Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone
’s office has begun accepting e-filing for 2003, a time saving
program that allows small business taxpayers to file their Business
Property Statement on-line, via a selection on the Assessors web
site http://www.scc-assessor.org.
Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone’s office has begun accepting e-filing for 2003, a time saving program that allows small business taxpayers to file their Business Property Statement on-line, via a selection on the Assessors web site http://www.scc-assessor.org.
The 25,000 small businesses invited to participate in this program have received a letter from the assessor with filing instructions and a private access code, which acts like a signature and is required for filing on-line.
“Most people are familiar with residential property taxes. Less known is that certain business assets are subject to assessment, and the Business Property Statement (Form 571-L) is the form which businesses are required to file annually,” Stone said. Businesses are required by state law to annually report to the assessor the cost of their business personal property (i.e., machinery, equipment, computers, etc.) and improvements (leasehold/tenant improvements, fixtures etc.).
Last year in Santa Clara County almost 55,000 businesses reported assets in excess of $30 billion in assessed value.
“We all recognize that the assessor’s job is to fairly tax our property, but there is no reason why the process should tax our patience,” said Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group President and CEO Carl Guardino. “Assessor Stone recognizes this fact, and his new on-line filing will save small business owners time, and money, in filing their business property statement completely on-line.”
Last year, the program’s trial year, over 2,700 taxpayers filed on-line. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Taxpayers especially liked the speed and ease of the program.
“As usual, Larry Stone is on the cutting edge of providing exceptional customer service to small businesses,” said Jim Cunneen, President of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce.
