Personal Property
Personal property is defined as all property not included in real property.
To be more specific, personal property includes all items such as
machinery, equipment, and items related to the business use of a commercial
or industrial operation. It does not include fixtures, which are items that
are now attached to the real estate, such as heating and air conditioning
units, plumbing, lighting, etc.
Since the Assessor is required by law to list all personal property in the
County on the assessment date, shortly after January 1, the Assessor mails
out a Personal Property Declaration Schedule to taxpayers who own more than $7000
in total actual value. The
following types of property are exempt from taxation:
Non-producing unpatented mining claims
Household
furnishings not used to produce income at any time
Personal effects
not used to produce income at any time
Inventories of
merchandise, materials and supplies that are held by a
business primarily for sale or consumption by the business
Livestock
Agricultural and
livestock products
Agricultural
equipment used on a farm or ranch in the production of
agricultural products.
Intangible personal
property not owned by a stated assessed public utility,
e.g., stocks and bonds; copyrights, patents,
trademarks, and other special privileges; franchises; contract
rights and obligations; and operating software
Intangible personal
property, such as stocks and bonds
Computer software
Personal property
typically rented for 30 days or less is exempt.
Of course, other forms of personal property owned by public entities,
charitable organizations, religious organizations, as wells as certain
motorized vehicles and trailers are not subject to personal property tax.
Please complete a Personal Property Declaration Schedule for all property owned as of January 1 of the
current year and return them to the Assessor by April 15. Extensions for 10
or 20 days may be requested, but the request must be received by April 15.
There is a fee of $2 per day for the number of days requested.
If you have not received a Personal Property Declarations by February 01, please go to The Colorado Department of Property Taxation website
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/DOLA-Main/CBON/1251590375296
Once on the main page, click on Forms and then Declarations Schedules 2013. Select the proper form
Personal Property is valued at 29% of the actual value of the property based
on the cost approach, industrial market approach, and the income approach, §
39-1-103(5)(a), C.R.S.
Please note that these documents are confidential and are not subject to
public disclosure.
The penalty for failure to file a report is 15% of taxes due or $50,
whichever is less. There are other penalties for failure to disclose or
falsifying reports.
Notices of Value for personal property are mailed on June 15. The Assessor
hears protests between June 15 and July 5. To protest, contact the Assessor
in person or in writing, but written requests must be postmarked by June 30.
If you choose to be represented by an agent, your agent must have a letter
from you appointing him/her as your agent.
The Assessor must respond with a Notice of Determination by July 10
and the notice must include justification.
If the Assessor denies your personal property valuation protest, you may
appeal the Assessor’s decision to the
County
Board of Equalization
(CBOE) by filing an appeal on or before July 20. The hearing will be
conducted by the CBOE or an appointed referee acting on its behalf.
If the CBOE denies the personal property valuation protest, you may appeal
the CBOE’s decision to the Board of Assessment Appeals (BAA) or request
binding arbitration. If the BAA denies the personal property valuation
protest, you may appeal the BAA’s decision to the Court of Appeals. No
appeal of binding arbitration decisions is permitted.
If the Court of Appeals denies the abatement, you may appeal the Court’s
decision to the Colorado Supreme Court.
If you do not protest your personal property valuation, you may request an
abatement, which may be granted in the case of overvaluation.
See Abatements
for more information.
Penalty for Late Filing
A late filing penalty may be assessed for failure to file a
schedule and/or failure to fully and completely disclose. Any
person who is unable to properly complete and file one or more of such
schedules by April 15 may request an extension of time for filing, for a
period of either ten or twenty days, which request shall be in writing
and shall be accompanied by payment of an extension fee in the amount of
two dollars per day of extension requested. A single request for
extension shall be sufficient to extend the filing date for all such
schedules which a person is required to file in a single county.
Any person who fails to file one or more schedules by the end of the
extension time requested shall be subject to a late filing penalty as
though no extension had been requested. SS 39-5-116, C.R.S.