for personal property and newly built improvements, Form AV-9 for individual tax relief, Form AV-10 for organizational exemptions, Form AV-5 for farm or timber land, and Form AV-14 if you need to appeal a valuation. All of them run on the same calendar. Ownership and value are fixed as of January 1, and listings are due by January 31 unless your county grants an extension.¹²

What Requires a Filing and What Doesn’t

Real property already on the county’s permanent records (land and existing buildings) is listed automatically. You don’t refile for a house that hasn’t changed. What does require an active filing from you each January is personal property, improvements the county doesn’t yet know about, and relief applications. The listing period runs from the first business day of January through January 31.²

Before you touch any form, pull together the parcel identification number assigned by the county, your current legal name and mailing address, and the physical address of each parcel. The PIN format varies, so check your most recent tax bill or the county GIS system.

Individual Personal Property Listing Form

If you own any of the following as of January 1, list them with the county tax office during the listing period:

Watercraft, including boats and jet skis
Aircraft, including planes, helicopters, and hot air balloons
Mobile homes, regardless of whether the land underneath is yours
Unregistered motor vehicles and trailers
Multiyear tagged trailers that carry a permanent plate

Registered motor vehicles with standard annual plates are taxed through a separate system at renewal and do not belong on the listing form. For everything that does belong, you’ll report a description, year of acquisition, and original cost so the county can calculate depreciated value. The form itself comes from your county tax office, and most counties post it online.

Business Personal Property Listing Form

Business owners list all tangible personal property used to produce income. NCDOR publishes the Business Personal Property Listing Form each year with supporting schedules (A-1, A-2, B-1, and others depending on the property type).³ Under G.S. 105-306, property owned by a corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association is listed in the entity’s name; sole-proprietorship property is listed under the owner’s name with the business name and address noted on the abstract.⁴

For each asset (equipment, furniture, machinery, computers, leasehold improvements) you report original cost and year acquired. The county applies published depreciation schedules to arrive at taxable value. Leased equipment is a common trip-up: if your business possesses it as of January 1, it generally needs to appear on your listing even if another entity holds title. Check the form instructions for your county’s specific treatment.

Form AV-9: Property Tax Relief for Individuals

Form AV-9 is the application for individual property tax relief and covers three separate programs on a single form.⁵ You file it with your county tax office, not with the state, and you complete only the section matching the program you’re claiming.

Elderly or Disabled Exclusion

Under G.S. 105-277.1, homeowners who are at least 65 or totally and permanently disabled can exclude the greater of $25,000 or 50 percent of the home’s appraised value.⁶ For the 2026 tax year, total household income for the preceding year cannot exceed $38,800.⁷ Income counts Social Security, pensions, interest, and essentially all money received. Gifts and inheritances from a spouse or direct ancestor or descendant are excluded.

If you’re claiming the exclusion based on disability rather than age, you also need Form AV-9A, a Certification of Disability signed by a physician licensed in North Carolina or by a government agency authorized to make disability determinations.⁸ A general letter from your doctor won’t substitute; the county needs the AV-9A specifically.

Disabled Veteran Exclusion

G.S. 105-277.1C excludes the first $45,000 of a qualifying residence’s appraised value.⁹ The veteran must have an honorable or under-honorable-conditions discharge plus one of: a VA or federal certification of permanent and total service-connected disability, receipt of benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 2101 for specially adapted housing, or death resulting from a service-connected condition (in which case a surviving spouse may apply). There is no income limit for this exclusion.

On the AV-9, complete the Disabled Veteran section with service details and disability rating, then attach the VA award letter or federal agency certification. If the rating or service details don’t match the VA records, the county will deny the application and you’ll refile.

Circuit Breaker Program

The third program on Form AV-9 is the Homestead Circuit Breaker under G.S. 105-277.1B. Instead of excluding part of your home’s value, it defers the portion of your tax bill above a set percentage of your income. You must be at least 65 or totally and permanently disabled and meet an annually adjusted income ceiling that sits above the elderly or disabled exclusion threshold. The deferred taxes become a lien on the property and come due when you sell or transfer the home. Treat it as a loan against your house, not a forgiven tax.

Form AV-10: Exemptions for Nonprofits and Religious or Educational Organizations

Organizations apply for property tax exemptions on Form AV-10, which is distinct from the AV-9 used by individuals.¹⁰ The form covers exemptions under several statutes, including G.S. 105-278.3 (religious purposes), 105-278.4 (educational institutions), 105-278.5 (religious educational assemblies), and 105-278.7 (other charitable and educational uses).

