In Washington State, the listing of business personal property is a self-reporting system. Per WAC 458-12-060, all businesses in the state are responsible for filing a listing of their personal property each year with their county Assessor, even if a listing form has not been provided to use. If you own any business-related personal property in Kittitas County, you are required to file a personal property listing.

Personal property includes, but is not limited to, all machinery, equipment, furniture, supplies and building improvements owned, leased, rented out or used by the business, as of January 1st of the assessment year.

Regardless of how the assets are acquired (whether purchased new, purchased used, purchased before beginning the business, leased, gifted or free), or tracked (whether considered an asset or an expense for the business), they must be listed with the County Assessor. Once the assets are listed, they cannot be removed from the listing unless they are replaced, sold, thrown away, destroyed or moved out of Kittitas County. Even fully depreciated equipment still in use must be listed.

The Assessor will use the information provided to determine fair market value of all personal property. Personal property tax is levied at the same rate as real property tax. The applicable tax rate is determined by the physical location of the property and the levies placed in that jurisdiction. (RCW 84.40.030)

Property tax is a locally assessed state tax based on the assessed value of your real and/or personal property. Taxes reported to the federal or state governments directly are most commonly based on transactions like income or sales, not on property values.

Personal property tax is listed, assessed, and paid at the county level to fund the same local services as real property taxes. Examples include public schools, county services & operations, cities & towns, emergency medical services, hospitals, fire departments and cemeteries. See WAC 458-12-110 for failure to file personal property listing.

Any equipment used in the operation of a business. This includes assets owned or leased by the business as well as assets the business has borrowed or been loaned for each location.

Each item listed must include the following:

• Description of item
• Year of original acquisition
• Total original cost of item (less sales tax), including freight & installation costs and trade-in allowance

Supplies used in a business are subject to personal property tax. However, items that become an ingredient or component of an article manufactured for sale or items held for resale are not subject to personal property tax. (Assessment of Supplies, What are Supplies)

There is $15,000 "Head of Household" exemption from the reported assessed value for sole proprietors only; this would affect taxes due in the following year. You must claim this on your listing every year. We will review your eligibility and apply the exemption as applicable.

Vehicles not designed for road use and not licensed are subject to personal property tax. Examples of vehicles that may be subject to personal property tax include:

• Special highway construction equipment, such as earth moving and paving equipment
• Farm vehicles
• Off-road vehicles
• Racing vehicles

Yes, your signage is taxable and must be included on your personal property listing.

Yes, it should be reported regardless of the percentage of use.

Yes. The law requires each business to file a listing yearly even if there are no changes from the previous year.

An estimation of assessed value will be applied to businesses that fail to complete the filing process by April 30 or within 30 days of the date of the filing notice, whichever is later. Estimated values do not depreciate and are subject to change annually. Failure to provide the detailed asset listing may result in an on-site audit.

To remove the estimate (arbitrary amount) please provide your most recent itemized Federal Depreciation Schedule with your current Personal Property Return.

According to RCW 84.40.130 a penalty of 5% of the amount of the following year tax is assessed for each month the listing is late, up to a maximum of 25%. This is a percentage of the taxes due, not a percentage of the value. Kittitas County considers a government postmark of April 30th as a timely filing. Hand-delivered listings are date stamped by our office on the date received, and listings submitted electronically are automatically date stamped.

The tax rate is based on where the personal property was located on January 1st of the assessment year, and it is the same as the real property parcel at the same location.

Tax bills are mailed by the Kittitas County Treasurer’s Office every February. Property tax payments are due by April 30th and October 31st of each year to that office. The taxes are based on the prior year’s assessment, but the Assessor’s Office only has limited information about taxes beyond that. Most tax questions will be referred to the Treasurer’s Office. They can be contacted at 509-962-7535.

Send us the following document(s), within the appeal deadline, and we will review the assessment:

• Depreciation Schedule
• Equipment Register
• IRS Schedule C
• Balance Sheet
• General Ledger
• Schedule of leased Equipment

Most value disagreements on personal property accounts are the result of either an error or a misunderstanding of the process and can usually be corrected by contacting us at personalproperty@co.kittitas.wa.us or 509-962-7540. Whenever an error is found in your personal property assessment, regardless of cause, the Assessor’s Office wants to correct it. Please email the pertinent information for us to review. If necessary, you have the right to appeal to the Board of Equalization (BOE) thirty days from the date shown on the value notice. Late-filing penalties are not values; therefore, they cannot be appealed.

Yes, personal property is subject to tax at the same levy rates as real property. If the tax is not paid, a lien on personal property will exist from the time the Assessor lists and values the property until the tax is paid. If the tax remains unpaid, a lien may be placed on the owner’s other real property.

The Treasurer may proceed to seize the personal property, if the taxes are not paid or if either the Assessor or Treasurer believes the property will be removed from the state before the tax is due. In addition, the Treasurer may require advance payment of tax if the property is sold or transferred before the tax is due.

The assessed value of personal property may be reduced when property has been destroyed in whole or in part or when the property value was lowered by more than 20 percent as the result of a natural disaster.

A reduction in the assessed value will not be granted to any property owner who is convicted of arson in the destruction of that property.

A claim must be filed with the Assessor’s Office within three years of the destruction or reduction in value. For Destroyed Personal Property Claim for Reduction of Assessment please click on the link provided.