Personal Property Taxes
Personal Property Statements and instructions are mailed in January each year. Personal Property Tax is self-reported and is a property tax paid by businesses on machinery, equipment, furnishings and other similar items used in a business. Tangible personal property is not real estate. This form must be filed in the city or township where the personal property is located on Dec. 31 each year. Michigan Department of Treasury form L-4175 is issued under authority of the General Property Tax Act (P.A. 206 of 1893) and filing is mandatory. This statement is subject to audit by the State Tax Commission, the Equalization Department or the Assessor and must be signed at the bottom of page 1. You are advised to make a copy of the completed statement for your records.
According to form L-4175 instructions: If all of the personal property formally in your possession has been removed before Dec. 31, you must notify the assessor at once in order to change the records accordingly. Michigan law provides that a person or entity receiving Form L-4175 must complete it and return it to the assessor by the statutory date, even if they have no assessable property to report. If you had assessable personal property in your possession on Dec. 31, you must submit a completed Form L-4175 or Form 5076 if you do not currently have a personal property exemption from filing in place. These forms shall be filed with the local assessor of the community where the property is located on or before the statutory due date (Feb. 20)
Personal Property Statement Forms will be mailed to you by the assessor annually unless you have a small business exemption form on file. It must be completed and returned to the assessor by Feb. 20 of each year. You may access the State form here.
Small Business Taxpayer Exemption – MCL 211.9o
(Form 5076)
The State of Michigan offers an exemption on qualified personal property. The owner of personal property may file the affidavit and claim the exemption only if the True Cash Value of all of the commercial or industrial personal property located within the city or township that is owned by, leased to, or in the possession of the owner or a related entity was less than $180,000 on Dec. 31.
Once the exemption is granted, the taxpayer will continue to receive the exemption until they no longer qualify for the exemption. Once they no longer quality, the taxpayer is required to file a rescission form and a personal property statement no later than February 20th of the year that the property is no longer eligible. Failure to file the rescission form will result in significant penalty and interest as prescribed by P.A. 132 of 2018: “An owner who fails to file a rescission and whose property is later discovered to be ineligible for the exemption is subject to repayment of any additional taxes with interest at a rate of 1% per month or fraction of a month and penalties computed from the date the taxes were last payable without interest or penalty.”