F. Property Tax Appeal Procedure

• Library: Practical Guide to Commercial Real Estate in South Carolina (SCBar) (2012 Ed.)

F. Property Tax Appeal Procedure

Taxpayers often disagree with the county tax assessor or the Department of Revenue on property tax exemptions or valuation.²¹⁹ The South Carolina Revenue Procedures Act, S.C. Code Ann. § 12-60-1730, et seq. sets forth the appeal procedure which needs to be followed in the appeal of any property tax assessment or denial of an exemption.

A taxpayer may appeal any property tax assessment or denial of an exemption by filing a written protest with the County Assessor.²²⁰ In the case of a County-wide reassessment, a taxpayer meets the written notice requirement by requesting in writing to meet with the Assessor. In years in which there is a County-wide reassessment, the taxpayer must give the Assessor written notice of his/her objection to the Assessor's determination of fair market value, special use value, the assessment ratio or the property tax assessment (which would include denial of an exemption). The written notice of objection must be given to the Assessor within ninety (90) days after the Assessor mails the property tax assessment notice.²²¹ In all other years, a taxpayer may appeal the fair market value, the special use value, the assessment ratio or the property tax assessment at any time during the year.²²² The appeal must be submitted to the Assessor in writing. The appeal may be filed at any time before the first penalty date for the property tax year. This date is typically around the 15^th of January. If an appeal is submitted after that date, the appeal is for the year in which the appeal is filed.²²³

There is no form or formal language which needs to be filed to perfect an appeal. In fact, the statute simply provides: "A property taxpayer may object to a property tax assessment made by a county assessor by request in writing to meet with the Assessor within the time limits provided in S.C. Code Ann. § 12-60-2510. This written request is a notice of objection for purposes of this subarticle."²²⁴

Once the written request is filed with the Assessor, the Assessor schedules a meeting with the taxpayer to discuss the taxpayer's protests. If the Assessor does not agree with the taxpayer, the Assessor hands the taxpayer or his representative a form and explains to the taxpayer that he may protest the Assessor's decision by filing the form within thirty (30) days with the Assessor. Once the form is filed, the Assessor responds in writing and advises that the taxpayer has the right to appeal the Assessor's decision to the County Board of Assessment Appeals. It should be noted that in valuation cases, a taxpayer will experience little success if he simply tells the Assessor that he disagrees with the Assessor's value. To prevail, the taxpayer must demonstrate to the Assessor that the market data supports the taxpayer's indication of value or that similarly situated properties are assessed at a value similar to the value claimed by the taxpayer.

If the taxpayer wishes to appeal the Assessor's valuation, he may do so by filing, within thirty (30) days after the date of the Assessor's response, an appeal to the County Board of Assessment Appeals with the County Assessor.²²⁵ It is important to note that the appeal is filed with the County Assessor, not the County Appeals Board. An extension of time to file an appeal may be granted by the Assessor if the request for an extension of time is timely filed within the thirty (30) day filing period.

The County Board of Tax Appeals may rule on "any of the elements of the property tax assessment, and claims of a legal or factual nature."²²⁶ It may not rule on claims relating to property tax...