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The first step to annually appealing your property taxes is to send a written notice to the appraisal review board (ARB) for the county in which your home is located. Even if you have not received a notice of assessed value from the appraisal district, file a notice of appeal by May 31st.

Alternative Minimum Tax consequences are not a result of cost segregation. Nor is cost segregation accelerated depreciation. Decisions regarding cost segregation and accelerated depreciation are independent by the four options as illustrated in the following matrix:

If you have not paid taxes in the past, you may face serious tax problems. You may notice this when a specific amount of debt appears on your statement of account.

Cost segregation is simply an accurate way to allocate the cost basis of real estate and establish a depreciation schedule. The real estate depreciation schedule is often established by allocating a portion of the cost basis to land and allocating the balance to a long term depreciation recovery period (27.5 or 39-yr straight-line depreciation).

By understanding business tax deductions, business owners may enjoy personal benefits from business expenditures - a nice car to drive, a combination business trip/vacation, retirement savings plan - if they follow the myriad tax rules.

Property taxes are a substantial expense for Texas homeowners, averaging about $3,600 annually. To reduce this expense, property owners should annually review and consider appealing property taxes. While there is no guarantee that an appeal will be successful, a recent survey conducted by O'Connor & Associates indicates that 70% of property tax appeals are successful.

Most people see new home construction in their neighborhood as a good thing. New homes typically help increase the market value of properties, so when someone in an older home goes to sell, they often can ask a higher price than areas without new construction.

A casualty loss may occur as a result of a flood, hurricane, tornado, mudslide or other natural disaster. The intuitive thought pattern is: “My apartment complex worth $5,000,000 suffered major damage totaling $1,500,000 for repairs and rent loss.

To receive a disabled veteran tax exemption, you must be either a veteran who was disabled while serving with the U.S. armed forces or the surviving spouse or child (under 18 years of age and unmarried) of either a disabled veteran or of a member of the armed forces who was killed while on active duty.

Most property owners appealing on market value at Harris County Appraisal District, will achieve their best result during the informal hearing in a settlement negotiation.