Personal Property

Definition of Personal Property

In addition to real estate, Indiana taxes all personal property. The taxpayer is responsible for reporting all tangible personal property that is used in their trade or business, used for the production of income, or held as an investment that should be or is subject to depreciation for federal income tax purposes. Personal property is any property not attached to real estate, such as but not limited to farm implements, office equipment, and manufacturing equipment.

Self Assessment

Self Assessment forms for personal property are available each spring. The forms must be filed by May 15. Copies of the form are available at the Daviess County Assessor's Office or online at Indiana DLGF Personal Property Forms. Business personal property in Indiana is a SELF-ASSESSMENT SYSTEM; therefore, it is the responsibility of the TAXPAYER to obtain the appropriate forms and file a return with the correct assessing official by May 15 of each year.

Any entity, including any firm, company, partnership, association, corporation, or individual...owning, holding, possessing or controlling...tangible business personal property and having a tax situs within the State of Indiana on January 1, must file a business personal property tax return with the appropriate assessor’s office.

All forms must be signed, dated, include a phone number, and federal ID number or the last 4 digits of your SS number.

Returns under $80,000

On March 15, 2022, Governor Eric J. Holcomb signed into law Senate Enrolled Act 382-2022 (“SEA 382”). Section 11 of SEA 382 amends Ind. Code § 6-1.1-3-7.2 regarding exemptions for certain business personal property with acquisition costs that are less than $80,000. Under current law, taxpayers who have less than $80,000 of depreciable asset acquisition costs in a county are exempt from personal property tax; however, these taxpayers are still required to file a business personal property return claiming the exemption. With the new language in Section 11 of SEA 382, a taxpayer who has filed a return claiming the exemption for a year and who continues to qualify for the exemption will not have to file a return to claim the exemption in subsequent years.

Failure to File (Form 133/PP)

If a taxpayer does not file the appropriate forms by the due date, a Form 113/PP (Notice of Assessment Change / Failure to File) will be sent with an estimated assessed value. The taxpayer has 30 days to file a return (from the date of notice) to correct the assessed value. If no return is filed after receiving the Form 113, then the assessment stated on the Form 113 will become your assessment for that year.

Failure to file a return on or before the due date as required by law will result in the imposition of a $25.00 penalty. In addition, if a return is not filed within 30 days after the return was due, a penalty equal to 20% of the taxes finally determined to be due with respect to the property which should have been reported will be imposed.