You can win your Gwinnett County property tax appeal! But you have to gather strong evidence to support your assertion of over-assessment of your property’s taxable value. You can request the assistance of an experienced tax consultant in this matter as well, for an effective and efficient presentation of the evidence.
Evidence Strongly Influenced by Grounds
The type of evidence that must be gathered will largely depend on the stated grounds for appeal. Your formal letter of appeal or your appeal form should clearly state the grounds of appeal that you want the Tax Assessor to look into. You can use as many grounds as possible in your appeal with your tax consultant assisting in your final choices.
What are the grounds for appeal and what are its impact on your evidence-gathering efforts? First, appeal based on value means that you disagree with the land value and the property improvement value of your property. Your research will focus on recent sales of similar homes, current market conditions, and neighborhood values to prove that your property has been over-assessed.
Second, appeal based on uniformity means that you disagree with the Gwinnett County property tax appraiser and assessor because your property’s taxable value varies beyond reasonable justification relative to your neighbors’ property values. Your evidence will also be based on matters similar to a value-based appeal.
Third, appeal based on exemption denied means that you have not been granted the tax exemptions for which you are qualified. Your tax exemptions can cover basic exemptions for residential property, senior citizen exemptions, and military service exemptions, among others. Your tax consultant can discuss the eligibility and documentary requirements for these exemptions; you can present the appropriate documents as part of your evidence during the appeals hearing.
Fourth, appeal based on taxability means that your property was still considered taxable when it should have been non-taxable or exempt from taxes. This is true for non-profit and conservation property, which should have the necessary documents to prove your assertions of non-taxability.
You should ideally first confer with the Gwinnett County property tax authorities particularly the Tax Assessor before making any drastic moves. Keep in mind that tax assessors are just humans and, thus, they can make mistakes, too.
Your job as a property owner and taxpayer is to call their attention to the tax-related mistakes and present solid evidence, which can be used to change the value even without an administrative appeal. Even when an administrative appeal is necessary, your professional approach to evidence collection, organization and presentation will win points in your favor.
Useful Evidence
You will find that several types of evidence are useful in all appeals regardless of their grounds. You and your tax consultant will strive to gather reliable and relevant evidence regarding a recent appraisal of your property; a contractor’s report regarding the repair work necessary in your home including the project’s estimated cost; documents pertaining to the actual sales prices of homes similar to yours especially in your neighborhood; and photographs of similar homes along with their taxable values or sales prices, as the case may be. You can also add evidence about the errors committed on your property’s tax records.
During the Gwinnett County property tax appeals hearing, you will likely only have ten minutes for case presentation thus the need for effective and efficient presentation of your evidence. Be sure to bring extra copies so that everybody concerned can have their own copy, too.
