- Property
Tax History and Allocation
- Real
Property and How it is Assessed
- Personal Property
- Calculating
and Paying your Taxes
- Property
Tax Relief and Exemption
3. Personal Property:
Characteristics
- Personal property's primary characteristic is its mobility.
It includes most machinery, equipment, furniture and fixtures
associated with commercial, industrial or agricultural enterprises.
Business inventories are exempt from property tax. However,
supplies consumed in the operation of a business are taxable.
The assessor uses the affidavit to value property for taxes
due the following year. Personal property tax rates
are the same as for real property.
Affidavit
Deadline and Tax Rates - Everyone who uses personal property
in a business must complete a personal property affidavit
by April 30 each year. When completing
the form you must:
- List all assets you own as of January 1, including those
assets fully depreciated in your accounting records and
assets in storage.
- Identify each personal property category. For example,
office equipment should be broken into separate categories
of personal computers, network servers, printers, phones,
etc.
- Include the total purchase cost of each item. This
excludes sales or use tax, but includes costs to make the
item usable such as installation and freight.
- Include the date each item was acquired.
Return listings
to:
Whatcom County
Assessor's Office, Personal Property Department
311 Grand Ave
#106
Bellingham WA
98225
Phone: (360) 676-6790;
Fax: (360) 738-2472
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Property
Owner's Responsibility -As a property owner, you
are responsible for filing a personal property listing each
year that you have taxable property even if you do not receive
the form by mail. If you have multiple business locations,
you must complete a separate listing for each location. The
assessed value is allocated to the taxing district based on
where the property is located.
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Types
of Personal Property - Unless specifically exempt,
all tangible personal property is subject to personal property
tax. The major categories of taxable personal property include
the following:
- Machinery and Equipment, Fixtures and Furniture:
- Office furniture and fixtures such as desks, chairs,
etc.
- Office equipment such as computers and printers.
- Store fixtures and equipment.
- Computer software (canned and embedded).
- Manufacturing machinery and equipment.
- Construction equipment.
- Office trailers.
- Signs.
- Commercial fishing equipment.
- Farm Equipment, Machinery, Supplies, and Tools:
Most farm equipment, machinery and supplies are subject
to personal property tax. An exemption or partial exemption
may apply to some farm machinery and equipment. Contact
the Assessor's Office for exemption information.
- Leasehold Improvements: Personal property
tax applies when the lessee/tenant retains ownership of
the leasehold improvements, or is required to remove them
at the end of the lease. For example, the improvements
a lessee makes to a leased space are taxable as leasehold
improvements.
- Supplies, Materials and Tools: Taxable
materials and supplies include office, shop, janitorial,
brochures, promotional materials, fuel, spare parts, etc.
Tax does not apply to items that are held for resale or
that become an ingredient or component of an article manufactured
for sale.
Forms
and Additional Information - More information can
be found by contacting the Assessor's Office at 360-676-6790
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