How CPA firms request a property tax bill from clients
By Arthur Teboul, DokuTrak · Published
In short
If the business owns real estate, ask for each property tax bill for the year with proof of payment, plus any business personal property tax bill on equipment where the state or county levies one. You need the amount, the period covered and the date paid, to deduct the right amount in the right year and avoid counting escrow payments twice.
Why CPA firms need a property tax bill
Property taxes on business property are deductible on the business return, generally in the year paid for a cash-method business, while accrual-method businesses follow their own timing rules. Bills often cover a fiscal year that straddles two calendar years, and installments may be paid by the lender from escrow, by the owner from a personal account, or by the business directly. The bill and the payment record show which payer and which year. Some states and counties also tax business equipment or inventory, a bill that is easy to leave out.
What exactly to ask for
The real estate tax bill for each property the business owns, for each installment due in the tax year, with proof of payment or the escrow statement showing the lender paid it. Ask also for any personal property tax bill on business equipment, and any supplemental or reassessment bill received during the year.
What to check when it arrives
- The property address and owner name on the bill match property recorded in the business’s books.
- Each payment is matched to one source, escrow, the business account or the owner, so none is deducted twice.
- Taxes on property bought or sold during the year are split with the other party as shown on the closing statement.
Email to send your client
Replace the bracketed parts. The same text fits in the message of a DokuTrak request (up to 1,000 characters).
Subject: Property tax bills for the business
Hi [Client name],
Could you send me last year’s property tax bills for the business’s property? I need each installment bill and a record of how it was paid: by the business, by you personally, or by the mortgage lender from escrow.
If your county also sends the business a tax bill on equipment or other business property, please include it as well. Those are easy to forget because they come separately from the building’s bill.
The county’s online tax records are a good source if the paper bill is gone. Could you send them by [date]? If you are not sure which bills apply, send me the property address and I will look it up with you.
Thank you, [Your name]
Ask once. DokuTrak does the chasing.
- Your client uploads from one link, with no account and no password.
- Reminders go out on a schedule, by default 2, 5, 10 and 14 days after the request, until the file arrives.
- With AI review switched on in your workspace (it is off by default), each upload gets a first pass that flags a file that is not a property tax bill, an unreadable or blurry scan or a copy where one of these is missing or cut off: the taxpayer’s name, the property address. It says so when it is not sure.
- You accept every file or mark it for re-upload, and your client gets the note by email. The AI never accepts a file.