Your county Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA) heard your case and said no — or said yes to a reduction so small it barely dents the bill. That determination is not the end of the road. Indiana gives you a second, state-level review before the Indiana Board of Tax Review (IBTR), and the IBTR now runs its docket through an online system called POPLAR — the Portal for Online Property Legal Appeal and Review.
This guide walks through the escalation: the form, the deadline, what POPLAR actually does, how the hearing works, and how to mine past IBTR decisions for cases that look like yours.
The 45-Day Window Is the Whole Ballgame
When the PTABOA rules on your assessment appeal, it issues a written determination — the Form 115 (Notification of Final Assessment Determination). From the date you are notified of that determination, you have 45 days to petition the IBTR.
Miss the window and the PTABOA's number stands for that assessment year. There is no equitable grace period, so treat the Form 115 the way you treated your original Form 11 notice: date-stamp it, calendar the deadline, and decide quickly.
Two related paths worth knowing:
- PTABOA sat on your appeal? If the county board fails to issue a determination within 180 days, you can take the appeal directly to the IBTR rather than waiting indefinitely.
- Exemption cases use a different petition — the Form 132 — filed on the same 45-day clock after the county's Form 120 (Notice of Action on Exemption Application).
The Form 131 Petition
The vehicle for an assessment appeal is the Form 131 — Petition to the Indiana Board of Tax Review for Review of Assessment. The mechanics matter, because a defective petition costs you time:
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Deadline | Not later than 45 days after notification of the PTABOA determination |
| Attachments | Copy of your original PTABOA appeal request (Form 130) and the Form 115 determination |
| Where filed | IBTR central office: 100 N. Senate Avenue, Room N-1026, Indianapolis, IN 46204 |
| Service | You must also send a copy of the petition to the county assessor |
| Scope | Separate petition for each parcel and each assessment year (unless the Board permits consolidation) |
| Grounds | Section 3 requires a detailed explanation of specific reasons — not just "too high" |
Warning
Skipping service on the county assessor makes the petition defective. If the Board finds a defect, it returns the petition and gives you 30 days to correct it — and failure to fix it on resubmission can get the petition denied outright. Fill in every section, attach both documents, and complete the Certificate of Service.
The Grounds for Appeal section deserves real effort. The IBTR is a fresh look, but arriving with the same thin file that lost at the PTABOA is a plan to lose twice. If comparable sales are your strongest evidence — and for most residential appeals they are — build that package properly; our guide to comparable sales evidence for PTABOA appeals applies just as well at the state level.
What POPLAR Actually Does
POPLAR is the IBTR's online docket — the state-level electronic filing and case-management system. You log in with an Access Indiana account (the same credential used across Indiana state services), so there is no separate registration to maintain. Verified features from the IBTR's own pages:
- Electronic filing. File your IBTR appeal and submit materials through the portal instead of paper.
- Automated notifications. The system sends notifications as your case moves, and flags appeals with incomplete IBTR actions so you know when something on your end still needs attention.
- Hearing calendar. A calendar view shows upcoming IBTR hearings.
- Decision search. An online search tool covering IBTR decisions, updated daily.
One boundary to understand: POPLAR is for state-level appeals. If you have not yet been through your county PTABOA, you start there — with the county assessor and the Form 130 process, covered in our Indiana property tax appeal guide. POPLAR picks up where the county process ends.
Small Claims vs. Regular Procedure
Section 2 of the Form 131 asks you to make a choice that shapes the entire case. If the assessed value of the property does not exceed $1,000,000, your petition proceeds under the IBTR's small claims rules (52 IAC 3) by default — unless you check the box to opt out into the standard procedural rules (52 IAC 2).
| Small claims (52 IAC 3) | Standard procedure (52 IAC 2) | |
|---|---|---|
| Default when | Assessed value is $1,000,000 or less | Petitioner opts out, or higher-value property |
| Formality | Streamlined, less formal | Formal adjudicatory proceeding |
| Discovery | Not the focus | Available under the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure |
| Speed | Typically resolved more quickly | Requires significantly more time and resources |
For a typical homeowner, small claims is almost always the right lane: faster, cheaper, and built for parties without counsel. The formal track exists for complex commercial disputes where discovery — depositions, document demands — is worth the cost. Read both rule sets on the IBTR site before electing out; the opt-out is a commitment, not a formality.
The Hearing and What Comes After
The IBTR holds a hearing on your petition — the statute contemplates a hearing within one year of filing, with a decision due within 90 days after the hearing unless an extension is ordered. This is a genuine evidentiary proceeding: you present your case, the assessor presents theirs, and the Board weighs the record. The preparation discipline is the same one that wins at the county level — organized exhibits, a clear value conclusion, and evidence tied to the correct valuation date. Our Marion County PTABOA hearing evidence guide covers that craft in detail.
If the final determination goes against you, two doors remain open:
- Petition for rehearing with the IBTR, filed not later than 15 days after notice of the final determination.
- Judicial review in the Indiana Tax Court, initiated within 45 days of the final determination.
For a fuller comparison of when escalation makes sense at all, see PTABOA vs. the Indiana Board of Tax Review.
Mine Past Decisions Before You File
This is the most underused weapon in the IBTR process. The Board publishes its decisions — the archive on in.gov runs back to 2002, organized by month, and the POPLAR decision search is updated daily.
Tip
Before filing, search decisions involving your county, your property type, and your legal theory. Reading how the Board treated comparable-sales packages, cost-approach disputes, or burden-of-proof questions in cases like yours tells you exactly what evidence carried the day — and what arguments the Board has rejected repeatedly. Citing a parallel final determination in your Grounds for Appeal signals you did the homework.
Pay particular attention to how the Board discusses evidence quality. IBTR final determinations routinely explain why one side's evidence was probative and the other's was not. That reasoning is a free playbook.
Where AribaTax Fits
The IBTR stage rewards preparation, and preparation starts with data. Use our Indiana property explorer to pull your parcel's assessment history and see how your value compares to similar properties, or run a targeted search with the property lookup tool. If you are staring at a Form 115 with the 45-day clock already running, our tax appeal service builds the comparable-sales evidence package that IBTR decisions consistently reward — and helps you decide whether escalation is worth it before you file.
The official resources live at the IBTR site, including the POPLAR portal and the decision archive.