In West Virginia, business personal property is subject to ad valorem (at value) taxes. You are required under West Virginia law to complete Form STC 12:32C - "Commercial Business Property Return" and return it to our office on or before September 1st. This form is the "Blue Form" mailed annually by our office to all businesses operating in Jackson County.  The filing deadline is established by law and it is extremely important. State code authorizes the Assessor to prepare estimated returns for those businesses who do not respond in a timely manner. Those who file late or who fail to file, will have assessments prepared based on estimated values, and forfeit rights to challenge erroneous or over-estimated values and are also subject to penalties.  Under West Virginia Code ' 11-3-12 , it is your responsibility to see that your assessment is filed in advance of the deadline.  If you have an accountant to prepare your form, you are still responsible for seeing that this form is filed with our office on or before September 1st of each year.

Tangible personal property to be reported by businesses includes material items such as  watercraft, aircraft, motor vehicles, furniture, fixtures, machinery, equipment, tools, and stock in trade (including inventories, supplies, materials in process, and other similar items).  This tax is based on personal property, owned by your business as of July 1st of every year.  Failure to file may cause complications with vehicle license renewal, as vehicles are NOT carried forward automatically from year to year. Also, non-filers may be subject to an additional penalty of $25-100. This penalty is mandated by the West Virginia State Tax Department under West Virginia Code 11-3-10.

Instructions for completing Form STC 12:32C, (The Blue Business Form)

You must complete ALL SCHEDULES of the return. If they do not apply, list NONE. If you have not filled in all schedules, your return may be rejected and returned to you for completion. Your signature affirms the information is correct. If we fill it out, it could result in errors which will not be resolved in your favor. Even if you are no longer in business, you must return the form signed with the date of business closing to have your account deleted from our records.

What do I need to send in with my return?

You are required to submit the value of assets as of July 1st of each year. corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietors are to send a balance sheet, depreciation schedule, vehicle list and an asset listing of all machinery & equipment, furniture & fixtures, with year acquired and acquired cost. For corporations, the balance sheet can be found on Schedule L of your IRS return. For sole proprietors and partnerships, we will accept Schedule C from your tax return as a substitution for the balance sheet. The depreciation schedule can be found on Form 4562 of your IRS tax return.

The balance sheet and depreciation schedule must be submitted with your return. Failure to attach these may be grounds for the Assessor to reject the return.

Basic Business Information (Page 1)

It is important to make sure this section is filled out accurately and completely in order to insure proper assessment and billing. If a pre-printed label appears under "Business Name and Mailing Address", please verify that the information on this label is correct.

Property You Lease From Others (Page 1)  (PP13)Please List all property you lease from others, with date acquired and cost of Machinery & equipment, furniture & fixtures, and or gross annual rent. We must have the name, address, and phone number of the property owner and the type of property leased.

Real Estate (Page 1)

List all Jackson County real estate property owned by your company. Description asked for is the district, map and parcel number, which can be found on your real estate tax tickets.

Building On Leased Land (Page 1)

If you own any buildings situated on land belonging to someone else, you must list the name and address of the land owner. If possible, please provide the district, map and parcel number for the land on which the building resides.

Schedule A (Page 2)

Machinery & Equipment, Furniture & Fixtures, Leasehold Improvements, and Computers

List all of the above in the appropriate section by year of purchase with purchase cost. It is to the taxpayer's advantage to list this property by year of purchase to receive full benefit from depreciation schedules in the statewide computer network. When a taxpayer submits a lump-sum value with no breakdown by year, the computer treats equipment as brand-new without depreciation. This results in higher assessment and higher taxes.

A new section has been added to Schedule A specifically for the valuation of computer equipment. Computer equipment is subject to accelerated depreciation and must be valued separately from other machinery & equipment to gain full benefit of this depreciation.

Property that is owned and still in use which has been fully depreciated or written off, but is still in possession of the taxpayer, MUST be reported. Any property which has been fully depreciated and is NO LONGER USED as part of the production process, should be reported on "Schedule G- Salvage Value Machinery & Equipment".

What are leasehold improvements? (Page 2)

Leasehold improvements are any permanent improvements and/or additions exclusive of buildings, to leased property which have been made by the lessee. An example of this would be adding a new bath room, a commercial exhaust system, or additional walls. All leasehold improvements are to be reported on Schedule A.

