Buying a house for "less" to keep property taxes down?

[Tyler J.]

Lets say someone wants to sell a home for $1m - Is it possible to buy it for $1 and then have a legal document drafted or simular saying I just owe the owner $1m as a gift so the property doesnt register as $1m purchase for the assessor?

[Matt Devincenzo]

No, it would be an attempt to defraud through your chosen structure of the transaction. If you did this it's likely your tax would be based on a FMV anyway, but if by some chance they did not you've now defrauded the tax base of it's rightful opportunity to levy tax for the City/County support of your property.