Historically, however, over half of all owners of business personal property have not rendered.
The Texas law was unusual in that while rendition was mandatory, there was no penalty for not rendering. Therefore, many property owners did not render because it was not material, was not convenient or would dramatically increase their tax liability. For many small business owners, the value of the personal property and the associated property taxes are modest and not a material issue for the business.
Chief appraisers at central appraisal districts and tax entities have long been concerned that a material amount of business personal property is not being taxed. There is a reasonable concern that if business personal property owners are not being taxed equitably with real property owners, the burden of taxation is shifted from owners of personal property to owners of real property.
Impetus for Change
Several factors combined to make business personal property rendition a hot topic. In Robinson vs. Budget Rent-a-Car Systems, a 2001 appeals court decision, the court clarified that the chief appraiser may sue to force a business personal property owner to render BPP. In addition to the objective of chief appraisers to equitably spread the burden of property taxation, fiscal shortfalls at many city, county and school entities as well as at the state level have raised the government’s need to ensure it is receiving all due revenue based on current tax laws.
Although Robinson vs. Budget allowed chief appraisers to sue property owners who did not render, this was a largely unsatisfactory remedy due to the financial costs and political stigma of chief appraisers suing large numbers of taxpayers. The other possible solution was for chief appraisers to “guess high” on assessed values in order to effectively force business personal property owners to provide information. Fortunately, few chief appraisers have chosen this option.
Summary of the New Law
During the summer of 2003, the Texas legislature put some teeth into the rendition law by passing Texas Senate Bill 340. Starting in 2004, a company that does not render will automatically pay a 10% penalty on its business personal property tax bill. This penalty will be collected by the chief appraiser, although there are options to appeal the penalty. There is also a 50% penalty for filing a fraudulent rendition. In addition, filing a fraudulent rendition is a criminal offense.
Rendition Requirements
Owners of business personal property with an aggregate value of less than $20,000 can file a simplified rendition statement containing only: 1) the property owner’s name and address; 2) a general description of the property by type or category; and 3) the location of the property. Owners of business personal property worth more than $20,000 must file a rendition with: 1) the owner’s name and address; 2) a description of the property for inventory; 3) a description of each type of inventory; 4) a general estimate of the quantity of each type; 5) the property’s physical location; and 6) either the owner’s good faith estimate of the property’s market value or the property’s historical cost new and its year of acquisition.
