Tax Services

Navigating through Property Tax & Inventory Reporting: Best Practices for Smooth Compliance

Your Property Tax & Inventory Reporting Guide


Property tax and inventory reporting are essential aspects of indirect tax for any business. Accurate reporting assists your business with compliance on many topics such as local tax regulations as well as state and federal tax laws.

Staying ahead of the curve and making sure that your organization is on top of these financial criteria is pivotal in ensuring that these diligent practices make a positive difference as opposed to burdening you.

Whether you are new to the tax game or are a familiar player in this world, following the best practices in property tax and inventory reporting can lead to more efficient operations and financial health.

Best Practices:

What is property tax? Property tax is the financial data used as a base line and support in preparation for personal property tax returns. This may include fixed assets, leased assets, inventory (for certain states), and other expenses like computer equipment and supplies.

Do all states report personal property tax? No, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Dakota do not.

What is inventory reporting? Inventory Reporting is part of personal property tax filings that are done during the year. There are 15 states that assess personal property tax on inventory activity (see image below for all 15 states). These inventory data activities include trunk inventory, finished goods, raw materials, goods in process, spare parts, Work in Progress and consumable supplies.

What Can You Do To Prepare:

Hear from one of our very own, Ileana Nuñez, Tax Manager at Siemens GBS about how you can be ready.

“The GBS Indirect Tax Team will have a new Inventory Data process in which customers can input or upload their data as of end of calendar year for reporting purposes. We ask you that if you find yourself no longer involved in the business data collection, you should contact our team and provide updated information of who we can contact.”

Please submit your inquiries to our Service Now portal.

Follow this timeline below to make sure that you are on the right track:

In some cases, we might also miss potential savings opportunities with certain exemptions. If they are under reported and get audited in the future, the business might end up having a financial impact due missed assessed taxes and incur penalties and interest.

With the holidays coming up, be sure you are staying on top of your game and are providing data for both fixed and leased assets. Don’t worry! We will be sending out communications to you.

Times is of the essence to be in compliance for personal property tax!

Interested in learning more about GBS Indirect Tax? Please visit our Access GBS to learn more.