Michigan Commercial Property Tax Appeals

When a commercial property is sold in Michigan, the taxable value "uncaps" — meaning it resets to the full State Equalized Value (SEV) in the year following the transfer. For long-held properties, this can cause a dramatic increase in your tax bill, sometimes doubling or tripling it overnight. Even after uncapping, the new assessed value may be too high and can be challenged through the Tax Tribunal if it exceeds true cash value. Post-purchase appeals are among the most successful cases we handle because the assessor's SEV is often disconnected from what a new owner actually paid. Read our Michigan uncapping guide for a full walkthrough of the transfer-of-ownership rules.

The deadline to file a petition with the Michigan Tax Tribunal is May 31 of the tax year. Missing that date locks you into the current assessed value for the year, and the overpayment often compounds into the future because Proposal A caps annual growth on whatever baseline you end up with. Because municipalities mail assessment notices on different schedules in February, waiting for a notice before starting your review is risky. We recommend beginning the review process well before May 31 so there is time to gather income data, comparable sales, and condition documentation. Our breakdown of 2026 Michigan assessment increases shows which jurisdictions are seeing the sharpest jumps this cycle. Start your free review today to protect your filing window.

No — Michigan commercial and industrial owners are not required to appear at the local Board of Review before filing with the Tax Tribunal. Residential owners have to go through the Board of Review first, but commercial classifications can file directly with the Tribunal by May 31. That said, attending the March Board of Review can still be useful as a way to test the assessor's assumptions, build a documentary record, and sometimes obtain an informal reduction without a formal Tribunal filing. For most commercial cases, though, the Tribunal is a more effective forum because it offers an independent judge, formal rules of evidence, and a settlement-driven docket where most cases resolve before hearing.

EPTA represents commercial property owners across all Michigan counties, including Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Genesee, Washtenaw, Kalamazoo, Ingham, Ottawa, Saginaw, Grand Traverse, and more. Whether your property is in metro Detroit or outstate Michigan, we can help.

Any commercially classified property in Michigan can file an appeal with the Tax Tribunal, and EPTA handles the full spectrum. We regularly represent owners of retail centers and shopping plazas, office buildings, and industrial warehouses and distribution centers. We also handle multifamily apartments, healthcare facilities, self-storage properties, and special-use buildings. Each property type requires a tailored valuation approach — the comparable sales and income data that support a retail appeal differ substantially from those used for an industrial property — and our team has the experience to apply the right methodology in each case.

The clearest sign is a gap between your property's assessed value and what it would actually sell for in today's market. Other red flags include a recent purchase at a price below the assessed value, high vacancy or below-market rents that the assessor hasn't accounted for, and deferred maintenance or functional issues that reduce the property's worth. Our over-assessment diagnostic tool can help you evaluate your situation quickly. For a deeper understanding of how assessors arrive at their numbers, review our commercial property tax assessment guide.

EPTA handles Michigan commercial property tax appeals on a pure contingency basis — there are no upfront fees, no retainers, and no hourly billing. If we don't reduce your assessment and save you money, you owe us nothing. This fee structure ensures our incentives are fully aligned with yours: we only get paid when you see real, measurable tax relief hit your bottom line. It also means there is no financial risk to finding out whether your property is over-assessed in the first place. The Michigan Tax Tribunal process can take 12 to 24 months to resolve, and we carry your case through every step of it without charging you a dime unless we deliver savings.