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As a business owner in the State of West Virginia, your business personal
property is subject to ad valorem taxes. Tangible personal property includes
material items such as animals, watercrafts, aircrafts, motor vehicles,
furniture, fixtures, machinery and equipment, tools, dies, jigs, patterns,
and stock in trade (including inventories, supplies, materials in process,
and other similar items). This tax is
based on personal property owned by your business on July 1 of every year.
House Bill #2618, passed on April 8, 1989, amends West
Virginia Code § 11-3-12, and mandates that Personal Property Returns are due on
or before October 1 each year.
West Virginia Code requires that we estimate personal property tax
assessments for all businesses that fail to file a return by October 1. Persons who fail to file or file late
forfeit all rights of appeal and are subject to penalties.
We have prepared these instructions to assist you in
fulfilling your obligations as a business taxpayer. Our office is trying to make this process
an easier one for the business taxpayers of Marion County. The following will answer some questions
you may have when filing the Commercial Business Property Return.
Do I
have to complete all schedules of the form?
Yes, you must complete all schedules of the
return. If they do not apply, list NONE.
If you have not filled in all
schedules, and we choose to fill it out, it could result in errors, which
will not be resolved in your favor.
Even if you are no longer in business, you must return the form signed
with the date of the business’s closing to have your account deleted
from our records. Your signature
affirms that the information is correct.
What do I need to send in with my
return?
You are required to submit the value of
assets as of July 1st of each year. Corporations, partnerships, and sole
proprietors are to send a balance sheet, depreciation schedule, vehicle list
and an asset listing of all machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures;
include the acquisition year and acquisition cost of each.
Basic Business Information (Name, address,
preparer’s name, physical location of business, etc.)
It is important to make sure this section is filled out
accurately and completely in order to insure proper assessment and
billing. If a pre-printed label
appears under “Business name and mailing address,” please verify
that the information on this label is correct.
Property You Lease From Others
Please list all property you lease from others, with date
acquired and cost of machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures, and/or
gross annual rent. We must have the
name, address, and phone number of the property owner and the type of
property leased.
Real Estate
List all Marion
County real estate
property owned by your company. For
each piece of real estate, include the district, map, and parcel number,
which can be found on your real estate tax ticket.
Building On
Leased Land
If you own any buildings situated on land belonging to
someone else, you must list the name and address of the land owner. If possible, please provide the district,
map, and parcel number for the land on which the building resides.
Schedule A (Machinery &
Equipment, Furniture & Fixtures, Leasehold Improvements and Computers)
List all of the above in the appropriate section by year of
purchase (starting with the most recent), and include the purchase cost. It is to the taxpayer’s advantage to
list this property by year of purchase to receive full benefit from depreciation
schedules in the statewide computer network.
When a taxpayer submits a lump-sum value with no breakdown by year,
the computer treats equipment as brand-new without depreciation. This results in higher assessment and
higher taxes.
Leasehold improvements are any permanent
improvements and/or additions (exclusive of buildings) to leased property,
which have been made by the lessee.
Some examples of this would be adding a new bathroom, a commercial
exhaust system, or additional walls.
All leasehold improvements are to be reported on Schedule A.
Schedule B (Inventory, Consigned Inventory,
Parts and Supplies)
The taxpayer is to report all consigned goods, all
supplies, parts, and inventory of merchandise for resale in warehouse or in
storage.
Vehicle, Mobile Home and Manufactured
Home Dealers
Dealers of new and used motor vehicles, motorcycles, RVs,
trailers, mobile homes, and manufactured homes are required to complete and
attach the Vehicle Dealers Inventory Worksheet in place of Schedule
B. Please read the instructions to
this worksheet carefully before completing it, as some exemptions apply.
All dealers must submit an Income Statement to support
information appearing on the worksheet.
Warehouse Freeport Tax Amendment
Tangible personal property moving in interstate commerce,
whether originating outside the state, or consigned to a warehouse within the
state for storage in transit to a final destination outside the state, shall
be exempt from ad valorem taxation unless a new or different product
is created. Said products are not
considered to be moving in interstate commerce until such time as the product
is complete. If said goods are used in
another activity within the state, they are not exempt. Also, storage should not exceed six months.
