Utah Legislative Agenda

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Personal Property Tax Amendments

Issue Overview: The H.B. 77 Substitute bill amends the Property Tax Act and the chapter relating to the collection of certain personal property taxes and the calculation of the certified tax rate.

This bill:

    • defines terms;
    • amends the time period within which a county assessor or treasurer is required to deposit its collections of personal property tax revenue with the state treasurer or a qualified depository for the credit of the state;
    • creates a depreciation schedule for certain classes of taxable tangible personal property;
    • allows a person to elect to designate certain taxable tangible personal property as "expensed personal property" for valuation and taxing purposes;
    • starting Jan. 1, 2010, requires the Tax Commission to develop a depreciation schedule for short life expensed personal property;
    • prohibits a county from requiring a person to itemize the person's expensed personal property;
    • amends the date within which a person is required to file a statement with the county assessor's office listing the person's real and personal property;
    • eliminates the certified mailing requirement for a county assessor when the county assessor notifies a personal property taxpayer that the personal property taxpayer's signed statement is past due;
    • amends the formula for the calculation of the certified tax rate;
    • requires the portions of the certified tax rate calculation that relate to personal property values to be based on the prior year's personal property values;
    • amends the exemption amount for certain personal property;
    • exempts certain personal property with a residual value of 15 percent or less from taxation;
    • amends the time period within which a personal property tax or uniform fee is due.


NFIB Position: NFIB supports this bill. (Currently the bill reflects a $1,000 dollar limit on the purchase price; we are trying to raise that dollar amount. The key will be to get it as high as we can without creating a big shift in taxes.)

What to Do: Call your state representative and tell them you support HB 77 and encourage them to set the dollar amount at a higher level possibly somewhere around $2,500.