Business Property Statement Program Recommendation Examples

The published assessment practices survey report may include recommendations for improvement to the Assessor's procedures and practices. Below are examples of recommendations for the Business Property Statement Program survey topic.

Value taxable business property in accordance with section 501 when a taxpayer fails to file a business property statement (BPS).

Section 441(b) provides that a penalty shall apply if a BPS is not filed by May 7. If an assessee does not file a BPS by May 7, section 501 provides that the Assessor shall estimate a value based on available information and add a 10 percent penalty to that estimated value. If a BPS was received during the previous year, it is usually reasonable to use the reported cost data as a basis for estimating the current year's value. However, when allowing estimated assessments to continue for several years without any new information, the values become increasingly susceptible to error.

The Assessor's current enrollment methodology as applied to non-filing accounts may lead to erroneous value conclusions and may lead to improper application of the late or non-filing penalty provided for in section 463.

Apply a penalty assessment to all business property accounts that file late or fail to file a BPS in accordance with section 463.

Section 463(a) states, in relevant part, that if any person who is required by law or is requested by the Assessor to make an annual property statement fails to file an annual property statement within the time limit specified, a penalty of 10 percent of the assessed value of the unreported taxable tangible property of that person placed on the current roll shall be added to the assessment made on the current roll.

The Assessor's failure to consistently apply the penalty required by law when a taxpayer fails to file or files late diminishes the taxpayer's incentive to file a property statement, which may result in unequal treatment of taxpayers and a possible loss of tax revenue.