How to Fill Out and File Indiana Form 136: Qualifying, Filing, and Appeals

Indiana Form 136 is the application a nonprofit or other qualifying organization files to exempt real or personal property from property tax. There is no filing fee. You submit two copies to the county assessor where the property sits, and the deadline is April 1 of the assessment year.¹ The form itself is only four pages, but the documentation requirements are strict, and the county board can deny an application outright for missing attachments or unanswered questions.

Confirm Your Property Qualifies First

Indiana exempts property from taxation when it is owned, occupied, and used for educational, literary, scientific, religious, or charitable purposes.² All three conditions must be met at once. Owning a building but leasing it to a for-profit tenant doesn’t qualify, even if your organization is tax-exempt under federal law. Towns, cities, townships, and counties can also claim the exemption when they use property for educational, literary, scientific, fraternal, or charitable work.

Land qualifies when an exempt building sits on it, when a parking lot serves an exempt building, or when a nonprofit land-conservation entity holds a tract of 500 acres or fewer without making a profit.² Vacant land bought for a future exempt building can also qualify, but you must show substantial progress toward construction within four years: filed building plans, a working building committee, dedicated cash reserves. Sell or transfer that vacant land before building and you owe back taxes for every year the exemption was in place starting from the fourth year after purchase.

Personal property used in the exempt mission — furniture, computers, vehicles, equipment — can also go on Form 136.³

If your property is used partly for exempt purposes and partly for something else, you can still qualify when exempt use exceeds 50% of the total time the property is used during the year ending on the assessment date.⁴ Churches, religious societies, and nonprofit schools that clear that bar get a total exemption; other nonprofits get a proportional one based on how much of the time the property is used for exempt work. Below 50%, no exemption applies. One trap: time when a predominant part of the property is used for a trade or business not substantially related to the exempt mission doesn’t count as exempt use, even if your charitable programs run in the same space.

Documents to Gather Before You Start

Pull these together before you open the form. The form itself warns that failure to provide the required materials “may be grounds for a denial.”³

Articles of incorporation or other organizational documents showing your exempt purpose
Bylaws of the organization
Financial statements for the last three years, including balance sheets and a summary of income and expenditures⁵
IRS determination letter confirming federal tax-exempt status
Property record card, available from the county assessor’s office

If the county assessor finds you haven’t included all required records, they must notify you in writing by April 25. You then have 30 days from that notice to supply the missing items. Miss that window and the PTABOA must deny your application.⁶

Working Through the Form

Form 136 runs four pages. Every question on the first three pages must be answered. If a question doesn’t apply, write “N/A” rather than leaving it blank.³ Page four is reserved for the PTABOA’s action and isn’t your responsibility.

Identifying Information

The top of the form asks for the organization’s name, address, federal taxpayer identification number, the county and township, the parcel number, and the legal description of the property. Pull the parcel number and legal description from your deed or prior tax records so they match the assessor’s files exactly. If you’re claiming the exemption for personal property, enter the assessed value and the assessment date of January 1.

Describing the Use

This is the core of the application. You identify each part of the property, explain how it is used, and state the specific statute under which you’re claiming the exemption. For mixed-use properties, detail the percentage of time each area is used for exempt versus non-exempt activities during the year ending on the assessment date. That is the data the assessor uses to apply the predominant-use calculation. If the property includes vacant land, explain the plans for future development and how they connect to the exempt mission.

Linking Use to Purpose

You also state the organization’s purposes and explain how the property’s use serves those purposes. Cross-reference what you write against your articles of incorporation and bylaws. Inconsistencies between the form and your organizational documents are one of the fastest ways to get denied or draw extra questions at the hearing.

Signature

The person who signs attests under penalty of perjury that a predominant part of the property is not being used for a trade or business unrelated to the organization’s exempt purpose.⁶ Only the property owner can sign, unless another person holds an executed power of attorney. Don’t let a bookkeeper or office manager sign without that authority on file.

Where and How to File

File two copies of the completed application with the county assessor in the county where the property is located.⁶ The deadline is April 1 of the assessment year, and the exemption applies only to that year’s taxes. Miss April 1 and you lose the exemption for the entire year and wait until the next cycle to reapply.

Some counties accept electronic submissions, but physical delivery or certified mail is the safer choice when you need proof of a timely filing. What counts is when the assessor receives it, not when you drop it in the mailbox, so build in lead time. The form is available from the Department of Local Government Finance website or in person at any county assessor’s office.¹

What Happens After You File

The County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA) reviews your application and supporting documents and issues one of three decisions: approval, partial approval, or denial.⁵ The decision comes to you on Form 120, the Notice of Action on Exemption Application.¹

You may be asked to attend a hearing where board members question you about the organization’s operations, how the property is used day to day, and whether the financial records line up with the exempt purpose. Bring copies of everything you submitted, and bring anyone who can speak to the property’s actual daily use.

If the PTABOA goes more than 180 days without issuing a decision, you don’t have to keep waiting. You can petition the Indiana Board of Tax Review directly to approve or deny the exemption.⁷

If You’re Denied

A denial or partial approval on Form 120 can be appealed to the Indiana Board of Tax Review by filing a Form 131 petition. The IBTR runs an electronic filing system called POPLAR for submitting appeal materials and tracking your case.⁸ The window to file is limited, so act quickly after Form 120 arrives. If you later disagree with the IBTR’s decision, the next step is judicial review in Indiana Tax Court.

Refiling in Later Years

Form 136 is generally filed annually, but the state waives the annual requirement for certain organizations. You do not need to refile each year if your property is used for religious purposes under IC 6-1.1-10-21, educational or charitable purposes under IC 6-1.1-10-16, or is owned by a fraternity or sorority under IC 6-1.1-10-24, provided you filed a proper application at least once and the property still meets the requirements.⁹ Even with the waiver, the form instructions suggest refiling every even year as a practical matter, and you must file in any year when an appeal to the IBTR or a court is pending from a prior year.³

If the property changes hands or its use shifts so that it no longer qualifies, the county assessor terminates the exemption for the next assessment date. If the property stays eligible after a transfer or change in use, the exemption remains in place for that assessment date, but the new owner or current holder must file a fresh Form 136 for the following year.⁹ For ownership changes specifically, the Department of Local Government Finance provides a separate Form 136-CO/U (Notice of Change of Ownership of Exempt Property) to report the transfer.¹

1
Indiana Department of Local Government Finance. Exemptions
2
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 6-1.1-10-16 – Exemption of Building, Land, and Personal Property Used for Various Purposes
3
Indiana Department of Local Government Finance. Application for Property Tax Exemption – Form 136
4
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 6-1.1-10-36.3
5
indy.gov. Apply for a Not for Profit Exemption
6
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 6-1.1-11-3
7
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 6-1.1-11-7
8
Indiana Board of Tax Review. Indiana Board of Tax Review
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Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 6-1.1-11-4 – Exemption Application Not Required in Certain Years