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Commercial Personal Property Information Welcome to our Personal Property information page. Please take a moment to look at the information below and the links to the right for help answering your questions. To contact the assessor division for more information, please email or call me.
Donna Neading, Personal Property Appraiser |
Links to 2011 Declaration
Forms, Instructions and Tables*:
Renewable Energy Declaration Form *Adobe Acrobat reader is necessary to view these documents. http://get.adobe.com/reader/ |
Commonly Asked Questions
Q:
What is Commercial Personal Property?
Commercial personal property is everything that is not included under the term real property. (Real
property is land, minerals in the land and improvements permanently fixed on the
land). Commercial personal
property includes machinery, equipment, and other articles related to the
business of a commercial or industrial operation rather than components of
fixture systems that are required for
the proper operation of the improvements.
Personal property can be broken down further into
tangible (furniture, machines, etc.) and intangible (patents, computer
software, stocks, etc.).
Q:
What is Taxable Commercial Personal Property? What's Exempt?
Taxable personal property
is defined as all personal property that is not expressly
exempted from
taxation by law (39-1-102(16) Colorado Revised Statutes).
Beginning in 2011, exempt personal property includes inventory, “consumable” personal property, property that is leased for 30 days or less, intangible personal property and all personal property owned by a taxpayer with a total actual value of $5,500 or less per owner per county. Intangible personal property includes patents, copyrights, franchises, stocks, bonds, and computer software. “Consumable” personal property includes items having a life of one year or less, or any item with a life longer than one year that has an original cost of $250 or less including installation costs, sales taxes and shipping expenses. The $250 limitation applies to each item of personal property.
Taxpayers with personal property that has a combined total actual value less
than or equal to $5,500
per county per owner is exempt. For personal property
with a total actual value greater than $5,500,
the full value is taxable.
Q:
How is Commercial Personal Property valued?
Commercial personal property is not taxable until the assessment date of January 1 following the
year in
which the property
was acquired and first put into use. Personal property values are not
prorated. If the property is destroyed, sold, enters or leaves the
state, or changes taxable status after
the assessment date, the valuation and
taxable status as of January 1 remains for the entire year.
When any of
these changes occur, taxpayers need to modify their asset listing when filing
the declaration schedule the following year. If personal property is in
the county as of January 1 of any year, it is taxable
for that year.
Personal property is valued every year.
All commercial personal property leased,
borrowed or rented by you for more than 30 days must be
listed on the declaration schedule.
Report the lessor's name and address, item description, lease
start date and
lease termination date.
Q:
What is a Declaration Schedule?A declaration schedule is an annual statement filed in the county where the
commercial personal
property is located. It is required that owners of taxable
personal property file the declaration with
the county by April 15 of each year.
All personal property acquired prior to January 1, not otherwise
exempt
by law,
must be listed on the declaration schedule. If you are a new business or
owner, you
need to
submit a complete listing of all taxable assets. If you have given the Assessor
such a list, you
may
simply submit additions and deletions
each year.
Q:
Who files a Declaration Schedule?
Owners of taxable commercial personal property as of January 1 must file a declaration
schedule if
the total actual value (market value) of all the personal property
is greater than $5,500 per county.
Q:
When are Declaration Schedules filed? The assessor division mails the declaration schedules as soon after January 1 as possible. If an owner does not receive a schedule in the mail, one may be obtained from the assessor’s office or printed fromthe link above. The declaration schedule is due in the county assessor's office by April 15 every year.
A postmark of April 15 is acceptable. Failure to receive a declaration schedule does not relieve
the taxpayer of the requirement to file.
Q:
How do I file for an Extension?
The deadline may be extended past April 15 if the assessor receives a
written request AND $20 for a
10-day extension or $40 for a 20-day extension.
The extension applies to all personal property schedules (single or multiple)
that need to be filed in that county.
Q:
What happens if I do not file?
The late filing penalty is $50 or 15 percent of the taxes due,
whichever is less. If the owner of taxable personal property does not file a
declaration schedule, the assessor may determine a valuation based
upon the BEST INFORMATION
AVAILABLE (BIA value) and
a penalty of up to 25 percent of assessed
value of the undeclared
omitted property may be added.
Q: What is the value the county has on my commercial personal property?
The Assessor Division will mail personal property Notices of Valuation no
later than June 15th. The
Notice of Valuation (NOV) will list the previous
year's total actual value, the current year's total actual
value and the
adjustment amount. Personal property owners will receive an NOV every
year.
Q: I disagree with the value on my Notice of Valuation. How do I appeal?
All property owners have responsibilities and rights concerning the Notice of Valuation. The commercial personal property appeal period begins June 15 and ends June 30. The owner must contact the assessor in person or in writing to request a review. If the owner is using an agent or representative, a letter of authorization signed by the owner will be required. A mailed objection must be postmarked or physically delivered by no later than June 30. If taxpayers appear in person, they must do so on or before July 5. The assessor must send out a Notice of Determination which gives written notice of the assessor's decision by July 10. The process appealing personal property value follows the same procedures as real property, although the dates differ.
Q: And if I disagree with the Notice of Determination?
In order to appeal the assessor’s decision, the owner can appeal to the county board of equalization (CBOE) by July 20 for personal property. The county board of equalization conducts hearings through August 5. The taxpayer will receive written notification within five business days of the board's decision.
If owners are dissatisfied with the county board of equalization’s decision,
they may appeal to the Board
of Assessment Appeals, to binding arbitration, or
the district court of the county in which the property is located. The taxpayer
must file the appeal within 30 days of the county board of equalization’s
decision.
If taxpayers are dissatisfied with the decision of the Board of Assessment
Appeals or district court,
they
can appeal to the Court of Appeals within 30 days of the Board of
Assessment Appeals decision or 45
days of a district court decision.
Q:
Are the schedules confidential?Declaration schedules and attachments are confidential and private documents by law.
Q: What are Commercial Personal Property Audits?
The assessor division is required by the State Board of Equalization to perform
annual audits of personal property accounts. The main purpose of the audit
is to make certain that all assets have been
declared, and that the costs of the assets
and acquisition dates are correct. The personal property appraiser may
request a company's general ledger, depreciation schedules, purchase
information, etc.