March 15 is your deadline for submitting your property assessment to the appropriate county in Oregon.
What’s a property assessment? It is an assessment for any property owned by your winery in each county.
When is it due? The report itself is due March 15. If you’ve got an assessment, it’ll be due November 15.
What happens after that? The county will review the value of your property and issue an assessment around October.
Whoa, how much might I owe? Don’t worry. They assess you after the value goes above $16,500. They will cancel the assessment if the assessed value of your taxable property is less than $16,500.
What do I account for? All your barrels, your racks, your staplers – anything that you had in your business on January 1.
So, I walk through my winery and count up all the barrels? Not all the barrels, just your barrels. If you’ve got custom crush clients, don’t count their stuff with yours!
If I do get something from the county in October, when is my assessment due? November 15th every year (unless the 15th falls on a weekend or a holiday – then it’ll be the very next business day).
How do I pay? If you pay the entire thing on the 15th, you get a 3% discount. You can also pay in three installments (this avoids interest) – November 15, February 15, and May 15.
Wait, I did this last year. Didn’t I see something in the mail? You sure did. The county mailed something to you last year.
No, I did this for the TTB. Yeah, if you were a bonded winery, you did. So this will be easier than other industries!
What if nothing has changed from what I reported last year? You’ve still got to file your return!
What doesn’t need to go on that form? Inventory – don’t list all your cases of tax-paid wines. Farm machinery and equipment – a combine, for example. Computer programs that hold information.
What county do I file in? All the counties in which you’ve got personal property. Do you have racks in Yamhill County and two extra barrels in Clackamas County? File in both.
Fine. I guess I’ll do it. Here’s the link:
http://www.oregon.gov/DOR/forms/FormsPubs/personal-property-return_553-004_2016.pdf
Here are addresses for your respective counties (I picked the big ones):
Yamhill County Assessor: 535 NE 5th St, Room 42, McMinnville, OR 97128
Washington County Assessor: 155 N 1st Ave, # 130, Hillsboro, OR 97124
Multnomah County Assessor: 501 SE Hawthorne, Step 175, Portland, OR 97214
Polk County Assessor: 850 Main Street, Room 204, Dallas, OR 97338