Businesses must report personal property tax by March 1

If you own a business–even a home-based business–Oregon law requires that you file an annual personal property tax return with your county assessor by March 1 , 2015, unless you have been granted an extension or file for an extension by February 15 .

Completed returns must include a detailed list of all business-related personal property, along with equipment purchase and lease dates, and original costs.

Personal property includes office furniture, personal computers, easily-moveable machinery–even off-road vehicles or display cases–if they are used in the business. Business owners should also include leased equipment, such as copiers or power washers, explained Rick Schack, manager of the Property Tax Division’s Support, Assistance, and Oversight section.

The county assessor calculates the tax due each year based on the personal property return. The tax owed on personal property is shown on property tax statements and is due November 15 , 2015.

The assessor will cancel the tax due if the total personal property value is under a calculated cancellation threshold. The threshold for 2014 was $16,000. The 2015 threshold cannot be calculated until certain statistics are available in March. All business owners must file personal property returns, even if personal property value is less than the current cancellation threshold, Schack said.

If you’re a business owner, you must file a return each year even if:

You didn’t receive a tax return from the county in which your property is located.

The assessor cancelled your tax in prior years.

You sold or closed your business during the year.

You sold or disposed of your personal property.

If a business owner doesn’t file, penalties from 5 to 50 percent of the taxes due may be assessed, depending on how late the return is filed.

For more information, including forms and a complete list of taxable personal property, visit www.oregon.gov/dor/ptd , or contact your county assessor’s office.

Visit www.oregon.gov/dor to get tax forms, check the status of your refund, or make tax payments; or call 1-800-356-4222 toll-free from an Oregon prefix (English or Spanish); 503-378-4988 in Salem and outside Oregon; or email, questions.dor@oregon.gov . For TTY (hearing or speech impaired), call 1-800-886-7204 .