General Personal Property Information

Common Questions

1. What property types are assessed for tax purposes?
2. Who is required to pay taxes on personal property in Boone County?
3. Are there any exceptions for active military personnel?
4. When is personal property assessed?
5. Why is my tax bill so high?
6. How does the assessor determine the taxable value of personal property?

Answers

1. What property types are assessed for tax purposes?

The Boone County Assessor is responsible for the valuation of all real and personal property in Boone County.

§137.080, RSMo, For purposes of assessing and taxing tangible personal property, all tangible personal property shall be divided into the following subclasses:

1. Grain and other agricultural crops in an unmanufactured condition;
2. Livestock;
3. Farm machinery;
4. Vehicles, including recreational vehicles, but not including manufactured homes, as defined in section §700.010, RSMo, which are actually used as dwelling units;
5. Manufactured homes, as defined in section §700.010, RSMo, which are actually used as dwelling units;
6. Motor vehicles which are eligible for registration and are registered as historic motor vehicles under section 301.131, RSMo;
7. All taxable tangible personal property not included in subclass (1), subclass (2), subclass (3), subclass (4), subclass (5), or subclass (6).

2. Who is required to pay taxes on personal property in Boone County?

§137.075, RSMo. Every person owning or holding real property or tangible personal property on the first day of January, including all such property purchased on that day, shall be liable for taxes thereon during the same calendar year.

Taxes are due on December 31 on property owned on the assessment date (the first day of January each year), e.g. A person moves into Missouri on March 1, 2009. He/she is not assessed until January 1, 2010 and does not pay taxes on property owned that date until December of 2010. A person moves out of Missouri in June of 2009. He/she was assessed January 1, 2009 on property owned on that date and pays taxes for 2009 in Missouri even though he/she has moved away.

3. Are there any exceptions for active military personnel?

Yes. A change in the federal law now requires a vehicle (or, other personal property) not to be taxed in Missouri if it is owned by the spouse of a service member whose home of record is not Missouri, and whose residence is the same as the service member's, even if the property is owned individually by the spouse. Please see the Personal Property Filing for Active Military Personnel document for complete details.

4. When is personal property assessed?

§137.075, RSMo. Every person owning or holding real property or tangible personal property on the first day of January, including all such property purchased on that day, shall be liable for taxes thereon during the same calendar year.

§137.080, RSMo. Personal Property is assessed each year. The taxpayer is required to update all information concerning the make, model and year of autos, and purchase price and year of purchase for machinery, office equipment, etc. with the County Assessor at the start of each new year.

Property is assessed as of January 1. Taxpayers must submit a list of personal property to the Assessor on or before March 1 of each calendar year.

5. Why is my tax bill so high?

The amount of tax you owe is based on the vehicles you owned January 1st of that year. The value of the vehicles is established by the County Assessor using a standard rate book. The assessed value of your vehicles can be found in the lower right side of your statement.

6. How does the assessor determine the taxable value of personal property?

The tax rate is set by the governing bodies of local governments where the property is located.

The amount of personal property taxes imposed on a taxpayer is determined by two factors:

1. The assessed value of their taxable property — 33.3% of the true value — established by the local assessor.
2. The tax rate set by the governing bodies of local governments where the property is located.

The amount of taxes levied is determined by the tax rate for every $100 of assessed value. Example:

§137.115, RSMo. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3 of this section and section §137.078, RSMo. The assessor shall annually assess all personal property at thirty-three and one-third percent of its true value in money as of January first of each calendar year.

The following items of personal property shall each constitute separate subclasses of tangible personal property and shall be assessed and valued for the purposes of taxation at the following percentages of their true value in money:

1. Grain and other agricultural crops in an unmanufactured condition, one-half of one percent;
2. Livestock, twelve percent;
3. Farm machinery, twelve percent;
4. Motor vehicles which are eligible for registration as and are registered as historic motor vehicles pursuant to section §301.131, RSMo, and aircraft which are at least twenty-five years old and which are used solely for noncommercial purposes and are operated less than fifty hours per year or aircraft that are home built from a kit, five percent;
5. Poultry, twelve percent; and
6. Tools and equipment used for pollution control and tools and equipment used in retooling for the purpose of introducing new product lines or used for making improvements to existing products by any company which is located in a state enterprise zone and which is identified by any standard industrial classification number cited in subdivision (7) of section §135.200, RSMo, twenty-five percent.

The assessor of each county and each city not within a county shall use the trade-in value published in the October issue of the National Automobile Dealers' Association Official Used Car Guide, or its successor publication, as the recommended guide of information for determining the true value of motor vehicles described in such publication. In the absence of a listing for a particular motor vehicle in such publication, the assessor shall use such information or publications which in the assessor's judgment will fairly estimate the true value in money of the motor vehicle.