Excite Tax's answer for Utah businesses: yes, when the county assessor asks under Utah Code 59-2-306, and $30,100 (2026) or less per county is exempt.
Any business the county assessor asks. Utah Code 59-2-306 lets the assessor request a signed statement of the property the business owns, possesses, manages or controls at 12 noon on January 1. Not being asked does not make the property exempt: all tangible personal property is taxable unless exempted.
In most counties, by May 15 of the year the assessor asks. A request made on or after March 16 is due within 60 days, and a county of the first class allows 60 days from the request unless it adopts May 15. The details are below.
Yes. Utah Code 59-2-1115 exempts a business whose taxable personal property in a county totals $30,100 (2026) or less. It is claimed, not automatic: apply within 60 days on the statement the assessor sends.
No. After the statement for the first exempt year, the assessor may not require one for each continuing consecutive year the business qualifies. The business must tell the assessor when its property grows past the limit.
Furniture, fixtures, machinery, equipment and computers, at original cost including installation, shipping and sales tax. Assets that are fully depreciated on the books are still taxable and must be reported. The exempt items are listed below.
A penalty of 10% of the estimated tax, but not less than $25, and an assessor's estimate of the value that the county board of equalization cannot reduce. A county may waive or reduce the penalty for reasonable cause.
the county assessor may request a signed statement from any person setting forth all the real and personal property ... owns, possesses, manages, or has under the person's control at 12 noon on January 1.
Read literally, the duty to file starts with the assessor's request, not with a date on the calendar. Excite Tax reads the statement as a snapshot of what the business held at 12 noon on January 1, so an asset bought later in the year is not taxed until the next January 1. Silence from the assessor is not an exemption: property never assessed can be valued and taxed as far back as five years once it is discovered.
Filing deadlines under Utah Code 59-2-306.
| When the assessor asks | The statement is due |
|---|---|
| Before March 16, most counties | On or before May 15 of that year |
| On or after March 16 | Within 60 days after the request |
| Any date, county of the first class | The later of 60 days after the request or, where the county adopts it, May 15 |
Salt Lake County's instructions put it plainly: the due date printed at the top of the statement governs, and Utah statutes allow 60 days to complete it. The penalty clock follows the same split. An assessor may impose the penalty from May 16, but for a request made on or after March 16, or by a first-class county, not until 30 days after a second mailed notice.
The taxable tangible personal property of a taxpayer is exempt from taxation if the taxable tangible personal property has a total aggregate taxable value per county of $25,000 or less.
The statute's $25,000 is a base figure. It rises each year with the consumer price index, rounded up to the nearest $100, and the Utah State Tax Commission puts it at $30,100 for 2026. The test is per county: a business with $20,000 of equipment in Salt Lake County and $20,000 in Utah County is under the limit in each.
The exemption is claimed, not granted. Apply within 60 days by completing the Application for Exemption section of the statement the assessor sends; if no statement was requested, apply within 30 days of being asked. After that first year, the assessor may not require a statement for each continuing consecutive year the business stays exempt, and it is up to the owner to notify the assessor when the property outgrows the limit.
A Salt Lake County design studio fills in its statement for the 2026 assessment year. Each asset is valued at original cost times the Tax Commission's percent good factor for its class and year of purchase.
Percent good factors from the Tax Commission's 2026 valuation schedules (furniture is class 5, computers class 12).
| Asset | Bought | Original cost | Percent good | Taxable value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desks and chairs | 2025 | $18,000 | 96% | $17,280 |
| Laptops and monitors | 2025 | $12,000 | 62% | $7,440 |
| Workstations | 2023 | $9,000 | 21% | $1,890 |
| Shelving and reception desk | 2021 | $6,000 | 64% | $3,840 |
| Total | $45,000 | $30,450, over the $30,100 limit |
At $30,450 the studio is $350 over the $30,100 exemption, and the exemption is all or nothing: the tax is the whole total taxable value times the district's tax rate, not the $350 excess. Had the studio sold the 2023 workstations during 2025 and reported the disposal on Schedule A, its total would be $28,560 and the exemption application would be the last step.
Excite Tax's reading of that example: the statement is only as good as the fixed-asset list behind it. A disposal never booked keeps a sold asset on the statement, and a purchase never booked is the property that can be taxed back five years once an assessor finds it.
Do not expect the statement to match the depreciation schedule on the income tax return. The Tax Commission says economic life is not the same as the depreciation period allowed for federal income tax purposes, so two different values for the same desk are normal.
shall pay a penalty equal to 10% of the estimated tax due, but not less than $25 for each failure to file a signed and completed statement.
In numbers: 10% of the estimated tax with a $25 floor means $100 on $1,000 of tax, and $25 on any tax under $250. The larger cost is the estimate, because neither the county board of equalization nor the Tax Commission may reduce a value the assessor fixed after a refusal to file. A county can waive or reduce the penalty for reasonable cause, so a late statement is still worth filing.
No. Real property is land, buildings and other improvements; personal property is everything else, and the signed statement covers the business's furniture, fixtures, machinery and equipment.
Possibly. Below $30,100 (2026) per county the property is exempt once claimed; above it, the property is taxable whether or not a statement was sent, and unassessed property can be taxed back five years. Call the county assessor and ask for the statement.
Hand the books over when keeping them costs more hours than the business can spare, or when they stop agreeing with the bank.
Excite Tax keeps these books; the return they feed is reviewed and signed by a licensed CPA at TBD CPA LLC.
Ranked and explained on the sources page.