How to Complete the North Carolina AV-10 Property Tax Exemption Form

The North Carolina AV-10 property tax exemption form is the one-page application a nonprofit, church, school, or other qualifying owner files with the county assessor to remove eligible property from the local tax rolls. You download it from the NC Department of Revenue, fill in the property details and the specific statute that makes the property exempt, and submit it to the assessor in the county where the property sits during the January listing period.¹ For most categories, you only file once.

What to Gather Before You Open the Form

The form itself is short. The preparation is the work. Pull these items together first:

The Parcel Identification Number (PIN) for every parcel the application will cover. You can find it on a prior tax bill or in your county’s online property records. If one application covers multiple parcels, list all of the PINs and attach an extra page if the form runs out of room.
The full legal owner name exactly as it appears on the deed, the property address, and a mailing address where decision notices should go.
The specific statute that fits your property’s use. The AV-10 prints the full list, and the instructions direct you to read the statute text at ncleg.net before applying.
A plain description of what the property is and how it is being used as of January 1 of the tax year. If anyone other than the owner occupies the property, you need their name, how they use the space, and any income the owner receives from them.
Any required attachment for your category: a brownfields agreement for a G.S. 105-277.13 claim, a copy of the local historic designation ordinance for a G.S. 105-278 claim, a certificate of occupancy for a general contractor residence under G.S. 105-277.1D, or the supplemental AV-11 for a continuing care retirement community.

Most county assessors also want copies of your articles of incorporation, bylaws, and IRS determination letter. These are not printed on the form, but assessors use them to confirm you operate on a nonprofit basis with no private profit distribution. Including them with the initial filing avoids a round of follow-up requests.

Pick the Right Statute

Choosing the wrong statute is one of the faster ways to get denied, so match your property’s actual use to the closest statutory description before you check a box.

A church building and the land it sits on, owned by the religious body and used entirely for worship or religious education, falls under G.S. 105-278.3. Leasing part of the building to a for-profit tenant knocks that portion out of the exemption.² A nonprofit educational institution uses G.S. 105-278.4 if it owns the property, operates without distributing profits, and uses the property exclusively for education.³ Charitable organizations such as homes for the aged or sick, SPCAs, nonprofit rescue squads, orphanages, and nonprofits providing low- or moderate-income housing use G.S. 105-278.6, which requires actual and exclusive charitable use.⁴ Groups that don’t fit cleanly into those boxes (scientific, literary, historical, benevolent) often land in G.S. 105-278.7.⁵

Several categories are classified as exclusions under G.S. 105-275 rather than full exemptions, but the AV-10 is still the form you use. These include pollution abatement and recycling equipment certified by the Department of Environmental Quality, 80 percent of the appraised value of equipment used directly and exclusively to convert solar energy to electricity, real and personal property occupied by a charter school and used exclusively for educational purposes regardless of owner, veterans organizations, lodges and fraternal or civic organizations, Goodwill Industries property, and conservation land held by qualifying nonprofits.⁶

Two situations do not use the AV-10 at all. Disabled veterans claiming the $45,000 homestead exclusion under G.S. 105-277.1C use the NCDVA-9 certification through a local veterans service office together with the AV-9 Application for Property Tax Relief.⁷ A family cemetery or other non-commercial burial property is automatically exempt and needs no application; only commercial burial property held for sale or rental of burial rights files the AV-10 once under G.S. 105-278.2(a).⁸

Filling Out the Form

Start at the top with the tax year, the county, and the municipality where the property is located. Leave the municipality line blank if the property sits in an unincorporated area. Municipal taxes are separate from county taxes, and this field tells both jurisdictions the exemption applies.⁹

Enter the full legal name of the owner, the mailing address for notices, and at least one phone number. List every parcel the application covers with its PIN and address. One AV-10 can cover multiple parcels owned by the same entity, which is useful for a campus or a multi-building operation.

In the middle of the form, select the statute. Match your use to the closest description printed on the form, then write in or check the corresponding citation.

