Local Government Code of 1991

(c) Local taxes, fees, or charges may be collected within five (5) years from the date of assessment by administrative or judicial action. No such action shall be instituted after the expiration of said period: Provided, however, That taxes, fees or charges assessed before the effectivity of this Code may be collected within a period of three (3) years from the date of assessment. (d) The running of the periods of prescription provided in the preceding paragraphs shall be suspended for the time during which: (1) The treasurer is legally prevented from making the assessment of collection; (2) The taxpayer requests for a reinvestigation and executes a waiver in writing before expiration of the period within which to assess or collect; and (3) The taxpayer is out of the country or otherwise cannot be located. SECTION 195. Protest of Assessment. - When the local treasurer or his duly authorized representative finds that correct taxes, fees, or charges have not been paid, he shall issue a notice of assessment stating the nature of the tax, fee, or charge, the amount of deficiency, the surcharges, interests and penalties. Within sixty (60) days from the receipt of the notice of assessment, the taxpayer may file a written protest with the local treasurer contesting the assessment; otherwise, the assessment shall become final and executory. The local treasurer shall decide the protest within sixty (60) days from the time of its filing. If the local treasurer finds the protest to be wholly or partly meritorious, he shall issue a notice cancelling wholly or partially the assessment. However, if the local treasurer finds the assessment to be wholly or partly correct, he shall deny the protest wholly or partly with notice to the taxpayer. The taxpayer shall have thirty (30) days from the receipt of the denial of the protest or from the lapse of the sixty (60)-day period prescribed herein within which to appeal with the court of competent jurisdiction otherwise the assessment becomes conclusive and unappealable. SECTION 196. Claim for Refund of Tax Credit. - No case or proceeding shall be maintained in any court for the recovery of any tax, fee, or charge erroneously or illegally collected until a written claim for refund or credit has been filed with the local treasurer. No case or proceeding shall be entertained in any court after the expiration of two (2) years from the date of the payment of such tax, fee, or charge, or from the date the taxpayer is entitled to a refund or credit. Title Two REAL PROPERTY TAXATION CHAPTER 1. - General Provisions SECTION 197. Scope. - This Title shall govern the administration, appraisal, assessment, levy and collection of real property tax. SECTION 198. Fundamental Principles. - The appraisal, assessment, levy and collection of real property tax shall be guided by the following fundamental principles: (a) Real property shall be appraised at its current and fair market value; (b) Real property shall be classified for assessment purposes on the basis of its actual use; (c) Real property shall be assessed on the basis of a uniform classification within each local government unit; (d) The appraisal, assessment, levy and collection of real property tax shall not be let to any private person; and (e) The appraisal and assessment of real property shall be equitable. SECTION 199. Definition of Terms. - When used in this Title, the term: (a) "Acquisition Cost" for newly-acquired machinery not yet depreciated and appraised within the year of its purchase, refers to the actual cost of the machinery to its present owner, plus the cost of transportation, handling, and installation at the present site; (b) "Actual Use" refers to the purpose for which the property is principally or predominantly utilized by the person in possession thereof; (c) " Ad Valorem Tax" is a levy on real property determined on the basis of a fixed proportion of the value of the property; (d) "Agricultural Land" is land devoted principally to the planting of trees, raising of crops, livestock and poultry, dairying, salt making, inland fishing and similar aquacultural activities, and other agricultural activities, and is not classified as mineral, timber, residential, commercial or industrial land; (e) "Appraisal" is the act or process of determining the value of property as of a specified date for a specific purpose; (f) "Assessment" is the act or process of determining the value of a property, or proportion thereof subject to tax, including the discovery, listing, classification, and appraisal of properties; (g) "Assessment Level" is the percentage applied to the fair market value to determine the taxable value of the property; (h) "Assessed Value" is the fair market value of the real property multiplied by the assessment level. It is synonymous to taxable value; (i) "Commercial Land" is land devoted principally for the object of profit and is not classified as agricultural, industrial, mineral, timber, or residential land; (j) "Depreciated Value" is the value remaining after deducting depreciation from the acquisition cost; (k) "Economic Life" is the estimated period over which it is anticipated that a machinery or equipment may be profitably utilized; (l) "Fair Market Value" is the price at which a property may be sold by a seller who is not compelled to sell and bought by a buyer who is not compelled to buy; (m) "Improvement" is a valuable addition made to a property or an amelioration in its condition, amounting to more than a mere repair or replacement of parts involving capital expenditures and labor, which is intended to enhance its value, beauty or utility or to adapt it for new or further purposes; (n) "Industrial Land" is land devoted principally to industrial activity as capital investment and is not classified as agricultural, commercial, timber, mineral or residential land; (o) "Machinery" embraces machines, equipment, mechanical contrivances, instruments, appliances or apparatus which may or may not be attached, permanently or temporarily, to the real property. It includes the physical facilities for production, the installations and appurtenant service facilities, those which are mobile, self-powered or self-propelled, and those not permanently attached to the real property which are actually, directly, and exclusively used to meet the needs of the particular industry, business or activity and which by their very nature and purpose are designed for, or necessary to its manufacturing, mining, logging, commercial, industrial or agricultural purposes; (p) "Mineral Lands" are lands in which minerals, metallic or non-metallic, exist in sufficient quantity or grade to justify the necessary expenditures to extract and utilize such materials; (q) "Reassessment" is the assigning of new assessed values to property, particularly real estate, as the result of a general, partial, or individual reappraisal of the property; (r) "Remaining Economic Life" is the period of time expressed in years from the date of appraisal to the date when the machinery becomes valueless;