Indiana Administrative Code › Title 50 - DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE › Article 4.2 - ASSESSMENT OF TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY › Rule 2 - Filing Requirements › Section 2-10 - Penalties

Current through July 10, 2024
Authority: IC 6-1.1-31-1
Affected: IC 6-1.1-3-7; IC 6-1.1-3-7.5; IC 6-1.1-3-9; IC
				  6-1.1-3-14; IC 6-1.1-5-13
Sec. 10.
(a) Any
				person who willfully makes and subscribes any return, statement, or other
				document which is verified under oath, which is certified as to the truth of
				the information contained therein, or which contains a written declaration that
				is made under the penalties of perjury, and that he or she does not believe to
				be true and correct in every material respect shall be guilty of a crime and
				shall be subject to the same penalties as provided by law for
				perjury.
(b) If a person subject to
				IC 6-1.1-3-7(c) fails to include on a personal property return the information,
				if any, that the department requires under IC 6-1.1-3-9 or IC 6-1.1-5-13, the
				county auditor shall add a penalty to the property tax installment next due for
				the return. The amount of the penalty is twenty-five dollars ($25). The purpose
				of this penalty is to require a full disclosure of the information related to
				the value, nature, or location of personal property on the personal property
				tax return for the year that is necessary for an assessing official to review
				the return. If this information is not provided, a thorough review of the
				return as required by law cannot take place.
(c) Failure to file a return or be granted an
				extension of time to file a return by May 15 as required by law will result in
				the imposition of a twenty-five dollar ($25) penalty. In addition, if the
				return is not filed within thirty (30) days after such return is due, a penalty
				equal to twenty percent (20%) of the tax determined to be due will be imposed
				with respect to the personal property that should have been reported on the
				return. No return shall be considered due within the meaning of this article
				until the expiration of a period of any extension of time that may have been
				granted under section 3 of this rule.
(d) If the total assessed value that a person
				reports on an original personal property return is discovered by the assessing
				official or the property tax assessment board of appeals during a review
				conducted under IC 6-1.1-3-14 and
				50 IAC
				4.2-3.1 to be less than the total assessed value that
				the person is required by law to report and if the amount of the undervaluation
				exceeds five percent (5%) of the value that should have been reported on the
				return, then the county auditor shall add a penalty of twenty percent (20%) of
				the additional taxes finally determined to be due as a result of the
				undervaluation. However, a penalty under this subsection shall not be imposed
				on a taxpayer who filed an amended personal property return under IC
				6-1.1-3-7.5
				to correct the taxpayer's undervaluation before Form 111/PP has been mailed to
				the taxpayer.
(e) The purpose of
				the twenty percent (20%) penalty is to ensure a complete disclosure of all
				information required by the department on the prescribed self-assessment
				personal property forms. This enables the township assessor, county board of
				review, and department to carry out their statutory duties of examining returns
				each year to determine if they substantially comply with the rules of the
				department. This examination cannot take place if all required information is
				not shown on the self-assessment return form. It is not the purpose of this
				provision to impose a penalty on a person who has made a complete disclosure of
				information required on the assessment return form.
(f) If the person filing the self-assessment
				personal property return shows that the person is claiming an exemption or
				taking an adjustment for abnormal obsolescence or permanently retired equipment
				on the return form and has complied with all of the requirements for claiming
				that exemption or adjustment, no penalty should be added to the extent of the
				amounts accounted for on the return form.
(g) In considering whether or not a taxpayer
				has made a full and complete disclosure of information, the complete return
				package must be considered. A complete return package consists of the return
				form itself (Form 102 or 103) (section 9 of this rule) and all necessary
				supplemental forms and supporting schedules that must be filed with the
				return.
(h) If a person has
				complied with all of the requirements for claiming an exemption or adjustment
				for abnormal obsolescence or permanently retired equipment, then the increase
				in assessed value that results from a denial of the exemption or change in the
				amount of adjustment is considered to be interpretive difference not subject to
				the twenty percent (20%) penalty for undervaluation for purposes of this
				subsection. However, all other amounts not fully disclosed through omission or
				undervaluation that represent property subject to the reporting requirements of
				this article and the laws of this state are subject to the twenty percent (20%)
				penalty.
(i) Claims for deductions,
				exemptions, abnormal obsolescence, permanently retired equipment, and
				mathematical errors on the face of the return are excluded from the five
				percent (5%) undervaluation threshold of subsection (d).