Indiana’s personal property tax
system is a self-assessment system. Every person, including any firm, company,
partnership, association, corporation, fiduciary, or individual owning,
holding, possessing, or controlling personal property with a tax situs in
Indiana on March 1 of a year must file a personal property tax return on or
before May 15 of that year unless the person gets an extension of time. Ind.
Code § 6-1.1-3-7; 50 IAC 4.2-2-2. If the taxpayer wishes to amend its personal
property return, it may do so “not more than six (6) months, if the filing date
for the original personal property tax return is before May 15, 2011, … after
the later of the following: (1) The filing date for the original personal
property tax return, if the taxpayer is not granted an extension in which to
file under section 7 of this chapter; (2) The extension date for the original
personal property tax return, if the taxpayer is granted an extension under
section 7 of this chapter.” Ind. Code § 6-1.1-3-7.5.
18. “If a taxpayer wishes to
correct an error made by the taxpayer on the taxpayer’s original personal
property tax return, the taxpayer must file an amended personal property tax
return under this section within the time required by subsection (a).” Ind. Code
§ 6-1.1-3-7.5. “A taxpayer may claim on an amended personal property tax return
any adjustment or exemption that would have been allowable under any statute or
rule adopted by the department of local government finance if the adjustment or
exemption had been claimed on the original personal property tax return.” Id.
Here, the
Petitioner agreed that he filed a personal property tax return but contends
that because he filed it in error, it should be disregarded. The Petitioner
further admits he failed to amend his original return in compliance with
Indiana Code § 6-1.1-3-7.5. The undisputed evidence establishes that the
Petitioner filed his Form 104 on May 12, 2010, and never filed an amended
return. Consequently, the Petitioner missed the opportunity to amend his return
and remove the property on which the property tax was calculated.
The Petitioner
claims, however, that relief should be granted because the personal property
taxes are “illegal as a matter of law” and cited Indiana Code § 6-1.1-15-12 as
support for his claim. However, Indiana Code § 6-1.1-15-12(g) specifically
prohibits “this section” (Section 12 “Correction by county auditor of errors in
tax duplicate”) from being used to correct errors made on the taxpayer’s
personal property tax return: “A taxpayer that files a personal property tax
return under IC 6-1.1-3 may not petition under this section for the correction
of an error made by the taxpayer on the taxpayer's personal property tax
return. If the taxpayer wishes to correct an error made by the taxpayer on the
taxpayer's personal property tax return, the taxpayer must instead file an
amended personal property tax return under IC 6-1.1-3-7.5.” Ind. Code §
6-1.1-15-12(g). Because the Petitioner’s remedy would have been to file an
amended personal property tax return under Indiana Code § 6-1.1-3-7.5, the
appeal process described in Indiana Code § 6-1.1-15-12 is not available in this
case.
Finally, the
Form 131 appeal process is for taxpayers who are appealing the action of an
assessing official. For example, the assessing official places an assessment on
the personal property of a taxpayer who fails to file a property tax return, or
the assessing official makes a change to an assessment that was filed by a
taxpayer. In this case, the Petitioner seeks to correct an error he made when
he filed the tax return. There was no action by the local assessing official
with regard to the assessed value reported by the Petitioner. Accordingly, the
appeal process found in Indiana Code § 6-1.1-15-1 is not available to the
Petitioner.
The Petitioner
contends a similar situation in Hendricks County was resolved with a letter
stating that the Petitioner had no personal property in that county on the
assessment date. However, in Hendricks County, the Petitioner did not file a
personal property return and tendered the letter to the local assessing
officials that no return was required in a timely manner. To the contrary, in
Tippecanoe County the Petitioner filed a personal property tax return and
failed to amend it according to the statutory requirements.
