The duty of a tax assessor is to estimate the value of property in a given town, city or county. The estimated value is then converted into an assessment before being multiplied by the tax rates in that locality for the determination of the tax bill expected from the property owner. Most people need tax assessors at least once a year when they need to file their annual returns.
This is compulsory to avoid unnecessary problems with Uncle Sam if you own any property in the United States. But in addition to the annual assessment of property, there are some other situations when you might find that you need to use a tax assessor. Such situations include but are not limited to the following-:
Whenever you carry out a major upgrade on your property, it is imperative to call the tax assessors so that they can assess the improvements and ensure that the records of your property are current. Remember, major upgrades to a property may significantly affect the value of that property and place it in a different tax regime. Failing to get the new upgrades assessed tantamount to tax evasion and this might land you into deep problems with the tax authority.
It is only the tax assessor who approves and keeps records of all tax exemptions in your area. Various changes may qualify you for a variety of tax exemptions and when that happens, you will have to seek the services of the tax assessor to approve you for the exemptions. Some of the common exemptions include school tax relief, senior citizen, agriculture, veterans and business exemptions.
No transfer of property can ever be done without the involvement of tax assessors. In such transactions, it is their mandate to review the transfer for accuracy, and also counter check the basic information relating to the property as provided by the seller. They will also check the buyer information as well as the sale price of the property. Additionally, they will have to update the assessment records of the property and verify any unusual conditions which might have affected the transfer of that property.
There are occasions when you may not agree with the value of assessment given out by the assessor. Either, you think that your property has been undervalued or overvalued. When such scenarios arise, the law gives you the power to dispute and appeal the assessment. As part of the appeal process, you are required to get in touch with the tax assessor who did the assessment so that they can shed more light on how they arrived at the figures. If you are still dissatisfied with the assessment after their explanation, you can then go ahead with the full appeal process until a decision is rendered by the appeal’s board.
These are just some of the other instances when you may need to use a tax assessor other than when you need them to assess your property on a regular basis.