FARMINGTON -- A new, streamlined procedure for qualifying businesses that annually report personal property tax holdings and exemptions to the Davis County Assessor's Office is expected to save time and money for both business owners and county staff.
Davis County Assessor Dennis Yarrington announced the procedure change at the Davis County Commission meeting Tuesday.
The one-page abbreviated form and application for personal property exemptions will be mailed to about 5,500 business owners who have been under the $3,800 personal property tax-exempt limit for 2010 and 2011, Yarrington said.
This should reduce the time -- from hours to seconds -- for those business owners to file such an exemption, he said.
It also will save time and money for the assessor's office by reducing workload, allowing staff members to focus on other aspects of their job, Yarrington said.
"No files to compare to last year, no dropping of sold personal property or adding of new property. Just sign the letter indicating no significant increases of personal property -- office furniture, for example -- have been added to the business in the past year and mail it in."
To ensure that businesses adhere to the county's tax code requirements, every third year, the business owner has to go through the full process of filing an exemption as required by the Utah State Tax Commission.
"If they still qualify (following the third-year review), they'll receive only the one-page letter exemption form for the following two years," Yarrington said.
The new exempt filing method does not clear or remove any tax bills that exist from previous years, he said.
Commissioner John Petroff Jr. said the change in business owners reporting personal property holdings is a "great idea" and that "we probably should have thought about it long ago."
For more information, call 801-451-3249.
Comments