Business Overview 

All businesses, under certain circumstances, are required by California State Law to annually report (via the Business Property Statement, Form 571) the cost of their business personal property (i.e. equipment, furniture, computers, etc.) and improvements (i.e. leasehold/tenant improvements, trade fixtures etc.) to the Assessor and are responsible for the potential taxes on that property. The State Constitution says ALL property is subject to property tax. Most people are familiar with the property taxes on their home. Similarly the assets of businesses are subject to assessment. Our goal is to inform and assist you with business property taxation matters in your efforts to operate a successful business in Santa Clara County.

New Businesses      FAQ   Form

To help us determine whether or not you have assessable business assets and should receive a Business Property Statement (Form 571) for the current year and annually in the future, please complete and return the questionnaire.

Existing Businesses      FAQ   More Information...

Business property owners must file a Business Property Statement (Form 571) each year detailing the cost of all supplies, equipment, improvements and land owned at each location within Clara County. The statement is mailed on December 31. If you have not received a statement and you have taxable personal property with a total cost of $100,000 or more located within Santa Clara County as of January 1st., you must still file a business property statement. Statements are due on April 1. If Date falls on Saturday, Sunday or Legal Holiday, mail postmarked on the next business day shall be deemed on time.

Businesses that FAIL to File their Property Statement

Like the Internal Revenue Service and other authorities, when a business fails to return a property statement, the Assessor has the authority and responsibility to both determine the assessed value of a company’s assets and equipment using the best information available and levy a 10 percent penalty. 

Business property statements are due on April 1 and are delinquent, and incur a penalty, if not filed by May 7.  The Assessor must process the information by July 1 when the assessment roll is delivered to the Tax Collector.  The Tax Collector issues the tax bill for unsecured business personal property accounts, which are due no later than August 31.

Santa Clara County has a low value ordinance that permits the Assessor to exclude business property assessments of less than $5,000 when the cost of assessment and tax collection exceed the taxes that would have been collected.  Regardless of this ordinance, property owners that receive a business property statement from the Assessor are required to complete and return the statement.  In addition, businesses with assets of more than $100,000 are required to file a statement regardless of whether or not the Assessor mailed one to them.

Returning the property statement to the Assessor after the May 7 deadline will NOT be sufficient to correct an assessment and avoid the penalty.  To be considered for a correction the Taxpayer should prepare and submit to the Assessor’s Office the documents requested below. It should be noted that even if the Assessor agrees to a correction to the original assessed value, businesses must pay the original tax bill no later than August 31 or be subject to further penalties from the Tax Collector’s Office. 

There are three ways to file the Business Property Statements; standard paper filing, e-filing your statement via the internet or electronic standard data record (SDR). 

Lessee-owned improvements or Tenant improvements; Owners of real property who lease their property to others are known as lessors. The person to whom the property is leased is known as the lessee. The usual lease is of a home, office building or office space, warehouse or other developed property to one or more lessees who occupy and use the structural improvements on the property. However, in some vacant land leases, the lessee builds a structure and those improvements remain the property of the lessee during the term of the lease.  ... More.

Private Business on Government Property (Convention Center, etc.)      FAQ
Private businesses on public properties, under certain circumstances, are assessed and subject to property taxation. For assessment purposes, these businesses are referred to as Possessory Interests and occurs when there is possession or the right to possession of real estate and fee title is held by a tax exempt public agency.

The definition of a taxable possessory interest under California Law is as follows:

The term "possessory interest" as it is used for property taxation purposes in California includes either the possession or the right to possession of real estate whose fee title is held by a tax exempt public agency.

Examples of possessory interests include, the right to graze livestock on public lands, the possession of public property at an airport such as an airplane hanger or a car rental company counter and service facilities, a booth at a convention center or a concession stand at a fairgrounds.

Regardless of the type of document evidencing the right to possession, a taxable possessory interest exists whenever a private person or persons have the exclusive right to a beneficial use of tax exempt publicly owned real property. The fact that only verbal agreements have been made and that no written document exists does not mean that a taxable possessory interest does not exist.

TEMPORARY RELIEF PROGRAMS

Allows property owners, under certain circumstances, to temporarily reduce the assessed value when the market value of their property drops below the assessed value.

TRANSFERRING YOUR PROPOSITION 13 VALUES

The following propositions were adopted by California voters to allow property owners to transfer Prop. 13 factored base year values or to exclude certain events from reassessment. If you qualify, you must submit a completed claim form to receive these tax-savings benefits.

• Assessor's Calendar of Important Dates

• Essential Documents required for Businesses that do not file property statements
  Businesses that do not submit their Property Statement by May 7 and are requesting a correction to their assessment are requested to submit applicable documents on the attached list to the Assessor's Office as soon as possible.
• Businesses that fail to file Property Statement Face Penalties
  In an effort to reduce the number of businesses that routinely do not file their annual business property statements mandated by law, thereby evading payment of taxes on business personal property, the Assessor’s Office has implemented new procedures to improve compliance. On the 2008-09 assessment roll, just over 14,000 businesses out of a total of 50,791, failed to return a property statement to the Assessor’s Office by the May 7 deadline. As a direct result of existing and new procedures associated with assessing businesses that fail to file, the Assessor’s Office added over $1.8 billion dollars in business personal property assessed value and penalties to the assessment roll. Since the Assessor can recover value and penalties as far back as four years, more than $400 million more may be added from prior year assessments after July 1.
• Low Value Ordinance
  The Assessor introduced the low value/minimum assessment ordinance adopted by the Board of Supervisors which provides property tax relief to thousands of small businesses. The ordinance exempts from taxation all business property where the aggregate assessed value is less than $5,000. The ordinance is aimed at assisting taxpayers in which the cost to assess and process tax collection exceeds the total revenue generated by the tax.