Tennessee Tax Information Sponsored by Caruthers & Associates
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State Board of Equalization
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Truth in Taxation
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Caruthers Property Tax Letter
Article 9. Be Sure to Appeal to the County Board of Equalization
Each year we consult with many taxpayers who have decided to protest their
taxes, but only decided to do so after the tax bills were received. It was
only then did they realize the real impact of the taxes which are the
results of the assessments made much earlier. The opportunities for such
taxpayers to appeal their property taxes are very restricted.
There is one instance where a taxpayer can still appeal to the county board of equalization after receiving a tax
bill. The one we can think of arises if the taxpayer's property is located
inside the Memphis City limits and the taxpayer acts very quickly. This is
because the City usually sends their tax bills to taxpayers in June and
the County Board will typically accept appeals until the end of June.
However, this does not work most of the time. Most taxpayers in the State
become aware of their taxes in October, the month that most cities and
counties send their tax bills to taxpayers. By October, it is too late in
any county to protest the assessments and taxes in the typical fashion.
The counties do not send a notice of assessment (Sent in May) to the
taxpayer unless the assessment has changed. If the tax rate goes up and
then the bill comes in October, the results could be; well, tragic.
It is unfortunate that some taxpayers do not become aware of how much their
taxes and assessments really are until too late to do anything about them.
Although difficult, there may be some remedies.
First, the taxpayer has until March 1 following the tax year in question in which to file an appeal with the State Board of Equalization to show reasonable cause why the taxpayer did not first appeal to the county board of equalization. This is not an easy remedy because the State Board of Equalization has held many times that the only acceptable reason for failing to appear before the county board is due to a serious illness. On some occasions they have held that if misled by the assessor as to the value, would be reasonable cause.
This is a very narrow interpretation by the State Board and we believe this interpretation was not the intent of the legislation. In fact, we are sure of it. Our firm drafted the legislation and successfully lobbied the Legislature for passage of this taxpayer's right. In view of the State Board interpretation, we plan to obtain a clarification of the intent of the legislation from the Legislature. We are certain there are other reasonable causes as to why a taxpayer did not appeal to the county board of equalization.
The next remedy permits the taxpayer until March 1 of the 2nd year following the tax year in question to discover an error in making the assessment. Any error, however, is limited to clerical errors ascertainable from the face of the official tax records. This is also a difficult remedy. We have been successful in this remedy, so we always consider this option and search thoroughly for errors.
If the assessor fails to send a taxpayer a notice of a change in assessment, the taxpayer may file an appeal directly to the State Board of Equalization. The taxpayer must prove the assessor did not "send" the notice, an almost impossible task. Only in cases where the assessor sent the notice to the wrong address and the assessor had been notified of the correct address, have we seen any of these type appeals accepted.
One other remedy, but limited to personal property assessments, is the taxpayer's right to file an amended personal property return. Again our firm drafted and successfully lobbied this legislation for passage. The legislation permits the taxpayer to file an amended schedule to correct any errors made in the original filing. Prior to passage of this legislation, the taxpayer was stuck with any errors which caused excessive taxes. The taxpayer may file the amended schedule anytime on or before September 1 of the year following the tax year. Please keep one very important point in mind; only those taxpayers who filed on time (on or before March 1) with the assessor are permitted to file an amended schedule.
If you have not heard from the assessor within 60 days the assessor is presumed to have denied the schedule. So watch your dates. The assessor does not have to send the taxpayer a notice and there are only 45 days to appeal after the 60 day period has passed.
There you have it. These are the only ways to appeal an assessment on a value issue which did not first get appealed to the county board of equalization. Some assessors will let you bypass the county boards, but only with their written permission and with a deadline the same as the county boards. There are also direct appeals to the State Board for special reasons such as increased back assessments and requests for exemptions.
The final route to a late assessment appeal solution is if the issue is limited to a strictly legal one. So please check with your attorney for the correct procedure and if your reason qualifies. What we offer is only a guideline which we know has been used before. The courts will let you bypass the assessors and all the boards of equalization and appeal directly to the courts if there are no value issues present. The taxpayer is required to pay the taxes under protest and then there is a six month limit within which to file the lawsuit. Since the very large majority of issues involve the values of the properties, this solution is not much help to most taxpayers.
It is difficult for taxpayers to keep up with all the taxes they have to pay and the reports they have to file. However, this is one of those taxes you almost cannot do anything about after you find out how much the taxes are.
Try to make plans to protest to the county boards on time so that the tax bills which come later, will not be a surprise.
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