The Tax Freeze Command Code (TFC Code) is your insider’s guide to the language of Georgia property tax appeals. These terms will help you understand the system more clearly, avoid rookie mistakes, and start speaking the language of winning property tax appeals.
TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW
📜 299c or 299c tax freeze – Informally refers to Georgia statute 48-5-299(c) which explains how a value for an appealed property set for the current tax year is also “frozen” for the next two tax years.
📆 3-year tax freeze – Informally refers to the 299c tax freeze. It loosely refers to the time period when you won’t have to file another appeal.
🏃 Appealathon – Informal term developed by Tax Freeze Command denoting the lengthy timeline of property tax appeals beginning from receipt of the annual assessment notice to filing the appeal to final resolution of the appeal. A complete appealathon is equal to one full appeal cycle.
🏢 BOE aka Board of Equalization – The agency within a county’s superior court that sets up hearings for the review and adjustments property tax assessments to ensure fairness and uniformity of values.
🪑 BOE Hearings – Formal meetings where a panel of specially-trained county homeowner residents hear valuation challenges from property owners against the tax assessors office.
📜 HB 581 – Georgia’s law passed in 2024 that took effect January 1, 2025. HB 581 changed certain elements of the Georgia property tax appeal process. The most important change affecting property tax appellants (the challengers) is preventing widespread abusive appeals from being eligible for 299c. Abusive appeals took advantage of loopholes of the previous version of 299c. Tax Freeze Command doesn’t support the practice of abusive appeals.
🧐 Mass appraisal – The flawed and imprecise method of estimating property values using market sales data, “standardized” methods, statistical analysis, superficial photos, and other so-called “data” with little or no site inspections. Mass appraisals provide loose estimates of property value and nowhere close to formal property appraisals.
📃 “No Change” letter – A TAO response letter informing a property owner that the tax assessors office will stay with the value in the original assessment notice. “No change” letters automatically forward your appeal to the BOE.
📄 PT-306 form – Georgia’s annual property assessment notice. Typically issued in the late Spring and Summer months in most Georgia counties. Deadlines to file appeals are 45-days after the print date of the assessment notice.
📄 PT-306C form – Georgia’s revised property assessment notice. Sometimes issued to property owners to deter property owners from escalating the appeal. All appeals with a PT-306C must be “continued” within 30-days to be eligible for 299c tax freeze. Newbies often make a crucial mistake and lose out on their 299c tax freeze because they are unfamiliar with the entire Georgia property tax process.
📝 PT-311-A form – Georgia’s standard appeal form by Georgia Department of Revenue. Some Georgia counties use variants of the the standard appeal form. Appeal forms must be submitted within 45-days of the print date of the assessment notice.
🤝 Settlement Conference – Little-known “mandatory” meeting embedded within the broader “Appeal to Superior Court” stage. It allows property owners to further escalate their appeal after the BOE. Tax Freeze Command recommends incorporating this stage into your overall Georgia property tax appeal strategy.
🏢 TAO aka Tax Assessors Office – The county agency tasked with doing mass appraisals and setting assessment values of every property in the county.
🕒 Tax Appeal Season – Informal term that loosely begins late spring when annual assessments are mailed out to late fall when all tax appeal deadlines have expired and responses from TAO have been sent out.
The Tax Freeze Command community has its own fun language, code-words, and code-phrases to refer to different people and situations. Learn them and you’ll understand what we are about and the attitude we take!
Level 0: 💤The Unengaged. (People outside the property tax appeal process)
- Sleepers – People unaware or indifferent to the property tax appeal process
- Complainers – People who complain about their property taxes and don’t do anything
- Snoozers – People who know about property tax appeals but can’t wake up enough to take action.
Level 1: 🌅The Awakened. (People who know about the property tax appeal process, want to learn, but not yet filed their first tax appeal.)
- Explorers – These people are passive learners. They poke around to check things out. The browse web pages and check out a few videos. They are mildly interested and bump around.
- Seekers – These people are active learners. They are intentional in their learning. They are reading, researching, and checking out their county’s TAO website. They are watching tax assessor and tax appeal videos especially Tax Freeze Command videos! They bought a Georgia property tax appeal book to read and study.
- Preppers – These are people who have made the commitment to file a property appeal for the very first time. They are taking active steps to prepare to file their first property tax appeal.
Level 2: 🚀The Challengers. (People who have risen to the challenge and filing their first property tax appeal.)
- The Purposeful Challenger – Challengers who are planning to settle with 299c or attend the BOE.
- The Committed Challenger – Challengers who escalate their appeals to the Settlement Conference.
- The Determined Challenger – Challengers who pay the filing fees to set up an official case with Superior Court.
- The Ultimate Challenger – Challengers who make it to a Superior Court hearing.
Level 3: 🏆The Veterans. (People who have completed a full cycle with a value reduction and 299c tax freeze.)
- Junior Veteran – 1 appeal cycle with 299c.
- Engaged Veteran – 2 appeal cycles with 299c or 1 appeal cycle with 299c & Settlement Conference
- Senior Veteran – 3 or more appeal cycles with 299c.
Level 4: ✨The Illuminators. (People who share information, bring attention, and help build awareness of tax appeal process, 299c, Tax Freeze Command, and other important concepts. They also encourage and inspire others to learn how to file tax appeals).
Level 5: ✊The Protectors. (People who advise, advocate, educate, and help others in their community with their property tax appeals.)
- The Defenders – People assist others in their community with their tax appeals as they are able.
- The Guardians – People who provide consistent, ongoing assistance with their tax appeals to their group or community.
Level 6: 🌐 The Ambassadors. (People who are allies and partners of Tax Freeze Command’s style, approach, and philosophy of tax appeals.