Business Personal Property Assessments

Idaho law defines personal property as everything that’s the subject of ownership and that isn’t included within the term real property. Examples are tools, unattached store counters and display racks, desks, chairs, file cabinets, computers, office machines, and medical instruments. Buildings, structures, and fixtures are not personal property. To determine if an item is a fixture, a “three factor test” is applied to each item. If all three factors of the test apply to the item, it’s considered a fixture. Otherwise, the item is personal property.

The three factor test consists of annexation, adaptation and intent as explained below.

  1. Annexation. Although once moveable chattels, articles become accessory to and a part of improvements to real property by having been physically or  constructively incorporated therein or annexed or affixed thereto in such a manner that removing them would cause material injury or damage to the real property; and
  2. Adaptation. The use or purpose of an item is integral to the use of the real property to which it is affixed; and
  3. Intent. Items should be considered personal property unless a person would reasonably be considered to intend to make the articles, during their useful life, permanent additions to the real property. The intent depends on an objective standard and what a reasonable person would consider permanent and not the subjective intention of the owner of the property.

If an item of property satisfies all three factors of the three factor test, the item becomes a fixture and therefore real property

The assessor uses the information provided on your declaration to determine the current retail market value. This value includes shipping, installation, and other costs incurred to have the property functioning. Several tools or methods are used to arrive at this value, including depreciation tables, sales information, cost guides, and other sources.

NEED HELP? CALL OR E-MAIL ONE OF OUR APPRAISERS!

Please call our office at (208) 265-1440 or submit your question via email to assessors@bonnercountyid.gov.