Renditions must be filed by both owners of tangible personal property that is used for the production of income and owners of tangible personal property on which an exemption has been cancelled or denied.

Business owners are required by State law to render business personal property that is used in a business or used to produce income. This property includes furniture and fixtures, equipment, machinery, computers, inventory held for sale or rental, raw materials, finished goods, and work in progress. You are not required to render intangible personal property (property that can be owned but does not have a physical form) such as cash, accounts receivable, goodwill, application computer software, and similar items. If your organization has previously qualified for an exemption that applies to personal property, for example, a religious or charitable organization exemption, you are not required to render the exempt property.

The last day to file your rendition is April 15th. If April 15th falls on a weekend, the rendition deadline is the next business day.

Yes. Attach these records to the rendition, sign and date it and then return it to our office. Include asset listings with the date of acquisition and original cost. All assets owned by the business must be rendered.

To determine original cost, refer to your accounting records, such as original journal entries and account ledgers. Use original purchase documents, such as invoices or purchase orders to determine the original cost of the asset. Add all costs attributed to getting the asset functioning, such as freight and set-up cost.

The law provides for an extension of time to file a rendition. In order to receive the extension, you must submit the request to the Travis Central Appraisal District in writing or by email before the April 15th rendition filing deadline. With the receipt of a timely extension request, the rendition filing deadline will be extended to May 15th.

Yes, the sales price includes the sales tax. The sales price of heavy equipment is defined in Section 23.1241(a)(7), Tax Code, as “total amount of money paid or to be paid to a dealer for the purchase of an item of heavy equipment” or “for a lease or rental with an option to purchase, the total amount of the lease or rental payments plus any final consideration, excluding interest.” The sales price includes the sales tax since it is part of the “money paid or to be paid to a dealer” for the purchase of the heavy equipment.

Yes, interest payment can be deducted. Section 23.1241(a)(7) states that the sales price is the “total amount of the lease or rental payments plus any final consideration, excluding interest.” For purposes of the annual declaration used to determine the property tax on the market value of a dealer’s inventory, Section 23.1241(b-1) provides that the sales price of an item of heavy equipment that is sold during the preceding year is considered to be the sum of the sales price for the item plus the total lease and rental payments received for the item in the preceding tax year.

Section 23.1241(a)(1) defines “dealer” as a “person engaged in the business in this state of selling, leasing, or renting heavy equipment.” Note: An appraisal district can check to see if the person has a Texas sales tax permit.  A dealer engaged in business in Texas that sells or leases heavy equipment must be permitted to collect state and local sales tax since these are taxable transactions for sales tax purposes.

It depends on how the transaction is written. If the cost of warranties is set up as a separate transaction, then it is not part of the sales price of the heavy equipment. If, however, the cost of warranty is part of the single transaction in the purchase of the heavy equipment, then that cost is included as part of the sales price since it is part of the “money paid or to be paid to a dealer” for the purchase of the heavy equipment.

Yes, a heavy equipment dealer is required to render all tangible personal property used for the production of income, as required by Section 22.01, Tax Code. See also Section 23.1241(d) that addresses personal property held by a dealer and a dealer who sells predominately to other dealers. The more difficult question here is not whether they are required to render, but whether they are required to render the inventory that is otherwise appraised under Section 23.1241. It seems that chief appraisers have not been requiring those dealers to render their inventory, but have been considering the declaration they are required to file to meet the rendition requirement. Nonetheless, there is nothing specific in the Tax Code which exempts inventory owners from the rendition requirements.

No, excess funds are carried over to the next tax year. Section 23.1242(j) provides that no later than February 15, the tax collector “shall distribute to each appropriate taxing unit … all funds collected under authority of this section and held in escrow ….” In other words, funds deposited during the calendar year are used to pay the heavy equipment dealer’s tax bill on the dealer’s inventory; the tax collector distributes the deposited funds to the taxing units on or before January 31 of the following year and then any remaining in the account by February 15. No funds are carried forward to pay the next year’s tax bill. Current law allows a heavy equipment dealer to apply for a refund of prepaid taxes on a sale that is a fleet transaction (sale of five or more items of heavy equipment in one calendar year). This is the only provision for returning money in an escrow account to a heavy equipment dealer.

If the dealer is selling the used equipment to the auction company and sells five or more items in one calendar year, then the dealer reports those sales as “fleet transactions.” The auction company reports its sales as a dealer selling heavy equipment. In some cases, however, an auction company is not taking ownership of the heavy equipment but is handling the sales transaction for the dealer. So, the final answer will depend on the arrangements between the dealer and the auction company.

No, these exclusions all deal with sales of heavy equipment; therefore, they do not apply to leases and rentals. Please note that the definition of “subsequent sale” includes: “The term does not include a rental or lease with an unexercised purchase option or without a purchase option.” Leased or rented equipment in which the lessee/renter has exercised a purchase option changes that leased/rented equipment to a sale.

Section 23.1241(a)(6) defines “heavy equipment” as “any item of equipment that is self-propelled, self-powered, or pull-type equipment, including farm equipment or a diesel engine, that weighs at least, 500 pounds and is intended to be used for agricultural, construction, industrial, maritime, mining, or forestry uses.” It does not include a motor vehicle required to be titled or registered.

Yes, the heavy equipment and attachments are sold or rented as one transaction with a total sales price. If a dealer sells an attachment as a separate transaction and that attachment does not meet the definition of heavy equipment, then it is not part of the dealer’s heavy equipment inventory. The part may be part of the dealer’s other personal property inventory. Some dealers have parts departments that the dealer renders and the appraisal district appraises as regular inventory under Tax Code Section 23.12.

Changes to Section 23.1241(b) include this new sentence: “The owner of the equipment shall state the amount of the unit property tax assigned as a separate line item on an invoice.” The paragraph in which this new sentence is found addresses both sales and lease/rental transactions. This line item should appear on all invoices.

Section 23.1242(g) addresses a dealer who owes no heavy equipment inventory tax for the current year because the dealer was not in business on January 1. The dealer files the monthly statements each month that the dealer is in business. Section 23.1242(g)(2) states that the dealer may not assign a unit property tax to an item of heavy equipment sold by the dealer or remit money with the statement. It appears that the Legislature failed to correct the language in this subsection to reflect changes to include leases or rentals. An exception is Section 23.1242(k) that addresses a person who acquires another dealer’s business and has a contract to pay the selling dealer’s inventory taxes.