Federal 501(c)(3) status alone does not guarantee a North Carolina property tax exemption. The county evaluates two questions independently: whether the organization qualifies as charitable, religious, educational, or scientific, and whether the specific property is actually used for that exempt purpose. A church renting part of its building as commercial office space may find that portion denied. Organizations under 501(c)(4) or 501(c)(6) generally do not qualify unless they’re also engaged in charitable or educational activities. File Form AV-10 with your county assessor’s office along with your articles of incorporation, IRS determination letter, and a description of how the property is used.

Form AV-5: Present-Use Value for Farm and Timber Land

Owners of agricultural, horticultural, or forestry land can apply for a reduced “present use value” assessment using Form AV-5, filed with the county tax office.¹¹ Minimum acreage and income rules vary by use:

Agriculture: at least 10 acres in actual production with an average gross income of at least $1,000 per year over the previous three years
Horticulture: at least 5 acres in production, same $1,000 annual income average
Forestry: at least 20 acres in production, with no income requirement

The savings can be substantial because farmland and timberland are often assessed well below what the same acreage would bring as a development site. But if the land is later sold to a developer or taken out of qualifying use, the county imposes a rollback: the most recent three years of deferred taxes become immediately due, plus interest. Deferred taxes older than that are forgiven. Factor the rollback in before enrolling.

Form AV-14: Appealing Your Property Valuation

If you believe the county overvalued your property, file Form AV-14 (Notice of Appeal and Application for Hearing) with your county’s Board of Equalization and Review.¹² The board typically begins meeting around the first week of April, and your written request must arrive before the board adjourns for the year.¹³ You carry the burden of proving the county’s value was substantially higher than market value as of January 1 of the last reappraisal year, usually with comparable sales, an independent appraisal effective January 1 of that year, or evidence that comparable properties were assessed lower.

How to Submit Your Forms and Request an Extension

You can submit listing forms and relief applications to your county tax assessor in person, by mail, or through an online portal where one is offered. If you mail, postmark date determines timeliness, so use certified mail or request a receipt when you’re close to January 31. Online portals typically give an instant confirmation that serves as proof of filing. After processing, you’ll receive either a notice of assessed value or a confirmation of your exemption status. Read it carefully. The appeal window is limited.

If you can’t meet January 31, submit a written extension request to the county assessor by that same date.² You need to show good cause. Illness, being out of state, or waiting on third-party records are routinely accepted; a vague “I was busy” is not. Individual extensions cannot run past April 15. Counties that allow electronic listing of personal property may push that electronic deadline to June 1. Separately, the board of county commissioners can grant a blanket extension for all taxpayers (up to 30 extra days in a normal year, or 60 in a revaluation year), so check your county’s website in January.

What Happens If You Don’t File

Skipping or forgetting your annual listing doesn’t make the tax disappear; it compounds it. When the county later discovers unlisted property through an audit or other means, it bills the back taxes plus a stacking penalty: 10 percent of the tax for the first year the property went unlisted, and another 10 percent for each subsequent year it stayed off the rolls, capped at 60 percent per tax year. Each year is calculated separately and totaled on one bill.¹⁴ After five or six years of non-listing, combined penalties can nearly double the underlying tax.

These discovery penalties apply to personal property and to improvements on real property that were never listed or that were listed at a substantial understatement. They also apply to property that received an exemption or exclusion it didn’t qualify for. Land itself is not subject to discovery penalties because the assessor, not the taxpayer, lists land under the permanent listing system.

Deliberately filing a false listing is a separate matter. Under G.S. 105-310, anyone who willfully signs an abstract they don’t believe to be true and correct as to every material matter is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.¹⁵ County governing boards do have authority to waive discovery penalties in whole or in part, but it’s discretionary, not something to count on.

1
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-285 – Date as of Which Property Is to Be Listed and Appraised
2
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-307 – Length of Listing Period; Extension; Preliminary Work
3
North Carolina Department of Revenue. 2026 Business Personal Property Listing Form
4
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-306 – In Whose Name Personal Property Is to Be Listed
5
North Carolina Department of Revenue. North Carolina Property Tax Forms
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-277.1 – Elderly or Disabled Property Tax Homestead Exclusion
7
North Carolina Department of Revenue. Application for Property Tax Relief
8
North Carolina Department of Revenue. AV-9A Certification of Disability for Property Tax Exclusion
9
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-277.1C – Disabled Veteran Property Tax Homestead Exclusion
10
North Carolina Department of Revenue. AV-10 Application for Property Tax Exemption or Exclusion
11
North Carolina Department of Revenue. AV-5 Application for Present-Use Value Assessment
12
North Carolina Department of Revenue. Form AV-14, Notice of Appeal and Application for Hearing
13
North Carolina Department of Revenue. Property Tax Appeal Process
14
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-312 – Discovery of Property Not Listed
15
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-310 – Affirmation; Penalty for False Affirmation