While being housed in the warehouse, the items may be bound, packaged, etc.,
so long as there is no change in utility resulting in a new product. The Freeport Exemption does not apply to
inventory of natural resources of goods in process of manufacture.
Schedule C (Machinery & Tools in
process of installation)
Machinery or tools purchased but not yet installed are
reported here.
Schedule D (Other Personal Property)
This section is used to cover all other personal property
not covered by a special section on the form.
This may include business libraries, reference books, movable storage
buildings, and furniture and fixtures in process of construction. List acquisition cost and date acquired for
all assets reported in this section.
Schedule E (Incomplete Construction)
The cost new of any building material for buildings,
additions, or improvements that are incomplete and therefore are not assessed
as Real Property must be reported here. This applies only if the taxpayer and
the real estate owner are not the same party, individual, or corporation.
Schedule F (Salvage Value Machinery
and Equipment)
This is machinery and equipment that have been fully
depreciated and are no longer used as part of the production process. The description of the property and
acquisition cost and date need to be listed in this schedule and should not
be listed in Schedule A.
Schedule G (Pollution Control
Facilities)
All pollution control facilities installed after July 1,
1973 and approved by the Water resource Division of DNR or Air Pollution
should be listed. Report location,
year installed, and original cost on a list of all qualified equipment.
Schedule H (Vehicles, Trailers, Boats,
Aircraft and Mobile Homes)
We must have a complete listing of all licensed and
unlicensed vehicles titled in the name of the company, including year of
purchase and purchase price. It is
especially important that purchase price and date of purchase be included for
all industrial vehicles (i.e. dump trucks, back hoes, travel trailers,
etc.). If you have more than six
vehicles, you are required to complete Form STC 12:00: Itemized Fleet
Vehicle Report.
Our office must have complete information on each
vehicle. This includes make, model,
year, Vehicle Identification Number, and acquisition date and cost. When
listing trucks, also provide tonnage and Gross Vehicle Weight. Trailer reports should also include length,
width, and type of trailer.
We need complete information in order to accurately value
your vehicles. Failure to file
necessary information will result in a tax amount based on the highest
available value for that particular vehicle.
Motor Carrier Companies (Revised Law effective July 1, 1999)
Due to recent revisions in the legislation concerning the
assessment of commercial motor carriers, all motor vehicles, except those
using apportioned plates, are to be reported once again to the local
assessor’s office. This includes
the assessment of all trailers.
All businesses with vehicles using apportioned tags will
continue to remit taxes to the DMV upon registration in the company’s
home state. Do not report vehicles
with apportioned plates to your local assessor’s office. All other personal property and vehicles
with standard plates must be reported on the Blue Business Form STC 12:32c.
Schedule I (Farm Machinery, Equipment, Livestock, and Products
of Agriculture)
If the principle business is farming: list animals,
products of agriculture, machinery, and equipment employed exclusively in
agriculture (including horticulture and grazing), and estimate the current
value of each. Do not include property
in hand that is used in subsistence of livestock on hand. Please include date purchased and the
acquisition cost.
Please note that WV Code 11-3-9 was amended
effective January 1, 2007 for Tax Year 2008 to exempt Class I personal
property employed exclusively in agriculture to include vehicles that qualify
for a farm use exemption certification, farm machinery and equipment,
livestock and products of agriculture while in the hands of the producer.
Other Information Required with this
Return
Type
of Business Entity: Please check one.
Description of Business Activity: Please describe
the basic type of business that you are operating. This is very important to the categorizing
of your business for depreciation of Schedule A
assets.
Standard Industrial Classification Code: Please list the
four-digit SIC code for your business only if it is known. If you are unsure or are not familiar with
SIC codes, leave this section blank.
Our office will assign a code appropriate to your type of business as
described above.
Please sign, date and return the form to: Marion County
Assessor
200 Jackson Street
Fairmont, WV
26554
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