2022 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 12 - Taxation
Chapter 203 - Property Tax Assessment
Section 12-41. - Filing of declaration.
(a) Definitions. “Municipality”, whenever used in this section, includes each town, consolidated town and city, and consolidated town and borough.
(b) Motor Vehicles. (1) For assessment years commencing prior to October 1, 2023, no person required by law to file an annual declaration of personal property shall include in such declaration motor vehicles that are registered in the office of the state Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. With respect to any vehicle subject to taxation in a town other than the town in which such vehicle is registered, pursuant to section 12-71, information concerning such vehicle may be included in a declaration filed pursuant to this section or section 12-43, or on a report filed pursuant to section 12-57a.
(2) For assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2023, any person required to file an annual declaration of tangible personal property shall include in such declaration the motor vehicle listing, pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (f) of section 12-71, of any motor vehicle owned by such person. If, after the annual deadline for filing a declaration, a motor vehicle is deemed personal property by the assessor, such motor vehicle shall be added to the declaration of the owner of such vehicle or included on a new declaration if no declaration was submitted in the prior year. The value of the motor vehicle shall be determined pursuant to section 12-63. If applicable, the value of the motor vehicle for the current assessment year shall be prorated pursuant to section 12-71b, and shall not be considered omitted property, as defined in section 12-53, or subject to a penalty pursuant to subsection (f) of this section.
(c) Property included. Confidentiality of commercial and financial information. The annual declaration of the tangible personal property owned by such person on the assessment date, shall include, but is not limited to, the following property: Machinery used in mills and factories, cables, wires, poles, underground mains, conduits, pipes and other fixtures of water, gas, electric and heating companies, leasehold improvements classified as other than real property and furniture and fixtures of stores, offices, hotels, restaurants, taverns, halls, factories and manufacturers. Tangible personal property does not include a sign placed on a property indicating that the property is for sale or lease. On and after October 1, 2023, tangible personal property shall include motor vehicles listed on the schedule of motor vehicle plate classes recommended pursuant to section 12-71d. Commercial or financial information in any declaration filed under this section, except for commercial or financial information which concerns motor vehicles, shall not be open for public inspection but may be disclosed to municipal officers for tax collection purposes.
(d) Form. For assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2023, the Office of Policy and Management shall, in consultation with the Connecticut Association of Assessing Officers, prescribe a form for the annual declaration of personal property.
(e) Electronic filing. Any person required by law to file an annual declaration of personal property may sign and file such declaration electronically, provided the municipality in which such declaration is to be filed (1) has the technological ability to accept electronic signatures, and (2) agrees to accept electronic signatures for annual declarations of personal property.
(f) Penalty. (1) Any person who fails to file a declaration of personal property on or before the first day of November, or on or before the extended filing date as granted by the assessor pursuant to section 12-42 shall be subject to a penalty equal to twenty-five per cent of the assessment of such property; (2) any person who files a declaration of personal property in a timely manner, but has omitted property, as defined in section 12-53, shall be subject to a penalty equal to twenty-five per cent of the assessment of such omitted property. The penalty shall be added to the grand list by the assessor of the town in which such property is taxable; and (3) any declaration received by the municipality to which it is due that is in an envelope bearing a postmark, as defined in section 1-2a, showing a date within the allowed filing period shall not be deemed to be delinquent.
(1949 Rev., S. 1719; 1951, S. 1037d; 1957, P.A. 13, S. 68; 1961, P.A. 517, S. 127; February, 1965, P.A. 461, S. 2; P.A. 77-614, S. 139, 610; P.A. 79-610, S. 3, 47; P.A. 83-485, S. 11, 13; P.A. 87-245, S. 1, 10; P.A. 99-189, S. 2, 20; P.A. 04-228, S. 1; P.A. 08-130, S. 2; P.A. 11-69, S. 1; P.A. 13-276, S. 3; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 16-3, S. 203; P.A. 22-118, S. 501.)
