As a business owner in the State of Michigan, you are responsible for filing an annual personal property statement on or before February 1 of each year. Most large operations have an accountant prepare their return. This brochure is designed to help smaller businesses understand how to report their personal property.

Who needs to file?
When to file?
What to report?
How to complete the form?

Please feel free to contact the Assessor’s Office if you still need assistance. It is much easier to work on these during the year than try to help everyone in February.


Who to contact?

Jill Fisher, Appraiser/Personal Property

When to file?

File on or before February 1.  If you do not file by February 20, your assessment will be estimated and/or penalties will be added to your tax bill.  MCL 211.18, Section 19, states that all personal property statements shall be filed on or before February 20 of each year.  It is, however, still beneficial to file late.

What to report?

All property should be reported unless exempt.  Examples are business machines, postage meters, machinery, equipment, furniture, fixtures, coin-operated devices, tools, burglar alarms, signs and other advertising devices, consigned equipment not held for resale, etc.  Freight, installation charges and sales tax are to be included in the cost of all items.

Property and equipment that are exempt are inventory (unless intended for lease), vehicles with license plates, and special tools.  Special tools are defined as those manufacturing requisites, such as dies, jigs, fixtures, molds, patterns, gauges, or other tools that are held for use and not for sale in the ordinary course of business.  Computer software is exempt unless it is a permanent component of a computer and is not commonly available separately or the cost of the software is included as part of the cost of the computer.

Assessing personal property is different from real property in that the taxpayer is responsible for reporting, and reporting is mandatory.  The assessor is responsible for calculating the assessment based on the information reported.  This is performed using a depreciation schedule provided by the State Tax Commission, which was revised this year.  All assessors throughout the State of Michigan use the same guidelines.  Most assessors’ offices have computer programs that actually calculate the assessed value based on the information entered on the form.  The assessment is based on the purchase price paid, including sales tax, freight and installation costs, and the year the property was acquired.

Of course, there are many exceptions to the rules.  Some of those are leased equipment, location of property on tax day, exemptions such as inventory, and a few others.

Who does not need to file?

Charitable, educational, and scientific institutions; libraries; and farms not operating a retail facility.  You may need to provide proof of exempt status.

Who needs to file?

Businesses in Bay City need to file a return annually, similar to IRS regulations.  If your business is being operated in your home, you need to file, though you may receive a $500 reduction in SEV.

How to complete the form?

The form has 8 pages and consists of a cover page requesting your company name and location of records as well as a summary of the information you are providing and a certification of the preparer, instructions (pages 5-8), and Sections A through O (pages 2-4) where all of the personal property is listed.  You should provide a copy of the work papers, or a Fixed Asset Report, from which you prepared the form to explain and support how you categorized your equipment, as a supplement to the form.

Page 1 is self-explanatory.

Page 2:

Section A through Section F is a summary by year of equipment owned by the business and located in the City on December 31 of the previous year (e.g. 2001 for year 2002 personal property statements).  It may be helpful for you to submit a list of what equipment is listed in each category as supporting evidence of your final figures.

PLEASE NOTE:  The categories for the classification of equipment have changed since last year.  There are more categories, and computerized portions of machinery are no longer separated out, but reported with the machinery.  See Instructions for more detail as to how the categories of equipment are broken down.

You may be required to provide evidence of the following:

Section I – Qualified Personal Property.  See instructions on page 8.  This section is for equipment in your possession that you have leased from a leasing company.  The leasing company would also report the items they have leased to you when your business is responsible for the tax and reporting.  This allows a checks and balance system for the Assessor.  If filed correctly, each piece of equipment leased would be reported by the Lessee and the Lessor.

Section J – Leased Property in Your Possession.  This is normally property under lease.  Please review lease to see who is responsible for reporting.  Most leases dated after December 31, 1993 will require the leasing company to report and then collect from the user.  A copy of the lease would be beneficial.

Section K - Property in Your Possession Owned by Others.  These are items left with you by vendors such as display racks, coolers or other items that have been loaned to you for use.  You must provide the actual, or an estimated, cost new for each piece of equipment, as well as who the owner of the equipment is and how that owner can be contacted.

Cost Grand Total is self-explanatory.

Section L – Only to be completed if you own equipment and have leased it to another party.  Leased equipment, which you own, is to be reported at selling price new.  This Section is actually a summary of Sections A through F; therefore all of the equipment listed here should also be listed in A – F.

Section M – is Leasehold Improvements (Real and Personal).  An example would be chairs in a rented beauty shop.  This Section is to be completed by tenants, and should include all improvements made to the property with as much detail as possible so that a reasonable determination can be made as to whether the improvement is assessable.

Section N – is Buildings and Other Structures of Leased or Public Land.  This includes communications towers and billboards.

Section O – Rental Information.  This section is to be completed by both the landlord and the tenant, and includes lease arrangements to which they are a party.  See instructions to Line 5, Page 1.

Mobile Home Owners/Managers

Garages, sheds, and decks within mobile home parks are considered personal property on leased land, and are assessable to the owner of the mobile home.

Tax notices will be mailed to the owner of record.  If you are a new owner of an existing garage, you will be responsible for all personal property tax owed—even if you did not own the garage at that time.  Notify the City of all ownership changes.

Before the sale is final, see park manager or call the City for assistance with tax amounts and delinquent tax information.

Personal Property Statement 2006

Personal Property Statement 2007