Altus Group Property Tax Report

Tax as the New Strategic Driver – How better commercial property tax management can mitigate risk and strengthen investment performance

Altus Group’s Property Tax Report, “Tax as the New Strategic Driver,” reveals how firms are currently managing their property taxes and how owners and investors can leverage tax planning more strategically to realize operational and transactional efficiencies and unlock greater asset value.

As the largest single operating expense, property tax is an area often overlooked as an opportunity to drive strategic investment decision-making. In fact, while many CRE firms believe they have adequate property tax planning strategies, recent survey results indicate that few manage their property tax as they might other operational expenses.

This report is based on a quantitative survey of over 200 CRE C-level and senior executives in property tax and finance roles who deal with real estate tax matters at owner operator and owner investor firms in the United States and Canada.

Report Themes:

• Unlike most operating costs, taxes cannot be shopped around, negotiated or lowered through contracts, but there are established processes to manage them. What does the current approach to property tax management look like?
• What are the issues surrounding effective management of property tax including assessment reviews, appeals and benchmarking?
• How is exposure to property tax being incorporated into underwriting and investment strategy?
• Can firms drive yield and asset value through better real estate tax intelligence?