Vacs Are Personal Property???????

[Red Baron]

You guys thought you were rid of me, huh?

Just went round and round with the property tax dimwit....err, lady. My car wash prop tax went from $975 last year to $65,450 this year. A call to the...lady, and she said she's counbting the 6 vacs and all other equipment that she could see from the outside (ACWs, gantrys) as personal property.

She was VERY defensive about it, stating her certifications blah blah friggin' blah. I have to meet her tomorrow at 2pm and need guidance as to whether these items are PP. Back in my real estate days, and item that was attached in any way was considered real estate, not personal property.

 

[rph9168]

Not sure about your state but in Georgia it is counted as personal property. Even though they are attached to the building or vac islands they are technically not permanently affixed to the property. I knew one operator that got hit with a $35,000 tax bill. Good luck.

 

[rzeavy]

Red
See if you can pull out your original invoices for the vacs. and then depreciate them over the number of years you own them.
Here in So. CA. you pay a percentage of the depreciated value each year.
If all else fails, you may have to hire an attorney, to show them that you are serious.

 

[Jim L.]

Here in Fl. land and building are real estate and carwash equipment is tangible personal property. Land and building are valued at current market prices and equipment starts out at purchase price and then depreciates a little each year as it ages. Both are taxed at the same rate.

 

[trentu]

Here in Oklahoma, it is a judgement call by the operator with agreement from the county assessor. If it can be moved and sold it should be personal property taxed, (i.e. vacs, acw, vendors, etc...) and depreciated accordingly. If if cannot be moved and sold it should be property taxed (concrete, entry base, vac island, canopies, etc...) and get appropriate bonds/ad valorem? taxes applied. I just bought out my partner in Jan and he had filled out paperwork without talking to assessor so for the last 7 years we have been paying double on PP and property taxes on certain things (anything some assessors book says the equipment room should contain, and 2 IBAs were getting double charged). Good luck.

Russ

 

[mjwalsh]

You guys thought you were rid of me, huh?

Just went round and round with the property tax dimwit....err, lady. My car wash prop tax went from $975 last year to $65,450 this year. A call to the...lady, and she said she's counbting the 6 vacs and all other equipment that she could see from the outside (ACWs, gantrys) as personal property.

She was VERY defensive about it, stating her certifications blah blah friggin' blah. I have to meet her tomorrow at 2pm and need guidance as to whether these items are PP. Back in my real estate days, and item that was attached in any way was considered real estate, not personal property.

Red Baron,

I remember back in the 60s there was a car dealership person here in North Dakota by the name of Robert McCarney who lead several tax referrals via petitions etc. One of them was a really pathetic personal property tax. How's the news media in your area?

MJ

 

[Reds]

Tax on machinery that you already paid sales tax on when you bought it? And they wonder why businesses are leaving or losing money and closing? One more government burden. One more reason for people not to expand their business or open one. It would be interesting to see a list of which states and municipalities within those states charge personal property tax on business machinery.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Back in my real estate days, and item that was attached in any way was considered real estate, not personal property.

Legal definitions are not always the same as every day definitions. That is why statutes often define terms contained in the statute. So, you need to get a copy of the statute.

As per your general real estate definition, yes, such things are often considered "Fixtures" BUT there is also a seperate category of "Trade Fixtures" not often encountered by those who only deal with residential real estate.

Vacs would typicaly be considered a trade fixture. Something neccessary for the trade, but not a structural element or component.