(a) It is the duty of the tax collecting official, when engaged in the collection of taxes for any year, upon discovering that any person or property within the county has not been assessed with any taxes lawfully chargeable to the person or property for that year, or any preceding year, not more than five years before the time of discovery, to notify the tax assessing official that certain property has escaped taxation.
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Terms Used In Alabama Code 40-5-34

  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • preceding: means next before. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • property: includes both real and personal property. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • tax collecting official: means the elected or appointed official charged with collecting ad valorem taxes and other prescribed fees on real and personal property in the county. See Alabama Code 40-5-1
  • writing: includes typewriting and printing on paper. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • year: means a calendar year; but, whenever the word "year" is used in reference to any appropriations for the payment of money out of the treasury, it shall mean fiscal year. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(b) The tax assessing official shall prepare an assessment up to five prior years at the time of discovery with an assessment to the person with ownership of the property. The assessment shall be made with other like property and shall charge a 10 percent penalty on the total assessed value, plus one five dollar ($5) fee. The tax assessing official shall notify the tax collecting official in writing of the total amount of taxes, fees, and costs to be collected. The tax assessing official shall enter the same in the tax collecting official’s abstract, provided the escape exists prior to final settlement for the tax collecting official. If the escape occurs after final settlement, the tax collecting official shall make a report to the state and disburse the proceeds to each agency, withholding the commission at the rate that was applicable prior to final settlement.
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