What Should You Be Paying For
Business Personal Property Tax?

Why are you paying excessive property taxes?

The world of Business Personal Property (BPP) Tax can be as simplistic or as complex as you want it to be. For most companies, this type of tax is not a priority. There are numerous other tax responsibilities weighing on a tax or accounting department that require a much larger time commitment. The fact that BPP is one of your company’s largest annual liabilities becomes outweighed by the lack of attention it really needs… so why waste the time?

In general, a companies accounting/tax department or outsourced firm files returns correctly: taking the acquisition cost of an asset, ensuring the asset is on an appropriate county depreciation table, and doing some simple math until you reach a new value each year totaling the sum of your assets’ depreciated values. Simple enough, anyone can do it…why overcomplicate the process?

Most companies do not realize that BPP is subjective. They mistakenly consider it an algebra problem they cannot affect; there is one answer for ‘x’. However, what they do not realize is that each asset’s acquisition cost does not equal its taxable cost. Every taxing jurisdiction across the country has outlined statutes regarding what is taxable and what is not, for property tax purposes. Keep in mind, this has nothing to do with book value, this is specifically regarding property tax statutes in thousands of taxing jurisdictions all over the United States. If you have a firm who prioritizes BPP enough to have developed multiple proven revaluation methodologies, then you likely also have significantly lower Business Personal Property Tax liabilities. Unfortunately, even most property tax firms are focused on real estate property tax and BPP filings become a completed side task.

This sounds odd to some; to others it makes perfect sense. Why pay taxes you do not have to? With most jurisdictions’ deadlines looming any day now, finding areas to reduce your BPP tax liability by outsourcing to a firm with this expertise is an easy way to make an impactful boost to your bottom line profitability. Healthcare facilities, manufacturing companies, even movie theaters have seen millions of dollars in increased margins by simply having PVS file their returns on an annual basis.

Business Personal Property Tax can be incredibly simple, it can also be intimidatingly complex, and the difference depends on whether or not you want to continue paying excessive property taxes you do not owe. The bottom line is that you can affect your tax liability, so take control.

Why does PVS spend the time, why do we complicate the process?

Because we can.

It is rare for a consulting firm to house MAI Appraisers, let alone have two on staff.  Property Valuation Services strives to provide the highest level of expertise to our Clients, including presenting the highest level of credibility to an assessor when debating values.

Keep an eye out for our next post, as property tax deadlines are approaching fast!