Home > The Board of Finance and Revenue > Requirements of a Petition
Description of the tax appeal process
What happens after a petition is filed
After a petition is filed with BF&R, the docketing section sends a confirmation letter to the Petitioner or his representative. If the petition was not notarized as required, an affidavit form will be sent to the Petitioner. Once the petition is processed, it is assigned to a staff member to review. At that time, the staff member will contact the Petitioner to discuss the appeal. Once the staff member has all of the necessary information, he or she will prepare a brief that each BF&R designee will receive prior to the hearing date. The brief discusses the relevant facts, points of law, and points of contention. The attorneys working for BF&R are counsel to BF&R, and as such, the briefs are confidential and protected attorney work product. The staff members will not discuss the contents of the brief with the Petitioner.
Appeal time frame
Description of hearings
Hearings are generally scheduled two days per month, always on a Tuesday and a Wednesday. Hearings consist of an oral argument made by the Petitioner or representative before BF&R. Oral argument is limited to five minutes. That may not sound like much time, but remember, BF&R designees already know the facts and issues of the appeal. A decision will not be issued from the bench. In most instances, a decision is mailed by the following Friday via certified mail.
Currently, BF&R holds video-conferencing from two sites located in Allegheny County and Erie. In order to use a video facility, you must indicate your intent to do so, in writing to BF&R, prior to the scheduled hearing date.
BF&R conducts video-conferencing from:
ACBA Services, Inc. (Allegheny County Bar Association)
400 Koppers Building
436 Seventh Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
(412) 261-5588
www.acbaservices.com
Erie County Bar Association
302 West 9th Street
Erie, PA 16502
(814) 459-3111
www.eriebar.com
Hearings via video-conferencing are only scheduled on the Wednesday of the predetermined
hearings dates.
Hearings are held at ACBA Services from 9:30 AM to 11:00AM and at the Erie County Bar Association from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM. BF&R begins its Wednesday hearings at 9:00 AM, as usual, with those appearing personally in Harrisburg. Upon conclusion of the “live” Wednesday hearings, BF&R will begin the video-conferences by calling one of the sites during the stated hours of operation. Each Petitioner, or representative, will be invited to address BF&R on a first come/first served basis. Petitioners, or representatives, will be required to sign in at the site as they arrive and will be expected to police themselves in regard to order of appearance.
Please note that BF&R will not be responsible for the quality of the video connection or other technical difficulties which may occur during a video-conference session. BF&R retains the right to terminate any video-conference at its discretion. BF&R may resume a video conference hearing that is interrupted due to poor transmission quality or otherwise via a telephone conference. BF&R may also continue the hearing to the next scheduled hearing date, when necessary.
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