Rendition Filing Tips

In rendering business personal property, a property owner should pay attention to the following suggestions.

1. Render only tangible personal property used for the production of income.
• Do not render intangible personal property.
• Do not render real property, including property formerly considered personalty that has become so affixed to real property that it has lost its distinction as personal property.
• You are normally not required to render non-income producing property. This can be confusing because the comptroller does issue a rendition form for non-income producing property. Section 22.01(a) only requires the rendition of property used for the production of income. However, Section 22.01(b) allows the chief appraiser to require the rendition of all other taxable property, including presumably any taxable non-income producing property. The comptroller's form is for complying with that requirement.
• A business owner should only render property associated with the business, not his other personal property.
2. Render only property owned as of the January 1 valuation date.
• Do not render property owned for a period of the prior year, but no longer owned as of January 1. For example, if property was acquired in March of the previous year and disposed in November, the property should not be rendered.
• Do not render property acquired after January 1 of the tax year. Though the rendition is not filed until April or later, the property that is being rendered is that which was owned as of January 1.
• Do not render as your own property any property that is in your possession, but for which you have no obligation to pay taxes. However, the comptroller's rendition form does provide a schedule for you to identify such property with the name and address of the owner. A business owner should probably complete this portion of the rendition form in order to prevent unowned property being erroneously taxed to him.
3. Render only property taxable in the jurisdiction for which the appraisal district is responsible.
• Do not render in one county property located at branches or offices in other counties. Each branch or office should file its own rendition form.
• Do not render property owned by the company that is located out of state, unless it is normally located in Texas at the branch or office site.
• Do not render property that is only temporarily located in Texas. Property normally located in other states and here on only a temporary basis is not taxable in Texas.
• Do not render property that was not in Texas during any of the previous year and had not returned to Texas by January 1 of the current tax year. Such property is not taxable in Texas.
• Sometimes taxpayers become confused by the language included in the rendition form which states that the taxpayer must "list all taxable personal property." This does not mean to list all personal property regardless of whether it is subject to taxation in Texas or the county; it means to list all personal property taxable for that location.
4. If the property is subject to appraisal by more than one appraisal district, file a rendition with both appraisal districts with an identification of the property taxable in each district. While this would have been more common in days of overlapping jurisdiction, it is still a possibility if a warehouse or manufacturing facility or other business is located on the boundary of two counties.
• Filing with both counties could help avoid any confusion concerning whether a rendition was properly filed.
• However, be careful as to where the personal property is taxable. In some situations, part of the real estate is located in both counties but all of the improvements and all of the personal property is located in a single appraisal jurisdiction.
• Also, it might be possible that the improvements (and thus the personal property) are truly split between two jurisdictions, such as where a plant is split along a boundary between counties, cities, or school districts. In such situations, the owner should be careful to render in each district the property taxable in that district. Rendering all of the property in both appraisal districts could result in a double assessment against the property.
5. Comply with the rendition requirements, but provide the information that you want to provide.
• The rendition law states that the following information needs to be provided by a property owner in rendering his property:
  1. the name and address of the property owner;
  2. a description of the property by type or category;
  3. if the property is inventory, a description of each type of inventory and a general estimate of the quantity of each type of inventory;
  4. the physical location or taxable situs of the property; and
  5. the property owners good faith estimate of the market value of the property or, at the option of the property owner, the historical cost when new and the year of acquisition of the property.
• Any information requested in a rendition form beyond that specified in the rendition statute is optional and need not be reported if the taxpayer does not choose to reveal the information.
• Also, it is not necessary to provide both an estimate of market value and the historical cost information when rendering property. A business owner can provide one or the other. In some situations, it might be best to not provide both at first as it could lead to confusion by the appraiser. However, in other situations, it might be beneficial in showing how the fair market value was determined if the opinion of market value does not equal the depreciated cost. You should check with your tax consultant or other professional to determine which information you will provide initially.
6. Use a rendition form approved by the Comptroller for use in filing any rendition.
• The Texas State Comptroller of Public Accounts has mandated the use of rendition forms specifically approved by the Comptroller's office.
• In order to comply with the new form and rendition requirements, property owners are urged to either use a Comptroller's model form or seek specific approval for any alternative form that they anticipate utilizing to file renditions.
• Some forms distributed by appraisal districts have not been approved for use by the Comptroller.
7. Get it right.
• Remember that you are essentially swearing to the information that is provided in the rendition. Providing false information in the rendition could lead not only to rendition penalties, but also to criminal charges.
• If you choose to provide an estimate of fair market value as part of the rendition, it must be a good faith estimate and not just a number at which you would like the property to be valued.
• If you include a market value estimate and the chief appraiser requests, you must be able to provide supporting information and explanation as to how the value estimate was reached. However, just because you can support the value estimate does not mean that the chief appraiser has to accept it.
8. And, finally, don't rush.
• If you need more time to prepare an accurate rendition, request an extension.
• The rendition statute provides that the chief appraiser must grant a filing extension to May 15 upon the written request of the property owner. There is no need to state a reason or show good cause for this extension.
• If a later extension is requested, then good cause must be shown in a written request and the further extension cannot exceed an additional 15 days.

If you have any questions about the contents of this article, please contact the GPD Property Tax Section at propertytax@gpdtax.com.

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