Business Property

You were identified as having taxable personal property in San Bernardino County and per the California R & T Code section 441 every person owning taxable personal property must file a business property statement with the County Assessor.

YES, if you receive a Business Property Statement (Form 571-L) or a request to file a Business Property Statement you must file. If you have an aggregate cost of taxable personal property over $100,000 you are required to file a Business Property Statement. The Assessor does not have to make the request for you to file. R & T 441

Failure to file your property statement will result in the Assessor making an Assessor Estimate of value for your property and a 10% penalty for failure to file. R & T 501 & 463

Yes, Property Statements are due April 1. If you file a timely property statement you may file an amended property statement by May 31. R & T 441

When it can be ascertained by the Assessor, from an audit of books and records, that there has been a defect of description or clerical error by the tax payer on the filed property statement, the error on the roll may be corrected. R & T 4831.5 There is a four (4) year statute of limitations for making corrections to the assessed value. R & T 532

No, the owner of the property on January 1 (lien date) is the responsible party for the assessment and property taxes. Any arrangement regarding the tax liability must be worked out between the buyer and seller. Any failure to pay the property taxes will be the responsibility of the assessed party on January 1. It is important for the seller to be sure the property taxes are paid.

The California Constitution and the Revenue and Taxation Code state that all property is taxable, including business property, unless it is specifically exempt by law.

Examples of taxable business property are: Supplies, machinery & equipment used in the profession or trade, tools, office furniture & equipment, computer hardware and operating systems, leasehold or tenant improvements to the building for the business, including electrical and plumbing for the machinery, equipment or business use. Property leased, loaned, or rented to others, construction in progress, underground & above ground tanks, vending machines, and water dispensers.

Examples of exempt property are: Inventory for sale, computer application software such as payroll programs, excel, word.

For most personal property the Assessor uses the cost reported by the current owner and applies an equipment and fixtures index and percent good valuation factors provided by the State Board of Equalization to arrive at the market value. (AH 581)

If you disagree with the value assessed once you receive your tax bill from the County Tax Collector, read the back side of the tax bill for your appeal rights. If you filed your property statement, contact our office for an informal review of the assessment. If the assessment made for failure to file your property statement, then you must file an appeal. R & T 1603

Yes, the e-file system accepts amended property filings, within the time frame per State Tax Law. Log onto the website and enter your account number and BIN. Click the Start Filing button and you can then File Amendment. You may amend the return twice before the mandated deadline. If you have amended the return twice and additional changes are necessary please contact our office at (909) 382-3220.

The Assessor’s Office does not send out tax bills. The bill will come from the Tax Collector for one of two reasons. Either we failed to update our records after a deed transferring real property was recorded, or the property was transferred by means other than a recorded deed and no notification was sent to the Assessor’s office. Personal property (including boats, aircraft, manufactured homes, and business property) is typically not transferred by a deed, so it is imperative that you notify the Assessor as soon as possible after selling it. The same is true for real property transactions in which a deed is not recorded until the buyer has paid the seller in full and/or satisfied any other conditions of the sale. Please visit the Tax Collector’s website for more information: https://www.mytaxcollector.com/