Massachusetts Fiscal Year 2020 Property Tax Bills Are To Be Issued
Most jurisdictions in Massachusetts sent out there Actual Fiscal Year 2020 Property Tax Bills in December of 2019. The Actual Property Tax Bill is the first tax bill of the Fiscal Year that contains an assessed value and a tax rate. It is from this Actual Property Tax Bill that rights of appeal accrue. In most cases the Fiscal Year 2020 filing deadline is February 1, 2020. It is important to review your Actual Property Tax Bill as many communities in the Commonwealth are revaluing. In most cases the timely payment of property taxes is a jurisdictional prerequisite to a valid property tax appeal. Timely payment means that payment must be mailed to the Tax Collector by the due date. It is incumbent on the taxpayer to prove the date of mailing. Taxpayers need to be vigilant as the taxing authority has the advantage at every turn.
New Hampshire Property Tax Bills Are Soon To Issue
Most communities in New Hampshire have sent out their 2019 property tax bills. These tax bills have an assessing date of April 1, 2019. The property tax assessment of taxable real estate should be the fee simple market value of the property as of April 1, 2019, multiplied by the jurisdiction’s median assessment ratio. If your property is assessed in excess of that amount you may have grounds for a tax appeal. In general, Abatement Applications must be filed with the local assessors by March 1, 2020. If you are aggrieved by the action or inaction of the local assessors, you may file a petition with the State Board of Tax and Land Appeals or the Superior Court in the County where the property is located. The deadline for filing the petitions is generally September 1, 2020. There you will be afforded a full hearing on the merits where the rules of evidence will apply.
New Hampshire 2019 Property Tax Bills to be sent out soon
Most jurisdictions in New Hampshire will soon be sending out their 2019 property tax bills. The valuation date for the 2019 property tax bills is April 1, 2019. If a party is aggrieved by the assessment he has until March 1, 2020 to file an Abatement Application. An Applicant must be careful to consider the tax assessment on all property that he owns in the jurisdiction. New Hampshire has an unusual rule whereby the Assessors may take into account the assessment of each parcel of property owned by the Applicant despite the fact that only one parcel of property is being appealed. The Assessors can deny the Applicant’s Application on an over assessed parcel of property if the Applicant owns an under assessed parcel of property in the same jurisdiction. In other words, the Assessors may set off one property tax assessment against another property tax assessment if they are owned by the same entity.
The Commencement Of A Property Tax Appeal Must Meet Certain Criteria
In almost most cases in order to commence a valid property tax appeal in Massachusetts a taxpayer is required to show that it filed an Application for Abatement on or before the deadline. That Application for Abatement must be filed with the assessors of the city or town that assessed the property. The Application for Abatement must be completed on a form. The form must be one that has been approved by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. If the taxpayer is late filing, even by just one day, the appeal is not valid. If the application is sent to someone other than the assessors e.g. the tax collector, the appeal is not valid. If the application is not on a form approved by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue the appeal is not valid. There are many ways to invalidate procedurally an otherwise meritorious appeal from the start of the process.
In Massachusetts Be Prepared For Expensive Access To Justice
The deadline for filing most petitions to the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board is approaching. The filing fees required to enter your petition are the highest in the nation. The filing fees generally started at $100 for property assessed at up to $1,000,000. For assessed values over $1,000,000 the filing fee is 10 cents per thousand in addition to the $100. This incremental increase in filing fees increases to a maximum of $5,000. A $5,000 filing fee would apply to $50,000,000 assessment, a $4,000 filing fee would apply to a $40,000,000 and so on. These filing fees apply to every fiscal year a tax assessment is appealed, e.g. if there are two years pending at the Appellate Tax Board two separate filing fees must be paid. The filing fees are a significant expense. If you are not aware, these filing fees can be an unpleasant surprise.
New Hampshire Inventory Blanks are Due April 15th
In New Hampshire every taxpayer must file an Inventory Blank with the local assessors by April 15th in order to preserve their right of a future property tax appeal. The requirement of filing an Inventory Blank can be waived by a city or town. Many cities and towns, by way of local election have waived the requirement of filing Inventory Blanks. In cities and towns that require the Inventory Blank, on or before March 25th of each year the Inventory Blank form is sent to each taxpayer. The Inventory Blank requires that the taxpayer provide under oath a description of the real estate taxable, other information needed by the assessing officials to assess the property at its true value, and a census of all persons occupying the premises among other things. If you receive an Inventory Blank from the assessors do not ignore it otherwise you will be at the doom of the assessors.
