OKANOGAN – Okanogan County Assessor, Scott Furman, is reminding everyone that owns a business, ranch, farm or orchard in in the county that they are required by state law to provide the assessor with an itemized list of all personal property as of Jan. 1 of each year.

Taxable personal property includes office furniture and fixtures, such as desks and chairs; office equipment, such as computers, scanners, copiers and printers; store equipment and fixtures, such as cash registers, camera security systems, shelving and display cases; farm machinery and equipment, such as tractors, balers, swathers, combines, sprayers and hand-line irrigation pipe; nightly rental furniture and fixtures, such as beds, tables, desks, TV’s and deck furniture and construction equipment such as bulldozers, graders, back hoes and ditch diggers. It also includes signs and office trailers.

“Taxable personal property does not include household goods and personal effects unless they are used in a business activity. It also does not include business inventories including goods for re-sale,” said Furman.

This list needs to be mailed or delivered to the Assessors Office by April 30 of each year. If a personal property listing is not received by April 30 of each year, a penalty of 5 percent of the tax due per month, up to a maximum of 25 percent may be applied, according to Furman.

Many businesses, ranches, farms and orchards will be mailed a copy of their personal property listing from the previous year. The listing needs to be reviewed by the owner. Items that are no longer in their possession need to be deleted and any new items added, Furman said. Items need to be listed by acquisition date and cost less sales tax. The listing needs to be signed and returned to the office by the April 30 deadline.

New businesses of any kind need to contact the office at (509) 422-7190 and ask for a personal property listing affidavit so they can fill it out and return it. Attaching a copy of their IRS depreciation schedule related to the personal property items will assist the Assessors office in creating an accurate listing.

For additional information, contact the Okanogan County Assessors Office at 422-7190.