On March 25, 2014, Indiana Governor Pence signed into law Senate Enrolled Act 420 (“SEA 420”), which became effective on July 1, 2014. SEA 420 instituted several date changes concerning the assessment of tangible property in the State of Indiana. The following is a list of most substantial changes to Indiana’s property tax assessment timeline, as it relates to individual and corporate taxpayers:
- Starting with the 2016-pay-2017 tax cycle, the assessment and valuation date for tangible property has been changed from March 1st to January 1st;
- Beginning in 2017, the assessment date for mobile homes changes from January 15th to January 1st;
- A taxpayer who files an amended personal property tax return for the 2016-pay-2017 assessment date, or thereafter, pays taxes based on the assessed value reported on the amended return only if the amended return is filed on or before April 1st of the assessment year (as compared to May 15th for the 2014 and 2015 assessment years);
- Beginning in the 2016-pay-2017 assessment year, a Form 11 (Notice of Assessment) is due to taxpayers from the county assessor by the earlier of February 10th and ninety (90) days after the assessor completes its appraisal of a parcel or receives a report on the parcel from a professional appraiser;
- The date of reassessment for a group of parcels in a particular class of real property under a county reassessment plan now begins May 1st of each tax year; and
- Beginning in the 2016-pay-2017 tax year, the filing deadline for an exemption from taxation for tangible property is April 1st (as compared to May 15th for the 2014 and 2015 tax years).
SEA 420 also enacts numerous changes at the state and local levels of the property tax assessment process, such as requiring the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance to certify to each county the assessed values tentatively determined for public utilities by June 1st, changing the deadline for meeting to set the budget for school corporations that have elected to use a fiscal year budget to April 1st, modifying the time for cyclical reassessment of tangible property, and other duties of county assessors.
For more information about these changes to Indiana law or any area of real estate law, please contact Steve Theising at stheising@KDDK.com or (812) 423-3183; or contact any member of the KDDK Real Estate Law Practice Team.
About the Author
Steven M. Theising, an attorney at Kahn, Dees, Donovan & Kahn, LLP (KDDK), in Evansville, Indiana, practices primarily in the areas of business, construction, real estate, tax, and collection and creditors’ rights law. Steve utilizes his accounting and financial background to provide both legal and practical business analysis in negotiating, resolving and closing business, construction and real estate transactions and disputes. He also assists clients with addressing and resolving environmental and estate planning issues.
