Comcast changes the channel on property tax management

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company that connects people to moments that matter. Comcast is principally focused on connectivity, aggregation and streaming with 57 million customer relationships across the United States and Europe. They deliver broadband, wireless and video through the Xfinity, Comcast Business and Sky brands; create, distribute and stream leading entertainment, sport and news through Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Universal Studio Group, Sky Studios, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, multiple cable networks, Peacock, NBCUniversal News Group, NBC Sports, Sky News and Sky Sports; and provide memorable experiences at Universal Parks and Resorts in the United States and Asia.

Comcast's property assets span across jurisdictional boundaries, making property tax compliance a complex puzzle. “We’ve got cables and all sorts of other electronic infrastructure that doesn’t really recognise jurisdictional boundaries,” says Allyssa DeCenzo, a property tax manager at Comcast. “We were doing all allocations manually, and then printing and posting the returns for each jurisdiction.”

Property tax returns were due every two weeks of the first six months of each year. The manual effort to process and file thousands of them was a severe drain on the team.

Adding to the concern, the entire process was largely undocumented – it lived in the brain of a single compliance manager – creating another layer of risk. “We needed a consistent, centralised process that was accessible for everyone on the team,” says Allyssa.

Avalara Property Tax is a secure hub for real property and business personal property tax information and tax-related activities. It automates data entry for critical assessment notices and tax bill document management, deadline management, asset categorisation and depreciation schedules. 

It also offers return form generation, assessment notices, appeals and tax bills in one system. In doing so, it significantly streamlines Comcast’s compliance processes.

“Based on certain metrics that we provide, Avalara Property Tax distributes the costs at the asset-class level,” says Allyssa. “This gets allocated down to the individual jurisdictions and locations where our assets are located.”