History: 1961 act stated that real estate need not be included in lists in Subsec. (d) and rearranged subsections; 1965 act amended Subsec. (e) to combine elements of two separate provisions re goods on hand of merchants and traders and re goods on hand re manufacturers into one provision for both and to include reference to mechanical business; P.A. 77-614 substituted commissioner of revenue services for tax commissioner, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 79-610 substituted secretary of the office of policy and management for commissioner of revenue services, effective July 1, 1980; P.A. 83-485 amended Subsec. (d) by providing that any assessor's office utilizing data processing or computer equipment for such real estate records or information shall be deemed to be in compliance with requirements in Subsec. (d), subject to provisions concerning duplicate records and capability of transfer to printed form, effective June 30, 1983, and applicable in any town to the assessment year commencing October 1, 1983, and each assessment year thereafter; P.A. 87-245 amended Subsec. (f) to increase penalty from 10% to 25%, effective June 1, 1987, and applicable to assessment years of municipalities commencing on or after October 1, 1987; (Revisor's note: In 1997 the term “state Motor Vehicle Commissioner” in Subsec. (b) was replaced editorially by the Revisors with “Commissioner of Motor Vehicles” for consistency with customary statutory usage); P.A. 99-189 replaced list with declaration, deleted obsolete provisions, added leasehold improvements classified as other than real property, added new Subsec. (d) re 25% penalty and deleted provision requiring Office of Policy and Management approval, effective June 23, 1999, and applicable to assessment years of municipalities commencing on or after October 1, 1999; P.A. 04-228 amended Subsec. (b) to add provision re vehicle subject to taxation in town other than the one in which it is registered, effective June 8, 2004; P.A. 08-130 amended Subsec. (d) by adding Subdiv. (3) re declaration postmarked within allowed filing period not deemed delinquent, effective June 5, 2008, and applicable to annual declarations due on or after November 1, 2008; P.A. 11-69 made a technical change in Subsec. (b), added new Subsec. (d) re filing annual declaration electronically and redesignated existing Subsec. (d) as Subsec. (e), effective October 1, 2011, and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after that date; P.A. 13-276 amended Subsec. (c) by adding provision re disclosure of commercial or financial information in a declaration to municipal officers for tax collection purposes; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 16-3 amended Subsec. (c) by adding “Tangible personal property does not include a sign placed on a property indicating that the property is for sale or lease”, effective July 1, 2016; P.A. 22-41 amended Subsec. (b) by designating existing provisions re annual declaration of personal property as Subdiv. (1), specifying that Subdiv. (1) is applicable to assessment years commencing prior to October 1, 2023, and adding Subdiv. (2) re requirements re annual declaration of tangible personal property applicable for assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2023, amended Subsec. (c) by specifying that on and after October 1, 2023, tangible personal property includes motor vehicles listed on the schedule of motor vehicle plate classes, and adding exception for commercial or financial information concerning motor vehicles to prohibition on public inspection of commercial or financial information in filed declarations, added new Subsec. (d) re form for annual declaration of personal property and redesignated existing Subsecs. (d) and (e) as Subsecs. (e) and (f), amended new Subsec. (e) by removing requirement that assessor of municipality provide form for annual declaration of personal property, adding “in which such declaration is to be filed”, and making a technical change, effective July 1, 2022, and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2023.
See Sec. 12-169 re payment date for local taxes due on Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.
See Sec. 14-163 re duty of Motor Vehicles Commissioner to furnish lists of motor vehicle and snowmobile owners to town assessors.
Corporation's motor vehicles properly are assessed, for purposes of personal property taxation, in the town in which corporation maintains its principal place of business, irrespective of where its motor vehicles are actually located; motor vehicles registered in Connecticut are exempt from declaration of taxable personal property required under the general statutory scheme for taxation of personal property. 266 C. 706.
Subsec. (c):
Although wind turbines are not fixtures of an electric company subject to tangible personal property taxation, the equipment associated with wind turbines can be. 344 C. 150.
