Business Tangible Personal Property Taxes

The Office of the Commissioner of Revenue’s Business Tax Division is open to in-person customers and appointments from Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except holidays.

Business Tangible Personal Property Tax due date:

Annually, businesses must file their business tangible personal property tax online via CAPP by 11:59 p.m. EST on May 1 (or the next business day). 

The Commissioner of Revenue does not grant filing extensions beyond the May 1 filing deadline. We recommend that if you do not have all the required information, you should file the return by the deadline and amend it later to avoid incurring a late-filing penalty of 10 percent of the tax determined to be due.

File your Business Tangible Personal Property Tax

What is Business Tangible Personal Property Tax?

Per Arlington County Code § 27-11, all tangible personal property (with a few exceptions) that is used in a business in Arlington County is subject to Business Tangible Personal Property Tax.  Therefore, all Arlington County businesses must file a Business Tangible Personal Property Return each year by 11:59 p.m. EST on or before May 1. Payments, if applicable, are due each year on or before September 5.

The Arlington County Board sets the tax rate.  For 2025, the rate has been set at $5.00 per $100 of assessed value.

Documentation needed:

  • Your current federal depreciation schedule, if one is available
  • An itemized list of all property owned by your business (indicate only items located in Arlington County and separately identify programmable computer equipment)

How is business tangible personal property tax is assessed?

The assessed value of your property is determined by a set percentage of the original capitalized cost of each item, based on the purchase year:

  • The section titled “Part 1: Owned Property” on the return lists these percentages. (Note: Original capitalized cost is the actual cost of the business tangible personal property before any allowance for depreciation. It includes all costs associated with putting an asset into use (such as sales tax, delivery and freight charges, installation, labor, etc.). If you expensed the property under IRS Code Section 179, its original capitalized cost is the amount that you expensed for federal tax purposes.)

Such items include, but are not limited to:

  • Furniture
  • Machinery
  • Tools
  • Programmable computer equipment (including all computer and peripheral equipment hardware and all operational software).

Some potential exemptions from Business Tangible Personal Property Tax:

  • Application software and inventory for resale are exempt.
  • Some of the property of manufacturers may be exempt.
  • The property of nonprofit entities is NOT generally exempt, though a few categories of nonprofit organizations may be exempt. The best course of action for nonprofit organizations is to contact the COR office for more information on exemptions.

If you ceased business after January 1, your business tangible tax won’t be prorated and you must file your return on or before the May 1 filing deadline.

  • Be sure to indicate on your return the exact date of your business cessation to avoid automatic assessment for taxes in subsequent years.

If you own fully depreciated or IRS-expensed tangible personal property, you still must report these items.

  • If the IRS doesn’t require you to file a depreciation schedule, attach a list of all your business personal property to the return and include the property’s purchase date and the original cost.

If you own personal property that you lease to others for their business use:

If you own personal property that you lease to others for their business use — under a private agreement that requires the lessee to pay any local tax assessments — you, as the property owner, must file a return and pay the tax assessment.

If you lease tangible personal property from others:

If you lease tangible personal property from others, you must report all property in your possession, including leased property, even if the lessor also reports them.

To report any over-the-road vehicles, such as cars, trucks and trailers:

You should not use your Business Tangible return to report any over-the-road vehicles, such as cars, trucks and trailers. Instead, you must report them as part of your Vehicle Personal Property Taxes. For more information, call 703-228-3135.

Contact Information

To reach a Business Tax Inspector:

By phone:  703-228-3060

Email:  business@arlingtonva.us

Visit:  The Business Tax Division is on the second floor at Window 208 in the Bozman Government Center located at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 200, Arlington, VA.  We are open to in-person customers and appointments from Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., except holidays.

Schedule an appointment 

 

 

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Contact Information

The Commissioner of Revenue’s Office, located in the Bozman Government Center located at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 200, Arlington, VA, is open to in-person customers and appointments from Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.  Appointments are being accepted for the Business Division and the DMV Select.  For questions, please call 703-228-3033 or email us.

 

Department of Real Estate Assessment
2100 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 611
Arlington, VA 22201
703-228-3920
Email Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Mon - Fri

 

Treasurer’s Office
2100 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 201
Arlington, VA 22201
703-228-4000 703-228-7436 (fax) TTY: 703-228-4611
Email Hours: 8 a.m.- 5 p.m., Mon - Fri

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