Property tax appeals in the Hoosier State — from Indianapolis and the surrounding Marion/Hamilton/Hendricks/Johnson growth counties through Fort Wayne, Northwest Indiana's Calumet Region, South Bend, Lafayette, and the Evansville metro.
Indiana is the Circuit Breaker state. The 1%/2%/3% caps on property tax liability — written into Article 10 §1 of the Indiana Constitution and implemented under IC 6-1.1-20.6 — function as automatic bill ceilings regardless of assessed value. Homesteads cap at 1% of gross AV; other residential and agricultural at 2%; all other property at 3%. The cap is applied as an automatic credit; no application required. Combined with the IC 6-1.1-15-20 burden-shift rule (when assessed value increases more than 5% year over year, the burden of proof shifts to the assessor — at PTABOA, IBTR, AND Indiana Tax Court), Indiana has one of the most taxpayer-favorable statutory frameworks in the country, materially under-used in practice. The procedural sequence runs Form 130 to local assessing official → informal preliminary conference → County PTABOA hearing (Form 115 determination) → Form 131 to Indiana Board of Tax Review within 45 days → Indiana Tax Court within 45 days of IBTR final. Form 130 is generally due June 15 of the assessment year (IC 6-1.1-15-1.1). The hidden lever: the Circuit Breaker cap as automatic bill ceiling — for homesteads in higher-millage Indiana jurisdictions, the 1% cap is binding, meaning value appeals only move the bill when the bill is currently below the cap or when the appeal is large enough to push pre-credit liability below the cap. Pre-checking your cap status before filing Form 130 separates valuable appeals from non-bill-moving ones.
For the full procedural framework, evidence rules, IBTR small-claims and full-proceeding mechanics, the IC 6-1.1-15-20 burden-shift rule applied step by step, and 10 county-specific quick-reference accordions covering Marion (Indianapolis), Lake (Crown Point/Gary), Allen (Fort Wayne), Hamilton (Carmel/Fishers), St. Joseph (South Bend), Vanderburgh (Evansville), Tippecanoe (Lafayette/Purdue), Porter (Valparaiso), Hendricks, and Johnson, see:
→ Indiana Property Tax Appeals — The Complete Guide
The complete guide covers all 12 sections of our state-cornerstone schema: quick facts, how IN assessments work (true tax value at 100%, annual trending plus 4-year cyclical reassessment, Circuit Breaker mechanics), when appeals make sense, the multi-tier appeal process (Form 130 / PTABOA / IBTR / Indiana Tax Court), evidence rules, what wins at IBTR, exemptions and deductions (post-SEA 1 of 2025 Standard and Supplemental Homestead Deduction transition + new $300 Supplemental Homestead Credit + Over 65 + Disabled Veterans + Mortgage Deduction repeal), county-by-county quick references, recent context on the SEA 1 reform package, FAQ, service-company landscape, and primary sources.
The Property Tax Desk publishes editorial guidance grounded in primary state and county sources. Our coverage of Indiana:
See /methodology/ for our editorial review process and /editorial-policy/ for our YMYL standards.
The Property Tax Desk Editorial Team