Schedule B (Page 3)

Inventory, Consigned Inventory, Parts, and Supplies

Taxpayer is to report all consigned goods, all supplies, parts and all inventory of merchandise for resale; in warehouse or in storage.

Vehicle -- Mobile Home -- Manufactured Home Dealers (Page 3)

Dealers of new and used motor vehicles, motorcycles, RVs, trailers, mobile homes, and manufactured homes are required to complete and attach the "Vehicle Dealers Inventory Worksheet" in place of Schedule B. Please read the instructions to this worksheet carefully before completing it, as some exemptions apply.

All dealers must submit an Income Statement to support information appearing on the worksheet.

Warehouse Freeport Tax Amendment (Page 3)

Tangible personal property moving in interstate commerce, whether originating outside the state, or consigned to a warehouse within the state from outside of the state for storage in transit to a final destination outside the state for storage in transit to a final destination outside the state; shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation unless a new or different product is created. Said products are not considered moving in interstate commerce until such time as the product is complete. If these goods are used in another activity within the state they are not exempt. Also, storage should not exceed six months. While being housed in the warehouse the items may be bound, packaged, etc. so long as there is no change in utility resulting in a new product. The Freeport Exemption does NOT apply to inventory of natural resources of goods in process of manufacture.

Schedule C (Page 3)

Machinery & Tools in process of installation

Machinery or tools purchased but not yet installed are reported here.

Schedule D (Page 3)

Other Personal Property

This section is used to cover all other property not covered by a special section on the form. This may include business libraries, reference books, moveable storage buildings, and furniture & fixtures in process of construction. List cost and date acquired of all assets reported in this section.

Schedule F (Page 4)

Incomplete Construction

The cost new of any material for buildings, additions, or improvements which are incomplete and therefore are not assessed as Real Property must be reported here; if the taxpayer and the real estate owner are not the same party, individual, or corporation.

Schedule H (Page 4)

Pollution Control Facilities

All pollution control facilities installed after July 1, 1973, and approved by the Water Resource Division of DNR or Air Pollution Control should be listed, with location, year installed and original cost with a list of all qualified equipment.

Schedule E (Page 3)

Vehicles, Trailers, Boats, Aircraft, and Mobile Homes

We must have a complete listing of all licensed and unlicensed vehicles titled in the name of the company, including year of purchase and purchase price. It is especially important that purchase price and date of purchase be included for all industrial vehicles (i.e. dump trucks, backhoes, travel trailers, etc.) If you have more than six vehicles, you are required to complete Form STC 12:00 - "Itemized Fleet Vehicle Report".

Our office must have complete information on each vehicle. This includes Make, Model, Year, Vehicle Identification Number, 4WD, date acquired, and cost. When listing trucks also provide Tonnage, Gross Vehicle Weight, and Axle. Trailers should also include length, width, and type of trailer. For all vehicles, date acquired and cost are required.

We need complete information in order to accurately value your vehicles. Failure to file the necessary information will result in your vehicle being priced using the highest value for that particular vehicle, as we are required under West Virginia law to err on the side of taxation.

Motor Carrier Companies

(Revised Law-effective as of July 1, 1999)

Due to recent revisions in the legislation concerning the assessment of commercial motor carriers, all motor vehicles except those using apportioned plates are to once again be reported to the local assessor's office.  This includes the assessments of all trailers.

All vehicles using apportioned tags will continue to remit taxes to the DMV upon registration in the company's home state.  Do NOT report vehicles with apportioned plates to your local assessor's office.  All other personal property and vehicles with standard plates must be reported on the Blue Business Form STC 12:32C. For further assistance concerning these revisions, call (304) 373-2245.

Other Information Required with this Return (Page 4)

Type of business entity: Please check one.

Enter FEIN

Business Registration ID

Description of Business Activity: Please describe the basic type of business that you are operating. This is very important to categorizing your business for depreciation of Schedule A assets.

Standard Industrial Classification Code: Please list the four digit SIC code for your business only if it is known. If you are unsure or not familiar with SIC codes leave this section blank. Our office will assign a code appropriate with your type of business as described above.

Please Sign, Date and Return the Form to:

Jackson County Assessor's Office

106 North Street, West

Ripley, WV 25271