If you own a newly built or newly rehabbed Philadelphia home or condo carrying the city's 10-year tax abatement, it's easy to assume the assessment doesn't matter for a decade. It does — and understanding why can save you a great deal of money both now and when the abatement ends.
Philadelphia's 10-year tax abatement exempts the assessed value of new construction or qualifying improvements — the new building, the gut rehab, the added value — from property tax for up to ten years. That is a real and valuable benefit. But it is narrower than many owners think. The abatement covers the improvement portion of your assessment; it does not touch the land.
The Office of Property Assessment (OPA) sets a market value for every parcel through mass appraisal, and it splits that value into two components: land and improvements. The abatement pauses tax on the improvement side. The land underneath your new home is still assessed, and it is still taxed, every single year of the abatement. If OPA has your land value too high, you are overpaying today — abated or not.
An abatement does not put your assessment beyond scrutiny. The land is taxed now, and the full assessed value is what you pay on the day the abatement ends.
There are two reasons the number on your assessment record deserves a hard look even while you're abated.
That second point is the one owners miss most often. An over-assessment locked in during the abatement doesn't hurt on the improvement side while you're exempt — so nobody looks at it. Then the abatement ends, and the inflated value becomes a real, recurring tax bill for years. At roughly 1.4% of assessed value (1.3998%), a value that's ten or fifteen percent too high is a meaningful annual overpayment once it's fully taxed. Our guide to how Philadelphia property taxes are calculated walks through the arithmetic.
One important caution: the terms of Philadelphia's residential abatement were revised in recent years, and the exact schedule that applies to a given property depends on when its building permit was issued. Because the details differ by permit date and program version, we deliberately do not quote a specific percentage schedule here — it would be wrong for many readers. Confirm the precise terms of your abatement, including how long it runs and what it covers, at phila.gov. Knowing your actual terms is the first step to understanding what your assessment means for you.
The question is the same as for any owner: does your assessed (market) value — and specifically its land and improvement split — line up with what genuinely comparable properties have actually sold for? New-construction and newly-rehabbed homes are prone to over-assessment precisely because they're fresh to the roll and often valued off a builder's sale price or a thin set of new-build comps. Our self-check walkthrough shows the underlying math, and the comparable-sales guide explains how to build a defensible case.
Check the record for plain factual errors, too. New construction records are frequently entered from permits and plans, so an overstated square footage, a wrong story or unit count, or a miscoded land parcel is common — and a factual error in the OPA record is one of the cleanest grounds for a reduction.
Being abated does not remove your right to challenge the assessed value. Philadelphia owners use one two-track process. You can start with a First Level Review, an informal request that OPA reconsider, using the form and deadline printed on your annual assessment notice. Or you can file a formal appeal to the Board of Revision of Taxes, whose deadline is generally the first Monday in October of the year before the tax year. Deadlines are strict and can change, so always confirm the current-year rules and dates at phila.gov. No lawyer is required for either path.
For an abated property, the hard part is seeing past the exemption to the value the record actually carries — the land you're taxed on today and the full value you'll pay on tomorrow. TaxAssessmentIQ pulls your live OPA record, shows how your value compares to real recorded sales, tells you whether the gap is worth appealing, and generates a BRT-ready packet. Correcting an over-assessment while you're abated protects your land bill now and your full bill for years after the abatement ends.
Because the abatement only exempts the value of the new construction or improvements — the land underneath is still assessed and still taxed every year, so an inflated land value costs you now. And the full assessed value is what your bill is calculated on the moment the abatement ends. An over-assessment locked in while you are abated quietly becomes a real, recurring tax bill later.
Yes. Being abated does not remove your right to challenge the assessed value. You can use the same two tracks as any owner: an informal First Level Review, using the form and deadline on your annual assessment notice, or a formal appeal to the Board of Revision of Taxes. Confirm the current-year deadlines and rules at phila.gov before you file.
The abatement exempts the assessed value of the new construction or the qualifying improvements — the new building or rehab — for up to ten years. The value of the land, and any pre-existing structure value, remains fully assessed and taxable throughout. The abatement pauses tax on the improvement portion; it does not erase the underlying assessment.
The terms of the residential abatement were revised in recent years, and the exact schedule that applies depends on when the building permit was issued. Because the details differ by permit date and program version, we do not quote a specific percentage schedule here — confirm the precise terms of your own abatement at phila.gov so you know what applies to your property.
When the abatement ends, tax applies to the full assessed value — land plus the previously exempt improvement value — at roughly 1.4% of that value (1.3998%). That is why the assessment set during the abated years matters so much: whatever value is on the record is what you begin paying on in full. Getting an over-assessment corrected before then protects you from an inflated bill for years afterward.
TaxAssessmentIQ gives you a free, honest verdict from the City's own recorded sales — just enter your address, no sign-up and no account. If your home looks over-assessed, you can get a ready-to-file appeal packet for a flat, one-time price, backed by a money-back guarantee. If it isn't worth filing, we tell you that too — for free, before you pay anything.