BillM223
Expert Alumni

Get your taxes done using TurboTax

I see that the MA website says, "contact the local city or town assessor for a breakdown of the real estate tax bill (e.g., 20 acre parcel with a house)." Is that what they refused to help you with? Are they aware that the state suggests that taxpayers call them?

 

Mass. General Laws c.62 § 6 (k)(1) does indeed say, "“Residence”, the building or portion thereof, including a mobile home, owned or rented and actually occupied by the taxpayer as the taxpayer's primary dwelling during the taxable year and located within the commonwealth, together with so much of the land surrounding it, not to exceed one acre, as is reasonably necessary to the use of the dwelling as a home. A residence may consist of a part of a multi-unit or multi-purpose building."

I assume that there is no water or sewer service to the bulk of the 1.97 acres, so I wouldn't prorate that.

 

As for the value of your property, I would find the value of an acre of unimproved land in your area (comparable, of course), then subtract 97% of that from that taxable value of your property (the .97 of your 1.97), then calculate the tax on your property (now shorn of the extra .97 acre), using the county appraiser's formula. That should give you a more appropriate tax for your property, and one that you could defend.

 

How does that work for you?

 

NOTE: I am not a Massachusetts resident; all I am doing is quoting MA statutes and making suggestions on how to interpret them. However, I am a credentialed tax professional (an Enrolled Agent).

 

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