Arizona businesses are required to file a Business Property Statement if they currently own any business personal property. This generally includes assets or equipment used to operate a business, but does not generally include, land, buildings, or vehicles. Many of our clients have not been receiving reports from Yavapai County over the past several years or were never setup to receive them. We wanted to make sure you are aware of your requirement to file these reports with Yavapai County.
The Arizona exemption for business personal property tax for 2012 is $68,079. Even if your total business personal property is under the exemption amount, you are still required to file the annual report. If you fail to file the annual report by the due date, you are no longer eligible to receive the exemption for that tax year. So, if the county were to audit your records for a year you did not file you would be required to pay tax on the total business personal property you owned, in addition to a 10% penalty. The County has informed us, if a business completes a report for 2012, they will not be going back to assess tax on prior years you did not file. Their goal is to get businesses on the correct path starting now. This may not be the case in future years.
Yavapai County will be mailing out the Business Property Statement reports in mid to late January 2013 and you should have one by February 1, 2013, if you are already established in their system. If you have not received a report before or in the past couple years, you can contact them at (928) 771-3220 before December 31, 2012 to be added to the reports mailed in January. If you have received the report in the past or have requested it before the end of the year, but have not received it by February 1st, you can contact the County to request a report be mailed to you.
If you would prefer to have us contact the County for you, please let us know. We will be happy to help you complete the reports to make sure your business is in compliance with the reporting requirements.
Should you have questions regarding this or any other tax and accounting services, give us a call. Schutte & Hilgendorf is a full service CPA firm, providing auditing, accounting and tax services for individuals, small businesses, non-profits and homeowners associations throughout Yavapai County and Northern Arizona. Call us at 928-778-0079 or email info@prescottaccountants.com
