Chapter 58A

Section 1. There shall be in the executive office of administration and finance, but not subject to its control in the conduct of its adjudicatory functions, an appellate tax board, in this chapter referred to as the board, consisting of five members, appointed by the governor, w…

Section 10. At the request of any party made before any evidence is offered, or by direction of the board, the board shall order that all proceedings in a pending appeal be officially recorded. The board shall employ transcription methods including, without limitation, electronic…

Section 11. Any member of the board, or any employee of the board designated in writing for the purpose by the chairman, may administer oaths, and any member of the board may summon and examine witnesses and require, by subpoena signed by the member, the production of all returns…

Section 12. Witness fees and expenses of service of process may be taxed as costs against the unsuccessful party to the appeal, in the discretion of the board. In the event that the commonwealth, or any official thereof, is the unsuccessful party to an appeal, the costs shall be …

Section 12A. If the owner of a parcel of real estate files an appeal of the assessed value of said parcel with the board for either of the next two fiscal years after a fiscal year for which the board has determined the fair cash value of said parcel and if the assessed value is …

Section 12B. At any hearing relative to the assessed fair cash valuation or classification of property, evidence as to the fair cash valuation or classification of property at which assessors have assessed other property of a comparable nature or class shall be admissible.

Section 12C. In any appeal relative to the assessed valuation of property, the reports of the ratios which assessments in the city or town bear to the fair cash value of each class of property therein and the ratio which the total assessed value bears to the total fair cash value…

Section 12D. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, in any appeal under the provisions of sections 64 or 65 of chapter 59 from the refusal of the assessors to abate a tax or reclassify any real or personal property by an electric company or …

Section 13. The board, or a single member of the board acting pursuant to the authority outlined in section 1A shall make a decision in each appeal heard by it within three months from the close of the record including submission of briefs and may make findings of fact and report…

Section 14. In cases where the board finds that a taxpayer is being assessed disproportionately with respect to other properties within the same city or town, the board shall compute the measure of damages in the following manner: (1) by computing an equalized tax rate by dividin…

Section 1A. The majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of its business. For purposes of this section, temporary members shall not be counted for purposes of a quorum, and shall not vote on board matters other than upon specific cases to…

Section 2. The principal office of the board shall be in Boston but said board may sit at any place within the commonwealth. The time and place of its meetings shall be prescribed by the chairman, and the chairman shall assign all members for the hearings held outside of Boston o…

Section 3. The board shall provide for the publication and sale or distribution of such of its reports and opinions as are of public interest, in such form and manner as it may deem best adapted for public convenience and use, upon such terms and conditions as may be approved by …

Section 4. The board shall report annually to the general court such suggestions and recommendations for the amendment, alteration and modification of existing laws relative to taxation and related matters, as it may deem desirable, and shall include in such report a statement of…

Section 5. The members and employees of the board shall receive their necessary and reasonable traveling expenses and such other expenses, including subsistence actually incurred while traveling outside the city of Boston in the performance of their duties. For purposes of this s…

Section 5A. Subject to appropriation, the chairman shall appoint five attorneys and may appoint such other employees, including clerks, and make such other expenditures including computer training, as he deems necessary in order to execute efficiently the functions vested in said…

Section 6. The board shall have jurisdiction to decide appeals under the provisions of: section 42E of chapter 40; sections 2 and 14 of chapter 58; clauses Seventeenth and Twenty-second of section 5 of chapter 59; sections 7, 7A, 39, 64, 65, 65B, 73 and 81 of said chapter 59; sec…

Section 7. Any party taking an appeal to the board, hereinafter called the appellant, from a decision or determination of the commissioner or of a board of assessors, hereinafter referred to as the appellee, shall file a petition with the clerk of the appellate tax board and serv…

Section 7A. The board shall establish by rule an alternative procedure, hereinafter referred to as the informal procedure, for the determination of petitions for abatement of any tax upon real estate or tangible personal property, where such procedure is elected by both parties, …

Section 7B. (a) The board shall establish by rule a further alternative procedure, hereinafter referred to as the small claims procedure, for the determination of petitions for abatement of any tax or excise to which the provisions of chapter 62C apply, as they are or may be spec…

Section 8. A hearing shall be granted if any party to an appeal so requests, and upon motion of any party to an appeal, or by direction of the board, any appeal may be set down for a hearing. Hearings may be held before less than a majority of the members of the board and the cha…

Section 8A. Before the hearing of a petition for the abatement of a tax upon real estate, machinery or other tangible property, the appellant shall permit the appellee personally or by attorneys, experts or other agents, to enter upon such real estate or upon any premises where s…

Section 9. The mailing by first class mail, postage prepaid, to the address of any appellant as given on the petition upon appeal, or to the address of his attorney or agent of record, if any, or to the usual place of business of the commissioner or of the board of assessors, or …