Business Property and Listing Information
If you have questions about Business Personal Property, call 336-641-3345.
Dates to Remember
- Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 - Last day to list timely without extension
- Tuesday, April 15, 2025 - Last day to list timely via paper with approved extension
- Thursday, May 15, 2025 - Last day to list timely via online with approved online extension
Business Personal Property
Business personal property includes equipment, computers, furniture, supplies, farm equipment, IRP tagged vehicles, permanently tagged trailers, leasehold improvements, aircraft, boats, mobile office trailers, etc. To determine if your property should be classified as real property or listed as business personal property, please refer to the Guilford County property classification schedule and description of Business Property. Assessed values are determined using NCDOR Trending Schedules.
Business personal property listings are required to be completed by the owner(s) of all business entities annually, beginning on January 1. This applies to businesses who own tangible personal property used or held for business purposes. The listing period is from Jan. 1 through Jan. 31 each year. Listings may be submitted by mail, or online. If you listed with the tax department in the prior year, a form should automatically be mailed to you at the last address of record. This form should be received by the first week in January. If you do not receive this form and you have property that requires listing, it is your responsibility to obtain and complete the Business Personal Property Listing Form.
Businesses can request exemption status by completing forms AV10 or AV12 and attaching it to the annual listing form. All property within the jurisdiction of the state shall be subject to taxation unless it is excluded or exempted from the tax base by statute per North Carolina General Statue 105-275.
Request for listing extension was required by Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Extension request can be submitted via email, online, or mail. Mailed request must reference the abstract number for which the extension is being requested.
Listings submitted via mail should have been postmarked by U.S. Postal Service or overnight courier by Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, unless extension is granted and then must be postmarked by Tuesday, April 15, 2025. Listings submitted electronically with an approved extension request filed electronically through Taxscribe, must be filed by Thursday, May 15, 2025. Late listings are subject to penalties per North Carolina General Statue 105-312(h).
Appealing Your Property Valuation
Appeals for personal property need to be post marked by the US Postal Service or overnight courier within 30 days of the bill. Penalties for late listing must be appealed to the Board of Equalization and Review; they alone hold that authority. Please send all appeals attention to the Board of Equalization and Review 400 W. Market St., Greensboro NC 27401.
Discoveries are processed annually by the staff in the Business Personal Property Department. Several measures are used to identify businesses that fail to list; such as canvassing the county, newspapers, Facebook, Yelp, and Secretary of State. During this process a discovery notice will be mailed to the business. Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions for additional instruction if your business received a notice.
Audits are conducted annually internally by tax analysts and externally by a third-party vendor Tax Management Associates.
Other Useful Resources
| Type of Property | Description of What is Needed to Report |
|---|---|
| Machinery and Equipment | Report on the cost of all equipment used in the production of business. Examples of equipment: warehouse, production, retail, manufacturing, restaurant, food trucks, medical, high tech medical equipment, computer-controlled equipment or high-tech computer components that control the equipment, etc. List total cost by year of acquisition, make sure to include fully depreciated assets that are still on premises. |
| Furniture and Fixtures | Report on the cost of all furniture and fixtures used in the production of business. Examples of furniture: desks, chairs, file cabinets, telephones, security systems, small office machines, etc. |
| Computer Equipment | Report on the cost of all computers and peripherals. Examples of computers: personal computers, laptops, taxable point of sale software and peripherals, mainframes, printers, scanners, cables associated with computers, capitalized software, etc. Custom software costs that have already been approved by the tax department should not be reported. |
| Other Personal Property | Include a description of any property listed in this area so proper depreciation schedules can be applied. Examples of other equipment: testing equipment, tools, photographic equipment, MRI equipment, etc. |
| Supplies, Fuels, and Replacement Parts | Report on the cost of items that are not consumed in manufacturing or processing or that become part of the product. Include spare parts that are held for repairs of equipment. Doctors and Veterinarians should include all drugs and medical supplies on hand. Fuels held for consumption should be reported at cost. Restaurants and hotels should list linens, small wares and cookware not listed under Machinery and Equipment. |
| Construction In Progress (CIP) | Report 100% cost of all personal property carried in a CIP account as of January 1, please do not include customized software that has already been approved by the tax department. Please provide a detailed list of the items included in this section. |
| Leasehold Improvements | Report on the improvements made to real property. These can fall under two categories, real or personal property. Report all changes made to real property by attaching a detailed list of what was completed. This data will be analyzed to determine if the change should be applied to personal property or real. Refer to the property classification schedule for a guide. Examples of leasehold improvements: mill work, improvements made for operations, racks, bars, irrigation equipment, etc. Please direct any questions regarding these items to the business personal property section 336-641-3345. |
