Business owners face many expenses they need to plan for, but if you own your business property, a significant cost will be an annual property tax.
Property tax amounts depend on a variety of things.
First and foremost is the assessed value of your land and business building. This value is determined by a local taxing authority, such as a county assessor, and it can vary annually.
The assessed value of the property is then used to calculate taxes based on the budget needs of a variety of taxing districts such as cities, counties and school districts.
When you get your property tax bill you should look at it closely and compare it to previous assessments. You have the right to appeal an assessment, and you might want to consider doing just that, especially if there has been a substantial increase in the value of your property.
Before challenging your property tax, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the appeal process, paying close attention to any deadlines and process requirements. You’ll also need to gather and organize your evidence, which could include comparable business values in your area and evidence of any mistakes made by the assessor in property size or improvements.
Rather than doing all this work yourself, you might consider consulting an expert—such as a lawyer or tax advisor—who can help you through the process.
If all this sounds difficult, it can be, but it can potentially save your business a substantial amount of money if you can prove your tax bill was figured to be too high.