Tag: property tax

How Can I Lower My Commercial Property Taxes?

Posted by Hecht Walker, P.C.
Posted on May 21, 2018


There are many difficult struggles involved in owning a business, and one of these is the problem of constantly making sure your business is staying profitable. If your company is in a state with a high property tax, it’s helpful to know how you can reduce your property tax burden. The last thing any business owner wants to do is to sell or close the business because of uncertainty related to managing property taxes. There are a few things you should know that may help lower your commercial property taxes as a business owner.

How Can I Keep My Commercial Property Taxes Low?

  • Understand that property tax is not a fixed cost: A big mistake that business owners might make is to treat their commercial property taxes just like their income taxes. Income tax is a fixed cost, but property tax is a variable amount. Oftentimes, a company will attempt to focus their property tax filing on making sure their taxes are being paid on time without really examining whether they’re paying a fair amount. It will be up to you, as the business owner, to decide if local taxing jurisdictions have overstated your property’s tax value.
  • Ensure your property is in the right jurisdiction and maintain correct asset records: Sometimes, certain personal property will be put under your personal name instead of your business name. If you move your property across state lines, or if certain machinery is moved or discarded, records need to be properly kept in order to avoid paying unnecessary personal property taxes.
  • Know how to classify your assets properly: There’s a big difference between taxable and non-taxable real estate and personal property. Make sure that you’re classifying each piece of personal property correctly when you report it to your tax jurisdiction.
  • Shop around in neighboring jurisdictions: If you’re building a new business, you should always keep your eye on neighboring states and different jurisdictions within a state, so you can find the best tax rate for your company.

Knowing how to keep your commercial property taxes reduced is crucial if you want to maximize your business’s potential. However, this can be a lot to handle if you’re a small business or if you’re just unfamiliar with commercial taxes. Contact the attorneys at Hecht Walker, P.C. for more information.

How Are Commercial Property Taxes Assessed?

Posted by Hecht Walker, P.C.
Posted on May 7, 2018


Depending on your location and other important factors, your property taxes will represent an important part of your overall tax payments. Property tax revenue is extremely important for a city like Atlanta’s resources and services, such as public utilities, roads, and law enforcement protection. Since property taxes are important for your city’s growth and maintenance, it’s important to know how Georgia’s local governments determine how your commercial property tax duty is assessed.

What Form of Assessment Is Used?

The most common approach for your local government to assess your commercial property taxes is to give you an income and expense form. This form will request commercial property owners to give more details on all of the income and expenses that they have acquired this past year. For your rental income, the form will ask you questions regarding your purchase of the property and if there have been any additional changes since the purchase, such as a structure improvement or structure demolition. This will help determine if there is additional property value that wasn’t accounted for in other assessments, which will then change your tax assessment. It’s also crucial that commercial property owners identify all expenses relating to their property in this form as well. Expenses can include management fees, other agency fees, any legal fees, advertising fees, payroll, insurance, utilities, supplies, repairs and maintenance, etc. Your safest bet as a business owner is to list all expenses, and then let the assessors figure out which costs are relevant or not.

Once the assessors receive your income and expense form, they use a relevant cap rate to determine what the initial value of your commercial property is. They will then take that value and calculate your expected local taxes for the upcoming year.

For commercial property owners, knowing how your local government calculates your property value will help you predict your property’s future financial worth. Knowing this process will also better prepare you for determining if you should appeal your commercial property taxes. For more information on your commercial property and taxes Contact Hecht Walker, P.C. .

How to File Your Property Tax Appeal in Atlanta

Posted by Hecht Walker, P.C.
Posted on April 7, 2018


If you have a company in a big and growing city like Atlanta, you can expect your property tax amounts to fluctuate, and they recently have probably increased dramatically. As an Atlanta business owner, you have the right to challenge the value of your property taxes that your assessors have placed on your commercial property. There is a specific property tax appeal process that Atlanta business owners should know about in case you disagree with your tax assessment.

How Does My Business File an Appeal?

First, your business must file a proper Notice of Appeal to the County Board of Tax Assessors within 45 days of your County’s Tax Assessment and Valuation notice. The Board of Assessors will review your property value and then send your business a notice of their decision. The decision will either let you know if a change will be made, or it will refer you pursue your issue further with another hearing board or an arbitration hearing. Sometimes the change that the board agrees to can still not be enough for your business, so you can ask at that point to continue the appeal, which will usually happen through a Board of Equalization appeal. If your company owns the property, keep in mind that only a licensed attorney can represent your business in court, not you as an individual.

Before going into this process, your Atlanta business should assess three things about your commercial property in order to best win your case: uniformity, sales, and finances. Before filing your appeal, locate other properties in your area that are comparable to your business. Uniformity is a big factor that can exclude your property in a tax appeal. You should also attempt to compare sales market values to other similar properties, as well as other mortgage and interest expenses. These three factors will help give a better evaluation of how high your taxes really are on your property.

Our Atlanta property tax and appeal attorneys can help you and your company through this complicated appeal process, and we can help assist you in finding out the grounds for assessing your property value. Contact us today for your consultation.