Compliance Services: Business Personal Property Rendition

Business Personal Property Rendition

A Business personal property rendition is a state form that must be completed by a property owner or representative attesting to the business assets that they use to generate revenue. These items include but are not limited to furniture and fixtures, computers, manufacturing equipment, vehicles, inventory, etc. This will determine the value that the appraisal district will put on the Business Personal Property (BPP) accounts. Many states, including Texas, have begun to levy a penalty for not filing a yearly rendition for BPP accounts. In Texas for instance, there is a 10% penalty for not filing a rendition. Furthermore, the appraisal district is at liberty to place any value they want on BPP accounts that have not been rendered. This can be an unnecessary and costly penalty for business owners.

For an annual fixed-fee, UPTG manages every aspect of filing the necessary paperwork or renditions for your business to remain “compliant” with property tax laws. We have the latest software and are one of the few firms using a fully automated system for property tax filings. Because we invested in this proprietary filing system, we save our clients not only tax dollars, but valuable man hours as well.

Asset Classification

UPTG carefully studies your assets at each location, ensuring each is classified properly. Understanding property tax law is crucial. We pay close attention to the varying guidelines from state to state so maximum tax advantages can be achieved. For instance, just because an asset is on a 7-year life, doesn’t mean it should depreciate at that pace. And just because some have longer lives by IRS standards, doesn’t mean they are the same for property tax purposes. Often, we can accelerate the depreciation schedules for certain assets. Our automated system allows us to create sub-asset classes so that we can classify your assets in the most efficient and effective way possible.

Classification of taxable and nontaxable assets

Many state guidelines deem certain capitalized assets as nontaxable. Again, our expertise shines a light on every opportunity for tax exemption. With tax laws varying from state to state, we find opportunities from areas that are not black and white. For example, we often successfully argue certain leasehold improvements are not taxed as tangible business personal property—but rather as part of the real estate. Other grey areas include installation costs from phones, computers and computer cabling, software etc.

Following up with the Assessors

UPTG a Source Advisors Company is proactive before property tax returns are filed. Regardless of the state, UPTG communicates with the assessor’s office regarding our approach to filing renditions. We explain how we intend on classifying the assets, and why various methods were chosen. Once the returns are filed, we follow up with each assessor to determine if he/she needs further information. This is an area where UPTG will again be proactive. We will not wait for the assessor to come to us. We go to them.