Remember what you learned in grade school about the Boston Tea Party? It was essentially that this country was founded on the principle of "No taxation without representation."
This maxim translates in the property tax sphere into the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. All states in this country have them.
Essentially, rights accorded to those who pay property taxes are set forth in the state constitution and statutes.
In Florida, property taxpayers have all the rights set forth below. Inquire of your local property tax professional regarding the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights in the state where your property is situated.
Florida Taxpayer's Bill of Rights
Taxpayer's Bill of Rights
In the year 2000, the Florida Legislature passed the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (Section 192.0105, Florida Statutes) which provides for property taxes and assessments to guarantee that the rights, privacy, and property of the taxpayers of this state are adequately safeguarded and protected during tax levy, assessment, collection, and enforcement processes administered under the revenue laws of this state. The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights compiles, in one document, brief but comprehensive statements that summarize the rights and obligations of the property appraisers, tax collectors, clerks of the court, local governing boards, the Department of Revenue, and taxpayers. Specific safeguards include:
1. The right to know
(a) The right to be mailed notice of proposed property taxes and proposed or adopted non-ad valorem assessments.
(b) The right to notification of a public hearing on each taxing authority's tentative budget and proposed millage rate and advertisement of a public hearing to finalize the budget and adopt a millage rate.
(c) The right to advertised notice of the amount by which the tentatively adopted millage rate results in taxes that exceed the previous year's taxes.
(d) The right that the adopted millage rate will not exceed the tentatively adopted millage rate. If the tentative rate exceeds the proposed rate, each taxpayer shall be mailed notice comparing his or her taxes under the tentatively adopted millage rate to the taxes under the previously proposed rate, before a hearing to finalize the budget and adopt millage.
2. The right to notice
(a) The right to be sent notice by first-class mail of a non-ad valorem assessment hearing at least 10 days before the hearing with pertinent information, including the total amount to be levied against each parcel.
(b) The right of an exemption recipient to be sent a renewal application for that exemption, the right to a receipt for homestead exemption claim when filed, and the right to notice of denial of the exemption.
(c) The right, on property determined not to have been entitled to homestead exemption in a prior year, to notice of intent from the property appraiser to record notice of tax lien and the right to pay tax, penalty, and interest before a tax lien is recorded for any prior year.
(d) The right to be informed during the tax collection process, including: notice of tax due; notice of back taxes; notice of late taxes and assessments and consequences of nonpayment; opportunity to pay estimated taxes and non-ad valorem assessments when the tax roll will not be certified in time; notice when interest begins to accrue on delinquent provisional taxes; notice of the right to prepay estimated taxes by installment; a statement of the taxpayer's estimated tax liability for use in making installment payments; and notice of right to defer taxes and non-ad valorem assessments on homestead property.
(e) The right to an advertisement in a newspaper listing names of taxpayers who are delinquent in paying tangible personal property taxes, with amounts due, and giving notice that interest is accruing at 18 percent and that, unless taxes are paid, warrants will be issued, prior to petition made with the circuit court for an order to seize and sell property.
(f) The right to be mailed notice when a petition has been filed with the court for an order to seize and sell property and the right to be mailed notice, and to be served notice by the sheriff, before the date of sale, that application for tax deed has been made and property will be sold unless back taxes are paid.
3. The right to due process
(a) The right to an informal conference with the property appraiser to present facts the taxpayer considers to support changing the assessment and to have the property appraiser present facts supportive of the assessment upon proper request of any taxpayer who objects to the assessment placed on his or her property.
(b) The right to petition the value adjustment board over objections to assessments, denial of exemption, denial of agricultural classification, denial of historic classification, denial of high-water recharge classification, disapproval of tax deferral, and any penalties on deferred taxes imposed for incorrect information willfully filed. Payment of estimated taxes does not preclude the right of the taxpayer to challenge his or her assessment.
(c) The right to file a petition for exemption or agricultural classification with the value adjustment board when an application deadline is missed, upon demonstration of particular extenuating circumstances for filing late.
(d) The right to the hearing within 4 hours of scheduled time.
(e) The right to file a petition with the Value Adjustment Board to petition the denial of an exemption or an agricultural classification.
(f) The right to prior notice of the value adjustment board's hearing date and
The right to notice of date of certification of tax rolls and receipt of property record card.
(g) The right, in value adjustment board proceedings, to have all evidence presented and considered at a public hearing at the scheduled time, to be represented by an attorney or agent, to have witnesses sworn and cross- examined, and to examine property appraisers or evaluators employed by the board who present testimony. (Note that the Florida courts have not declared representation of taxpayers before the V.A.B. to constitute the unauthorized practice of law. The courts of other states have so declared. See 767 A.2d 1144 (Pennsylvania), 38 N.E.2d 149 (Illinois), 770 N.E.2d 328 (Indiana), 642 N.E.2d 71 (Ohio).
(h) The right to be mailed a timely written decision by the value adjustment board containing findings of fact and conclusions of law and reasons for upholding or overturning the determination of the property appraiser, and the right to advertised notice of all board actions, including appropriate narrative and column descriptions, in brief and nontechnical language. The taxpayer's 60 days in which to file a lawsuit never began to run where the Board's decision did not meet these standards. Palm Beach Community Hospital v. Nikolits, 754 So.2d 729 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999).
(i) Regarding special assessments, to provide written objections and to provide testimony to the local governing board.
(i) The right to bring an action in circuit court to challenge value adjustment board decisions relating to value, disapproval of an exemption or denial of a tax deferral.
4. The right to redress
(a) The right to early discounts for payment of taxes and non-ad valorem assessments collected by the tax collector, the right to pay installment payments with discounts, and the right to pay delinquent personal property taxes under an installment payment program when implemented by the county tax collector.
(b) The right upon filing of a challenge in circuit court and paying taxes admitted in good faith to be owing, to be issued a receipt and have suspended all procedures for the collection of taxes until the final disposition of the action.
(c) The right to have penalties reduced or waived upon a showing of good cause when a return is not intentionally filed late, and the right to pay interest at a reduced rate if the court finds that the amount of tax owed by the taxpayer is greater than the amount the taxpayer has in good faith admitted and paid.
(d) The right to a refund of taxes upon making proper and timely request.
(e) The right to extension to file a tangible personal property tax return upon making a proper and timely request.
(f) The right to redeem tax certificates at any time before a tax deed is issued, and the right to have tax certificates canceled if sold where taxes had been paid or if other error makes it void or correctable. Property owners have the right to be free from contact by certificate holders for two years.
(g) The right of the taxpayer, property appraiser, tax collector, or the department as the prevailing party in a judicial or administrative action brought or maintained without the support of justiciable issues of fact or law, to recover all costs of the administrative or judicial action, including reasonable attorney's fees, and of the department and the taxpayer to settle such claims through negotiations.
5. The right to confidentiality
(a) The right to have information kept confidential, including federal tax information, ad valorem tax returns, social security numbers, all financial records produced by the taxpayer, Form DR-219 returns for documentary stamp tax information, and sworn statements of gross income, copies of federal income tax returns for the prior year, wage and earnings statements (W-2 forms), and other documents. (Note that confidentiality probably does not continue to exist in those cases where the taxpayer administratively or judicially challenges the assessment and the Property Appraiser seeks to use the otherwise-confidential information to meet that challenge. An analogous situation is that medical records which would otherwise be within the doctor-patient privilege become discoverable when the patient sues for personal injuries or malpractice.)
(b) The right to limiting access to a taxpayer's records by a property appraiser, the Department of Revenue, and the Auditor General only to those instances in which it is determined that such records are necessary to determine either the classification or the value of taxable nonhomestead property.