| Expensed Items | Report all tangible assets that fall below your threshold and have been expensed during the year. Please provide a detailed list of these items. If no list is provided an 8-year life will be assumed. |
| Unlicensed, Permanent, IRP Tagged Vehicles | Report all vehicles listed above, please include make, model, VIN, cost, and year of acquisition. |
| Leased Equipment | Report all leased equipment in your possession on January 1 owned by others in Schedule C of the listing form. Make sure to include the owner’s name, address, description of property, lease start date and original cost of equipment. |
| Airplanes: | Report on all aircraft kept in a hanger in Guilford County. Include year, make, model, serial number, tail number, hanger location, cost and year acquired. North Carolina General Statute 105-316 requires that every operator of a storage facility renting or leasing space for airplanes or other aircraft furnish to the tax assessor a complete list of all aircraft along with the owner’s name and address for which space is rented or leased. |
| Displays | Report all display items in Guilford County on January 1 at cost in Section D of the listing form. Provide details of items listed. |
| Farm Equipment | If farming to produce income report all equipment at cost. |
| Mobile Homes | Report on all mobile homes owned/leased/rented on January 1. Provide make, model, year, width, and length. North Carolina General Statute 105-316 requires facility owners, managers, and/or operators to provide the Assessor with the information related to the lots/storage space referenced above by January 15 each year. The owner’s name and description of the personal property in detail should be provided. |
| Real Property Additions/Deletions | Please give a detailed description of all improvements made to the commercial real estate building, cost and percentage complete on January 1. |
Please see the links below for listing examples.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have been filing your business personal property with the county in another name, please call and give us that information. If you haven’t filed a listing with the county and was in business January 1 please complete the business personal property listing form. Include all property used in connection with your business at cost beside year of acquisition on listing form.
Businesses may receive an extension if requested by January 31, 2025. You can request the extension by mail, fax (336-641-3322), email, or online.
Guilford County does two different kinds of audits. Internal audits completed by an on-staff Tax Analyst and third party audits completed by Tax Management Associates. Please look at your letter to see who will be completing the businesses audit. If your letter is from Guilford County this will be an audit completed internally by a Guilford County Tax Analyst. Please forward the requested information on your audit letter within 30 days of this notice. If your letter is from Tax Management Associates this will be a third party completed audit. Please comply with the request in the audit letter and if you have questions you can call them directly at 704-847-1234.
Guilford County does not send out assessment notices. The bill serves as the assessment notice, which is mailed the first of July.
If you disagree with your assessment value, please contact the office at 336-641-3345 to discuss the reasons you disagree. If this fails to resolve the issue you can place a formal appeal with the Board of Equalization and Review by writing a letter detailing what you are appealing, what year, and the reason for the appeal. Mail the letter to the Board of Equalization and Review to 400 W. Market St., Greensboro, NC 27401. You will then be scheduled a day and time to come before the Board to present your case.
If you have provided the County with your email on your most recent listing form, we will send it to you via email upon request. If the County does not have your email on the prior listing form and you have signed the form, we can release the listing form to you in person using your ID as verification. If none of the above apply we can only mail the listing form to the last mailing address on file.
Bills are mailed the first of July and are due September 1 of each year. You have until January 5 or the first business day following January 5 if it falls on a weekend to pay without interest.
Please complete and send in the corrected listing. On top of the new listing please put "Corrected".
Yes, abstracts mailed are considered filed as of the date shown on the postmark affixed by the United States Postal Service. If no date is shown or if the postmark is not affixed by the United States Postal Service and affixed by metered mail, the abstract is considered filed when received in the office of the assessor.
IRP/Permanent tagged vehicles are not assessed property tax yearly at DMV office. To pay property tax on these vehicles they are required to be listed yearly.
You can find Guilford County’s listing form on the website. You can also call 336-641-3345 to request a listing form.
The new owner would be required to list all property purchased at historical cost on the first January 1 in operation. Please complete the Enroll Business Form so that we can process this correction before listing forms are mailed out at the end of the year. If all assets were not purchased, please notate that on the listing form.
Listings are mailed on the last day of December to all businesses on the County Tax Rolls. If the business is new to Guilford County, please complete the Enroll Business Form before December 15 so a form can be mailed to your business with the annual mailing.
Please complete the Close Business Form to remove the business from the County Tax Rolls.
All property used in the connection of the business is taxable in NC no matter the initial purpose of the property. Once the property is used for business purposes it becomes Business Personal Property and is required to be reported as such.
North Carolina General Statute 105-309 requires each person whose duty it is to list property for taxation shall file each year with the assessor a tax listing or abstract showing the owner and address as of January 1.
Please email your changes to biztax@guilfordcountync.gov with the date these changes took effect. All bills are based on a January 1 assessment date. If the name change took effect after January 1, we will correct the record for the following year.