Filing form can lower your property taxes

Act soon to boost your odds of being noticed at the tax assessor’s office.

If you own real estate in Georgia, you’ve got a property tax bill coming.

It’s going to happen, probably around the first week in June. And when it happens, you’ll probably wish you had done something ahead of time to make the amount of that tax bill tax smaller.

Here are some of the questions I am most frequently asked about how to lower property taxes:

Q: Why are we talking about this now? It’s only the middle of February!

A: Great question, with two answers: No. 1: You have probably been paying more than your fair share of property tax. No. 2: Now is the time to do something about it.

Q: So what do we need to know?

A. In Georgia, our property tax is an ad valorem tax, meaning each owner pays his fair share based on the assessed value of that property on Jan. 1.

Your local tax assessor is responsible for determining that value.

Typically, a valuation does not happen every year, and because of the recent volatility in housing prices, a review of value may save you hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars.

However, it is your responsibility to take control of the process for 2018.

Q: I plan to sell my house in a few years. Won’t a low tax value hurt my resale price?

A. No! There is absolutely no relationship whatsoever between the assessed value for property tax purposes and the real market value of the property.

While all of us want our homes to be worth as much as possible when we sell, you needn’t worry that a low property tax assessment will hurt your selling price should you later decide to sell.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2018, every owner has the opportunity to file a Taxpayers Return of Property with the Tax Assessor of the county where the property is located. This form simply notifies the assessor of your opinion of the value of the property in question on Jan. 1, 2018.

The form is known as “Georgia PT-50R” and can be found on my website at Money99.com. It should only take about 10 minutes to fill out. This form may be used in every county in Georgia.

Q: How do I come up with a value to submit?

A. Your estimate of value needs to be reasonable. It should be based on sales of comparable homes which occurred during the 12-month period between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2017.

If possible, find at least three sales which are a) similar in age, style, and size to yours; b) have the same bedroom and bathroom count; and c) are located within a mile of your home. Local real estate agents can help you locate these sales. In addition, recent sales data can often be found on websites like Realtor. com and Zillow.com.

Q: Any other tips?

A. Make sure your estimate of value for 2018 is lower than the assessed value assigned for last year. If it looks to you like your value is truly higher, don’t file anything. The assessor may simply leave your assessment “as is.”

Because this is simply your estimate of value, you don’t have to be able to back it up with data. Filing the form simply tells the county you want them to re-examine their estimate of value before they propose a valuation for 2018 later this year. Q: And what do I do with this form?

A. Your completed Georgia Form PT-50R should be mailed or hand-delivered to the local Board of Tax Assessors by April 1, 2018. (Since that date is a Sunday this year, an April 1 postmark is acceptable, even if received on April 2.) And the sooner you do it, the better your odds of gaining the attention of a real person at the assessor’s office.

Every day that passes between now and April 1 will mark an exponential increase in demands on the time of the tax assessors. Eventually they will simply be unable to respond to review requests.

For your best chance of success, my advice is to file your return during the month of February.

Q: Is this something I can do online?

A. Some counties, like Gwinnett, allow you to file your form online.

However, the safest method of filing is to hand it to the assessor and get a receipt. Submitting that paperwork tells the county you want them to review 2017 sales data before they calculate a proposed valuation for 2018.

We’ll examine each of these steps in more detail as we move into the tax season, but the bottom line is this: You can save significant sums of money by making sure the county is not overcharging you for your property taxes.

On my website at Money99. com, you can download my 2018 Special Report entitled “How To Lower Your Property Tax in Georgia.” In the report, we look at the new Georgia laws surrounding property taxation and how they can benefit owners.