Massachusetts General Laws ch. 60 sec. 3 – Tax bills; notices; affidavits of sending
Section 3. The collector shall immediately, after receiving a tax list and warrant send notice to each person assessed, resident or non-resident, of the amount of the person’s tax. If the notice is mailed, it shall be postpaid and directed to the assessed person at the person’s residential address on January 1 if known, or the address of the real estate or personal property to which the tax relates, unless the person shall otherwise direct the collector, in writing, in time and manner as the collector may require. If the tax is a tax on real estate, the collector shall send a separate bill or notice for the portion of the tax applicable to each parcel of real estate separately assessed. An omission to send a notice under this section shall not affect the validity either of a tax or of the proceedings for its collection. An affidavit of the collector or deputy collector sending a tax bill or notice as to the time of sending shall be prima facie evidence that the same was sent at such time. All tax bills or notices issued pursuant to this section shall state (a) the date as of which the tax was assessed and (b) the fiscal year to which the tax relates. The tax notice and bill shall state that all payments shall be to or to the order of the city, town or district and not to or to the order of any officer, board or commission.
Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 60 sec. 3
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
The collector may send the notice required by this section to an owner who has acquired title by a deed duly recorded subsequent to January first in the year in which said tax was assessed.