Personal Property Tax Reduction
Personal Property is property other than land, buildings, telecommunication equipment, and other permanent structures.
Act Now
To Correct Over Assessment
Excessive assessments typically occur after the sale of real property, or as a result of erroneous property tax audits. The window of opportunity for correcting the discrepancy is short!
Centergy performs the following services:
- Personal Property Assessment Appeal
- Personal Property Assessment Review
Eligible Property Types:
(Partial List)
- Agricultural Equipment
- Automotive Repair
- Automotive Dealers
- Bottling Plants
- Business Personal Property
- Commercial Printers
- Entertainment Centers
- Factories
- Food Processing & Packaging
- Medical
- Hospitality
- Manufacturers
- Metalworks
- Recycling
- Resorts
- Senior Living Facilities
- Spas
- Student Housing
- Woodworking Shops
Why are personal property appeals important?
Personal Property Appeals are very important as business equipment and fixtures are frequently over assessed by taxing agencies.
- If a mandatory audit finds no deficiencies, the taxpayer has no grounds to appeal the audit even if an over assessment is suspected.
- A personal property appeal has to be resolved within a two-year statute of limitation instead of the four-year mandatory audit cycle.
- A personal property appeal that is in question ( as a result of an audit) can not only reach as far back as four years, but can also include real property that was not previously appealed.
Personal Property is defined as property other than land, buildings, and other permanent structures, which are real property.
When County assessors value personal property they factor into account the loss of value due to the age and condition of the property. Unlike real property which increases in value, personal property depreciates due to age and condition. On occasion a “double taxation” can occur where the assessor has mistakenly taxed personal property on both rolls. By law, 75% of business personal property owners in every county in California are audited every four years. This provides a phenomenal opportunity to correct over assessment. The data request is typically extensive, and it is important that the data provided be pre-screened to ensure accuracy. If a deficiency is found in a particular year, a personal property appeal may cause double taxation if personal property is assessed together with real property on the secured tax roll. Understanding the possible implications of personal property tax reduction strategy is very important.
If you have been notified of a pending audit or have been recently been audited you need to take immediate action, as the window is short to correct the discrepancy.
Excessive assessment can occur if the depreciation tables used by the assessor do not reflect the actual equipment used in the business. There are circumstances where the assessor has even included property from a previous business owner at the same address. Generally, over assessment is caused by errors made by the taxpayer. Personal property tax reduction is vital.
The most common errors include:
- Erroneous declarations by the taxpayer on the annual personal property statements filed with the county (Form 571) that are based on erroneous financial reporting .
- Missclassifications of equipment on Form 571
- Equipment is reported on ledgers that should not be there.
- Retrofits that do not add value are in the records and included erroneously on the assessment