The property description section is where assessors focus their attention. Describe what the property is (a building, vacant land, equipment) and specifically how it is being used. A phrase like “charitable purposes” is not enough. Write something concrete: “operates a food pantry serving 200 families per week,” or “houses Sunday worship services and weekday Bible study classes, no commercial tenants.” If someone other than the owner occupies the property, name them, describe their activity, and disclose any rent or other income.

Sign and date the form. An authorized officer of the organization should sign, not a volunteer or a tenant, and the title field should reflect that.

Where and When to File

Submit the completed AV-10 to the county assessor in the county where the property is located. The form prints this instruction in bold and warns against sending it to the NC Department of Revenue.¹ Most counties accept mail and in-person delivery; call your assessor’s office to confirm whether email or fax is also accepted. There is no filing fee.

The regular listing period runs from January 1 through January 31 each year.¹⁰ If you need more time, you can request an individual extension to April 15 for good cause, but you have to request it during the regular listing period.¹¹

Missing the window entirely is not fatal. Under G.S. 105-282.1(a1), a late application can still be approved if you show good cause for the delay. The county board of equalization and review, the board of county commissioners, or the municipal governing body (whichever is appropriate) decides. A late approval only covers the tax year in which you filed. It does not reach backward to earlier years you missed.⁹

After You File

The assessor reviews the application against the actual use of the property, not just the organization’s mission. Expect verification that the use is genuinely and exclusively for the exempt purpose and that the owner operates without distributing profits.

You receive the decision by mail. No statute sets a response deadline, but most counties finish reviews before summer tax bills go out. If you have not heard anything by April, call the tax office for a status check.

If the Application Is Denied

Call the tax office first. A denial often turns on a missing document or an unclear use description that you can fix without a formal appeal. If that doesn’t resolve it, appeal to the local Board of Equalization and Review, which typically starts hearings around the first week of April.¹² You present your case, the county presents its reasoning, and the Board issues a written decision.

If the Board rules against you, you can appeal to the North Carolina Property Tax Commission, which meets monthly in Raleigh. The notice of appeal must be received within 30 days of the Board’s written decision.¹³

One Filing, With Important Exceptions

Most AV-10 exemptions and exclusions require only a single application. Once the county approves it, you don’t reapply each year. That covers the religious, educational, charitable, and hospital categories (G.S. 105-278.3 through 105-278.8) and most of the G.S. 105-275 exclusions, including pollution abatement equipment, solar energy systems, charter school property, veterans organizations, and conservation land.⁹

You do have to file again when something changes: new property acquired, improvements added or removed that affect value, or a change in how the property is being used. A church that converts its fellowship hall into commercial rental space has to notify the assessor and will likely lose the exemption on that portion.

Ignoring a use change is expensive. Under the discovery rules, the county can go back and assess taxes for the current year plus up to five preceding years during which the property escaped taxation, at the rate and value that should have applied in each year. The penalty is 10 percent of the tax owed for the earliest year the property went unlisted, plus another 10 percent of that same amount for each additional year the change went unreported. Three years of silence means back taxes for all three years with compounding penalties stacked on top.¹⁴

Tell the assessor as soon as part of the property changes use. If only a portion of a building shifts to a non-exempt activity, the assessor can often limit the taxable share instead of pulling the whole property back onto the rolls.

1
North Carolina Department of Revenue. Application for Property Tax Exemption or Exclusion
2
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-278.3 – Real and Personal Property Used for Religious Purposes
3
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-278.4 – Real and Personal Property Used for Educational Purposes
4
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statute 105-278.6 – Real and Personal Property Used for Charitable Purposes
5
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 105-278.7 – Real and Personal Property Used for Educational, Scientific, Literary, or Charitable Purposes
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-275 – Property Classified and Excluded From the Tax Base
7
North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Veterans Property Tax Relief
8
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-278.2 – Burial Property
9
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 105-282.1
10
Wake County Government. Exempt Property
11
North Carolina Department of Revenue. Listing Requirements
12
North Carolina Department of Revenue. Property Tax Appeal Process
13
Wake County Government. Board of Equalization and Review
14
North Carolina Department of Revenue. Discoveries and Immaterial Irregularities