Personal property is divided into Tangible Personal Property and Intangible Personal Property.

Intangible personal property can include any item of worth that is not physical in nature but instead represents something else of value. Examples of intangible personal property include patents, copyrights, life insurance contracts, securities investments, and partnership interests

Tangible personal property (TPP) comprises property that can be moved or touched, and commonly includes items such as business equipment, furniture, and automobiles

Tangible Personal Property is filed by “(a) All partnerships, corporations, other business associations not issuing stock and individuals operating for profit as a business or profession, including manufacturers, except those whose property is entirely assessable by the Comptroller of the Treasury” per Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA) 67-5-903. The ten groups, and the leasing and nonstandard sections of the tangible personal property schedule and the depreciation for these groups are shown in TCA 67-5-903. The property owner is required to report the total acquisition cost for each asset for the year the property was new (typically the year made). Per State Board of Equalization (SBOE) Rule 0600-05-.01(15), total acquisition cost is defined as the full acquisition cost new of personal property and includes freight, installation, set-up, and sales tax. For property purchased as used, if the cost new or year the property was new is not known and cannot reasonably be determined, you may report the actual acquisition cost to you for the year you acquired the property.

The tangible personal property schedules are mailed by February 1 by the Assessor to each business operating in the county. The schedules are to be completed and returned by the business owner or the business owner’s representative by March 1 to the assessor’s office. If the business owner does not receive a schedule, they should contact the office for a schedule. All businesses that do not return a schedule will be assigned a forced assessment.

If the business owner files a schedule on or before March 1 and determines later that an error occurred on the schedule, the business owner will have until September 1 the following year to amend the schedule. Forced assessments do not have the right of amendment.

Each May the property owner who has a forced assessment and those whose assessments changed in value will receive an assessment change notice. The assessment value will be thirty percent of the forced assessment or thirty percent of the depreciated value filed on the schedule. If you do not agree with this value, you may appeal to the Sequatchie County Board of Equalization that meets in June. The tax bills generated from the assessments will be mailed each fall.

Audits
This page contains information specific to the personal property auditing process, as well as information concerning both the Assessor’s office auditing and third-party auditing.

Tangible Personal Property Schedule (TPPS)
Check here for instructions on the schedule filing process for business owners, as well as information regarding filing dates, forced assessments, and a business owners rights to appeal their personal property assessment.

Online Filing for TPPS
Access the online filing portal.