Personal property includes:
- Business equipment
- Mining and manufacturing machinery
- Agricultural implements and equipment
- Furniture
- Fixtures
- All other property not included in any other property class
Detailed lists of equipment by category can be found on the Personal Property Equipment List:
- Furniture, Fixtures, and Miscellaneous Equipment
- Heavy Equipment
- Manufacturing and Mining Equipment
- Farm and Ranch Equipment
- Oil and Gas Equipment
Please note: Property that has been “depreciated out” for income tax purposes is still taxable for property tax purposes.
Reporting
Any property you own, possess, or control at midnight on January 1 is taxable for that year.
Please report your personal property in our TransAction Portal before March 1 to avoid a penalty equal to 20% of the depreciated personal property value.
One of our employees might visit your business, agricultural operation, or field site to make sure our information is accurate and answer your questions.
Quick Information
Important Dates
- Assessment Date
- January 1
- Reporting Deadline
- March 1
Taxes
Your county treasurer bills and collects personal property tax.
Personal Property Reporting Instruction Videos
Watch on YouTube
- 0:00
- Creating a New TransAction Portal Account
- 2:56
- Log in and Verify Your Account
- 4:13
- Accessing Personal Property Reporting
- 6:12
- Making Changes to a Property
- 6:55
- Adding a New Property
- 7:57
- Updating Personal Property Equipment Tables (Steps 1—8)
- 11:32
- Filtering the Equipment Tables
- 13:08
- Entering Preparer Information
- 14:00
- Amending Your Report
- 14:49
- Adding a New Personal Property Account to your TAP Account
Watch on YouTube
- 0:00
- Register for a New TAP Account
- 2:40
- Login and Verify Your Account
- 3:44
- Accessing Industrial Property Reporting and Updating Your Account
- 5:23
- Property Summary Tables
- 5:37
- Updating a Property
- 6:23
- Adding a New Property
- 7:18
- Deleting a Property
- 7:55
- Filtering and Sorting Tables
- 8:59
- Updating Business Equipment by Type
- 9:27
- Step 1: General Ledger Accounts
- 10:30
- Step 2: Building & Site Improvement Construction & Demolition
- 11:10
- Steps 3—7
- 13:08
- Attaching Additional Documents
- 13:50
- Entering Perparer Information
- 14:46
- Amending Your Return
Montana Personal Property Data Report
My Property lets you download personal property data for groups of properties under one taxpaye ID, called an aggregation group. Please read our Montana Personal Property Data Report Guide (PDF, 414 KB) for more information on how to download summarized information for all of the personal property records that make up an aggregation group.
Determining Property Values
Example
For this example, we will look at calculating the personal property tax with:
- $75,000 acquired cost
- 75% percent good
- 1.5% tax rate
- 500 mill levies in the district
Tax Owed = $422
Detailed descriptions of the valuation methods can be found in Chapter 42.21 of the Administrative Rules of Montana.
Depreciation Schedules
Exemptions and Tax Rate Adjustment Thresholds
- Exemption Threshold
- The first $100,000 of the taxable market value of Class 8 property is tax exempt.
- Tax Rate Adjustment Threshold
- The first $6 million of property is taxed at a lower tax rate.
We assess personal property on the combined value of all personal property located in the state, by taxpayer ID.
If we can identify a company owning at least 50% of another entity, we combine the personal property tax value under the parent company’s taxpayer ID number.
See the Montana Personal Property Assessment Fact Sheet for more details.
Migratory and Special Mobile Equipment
Personal property brought into Montana at any time during the year is subject to property tax. You must report equipment brought into the state to the local county office in the county where the equipment is first used.
Montana prorates property tax based on the number of calendar months remaining when the property enters the state:
| Months Remaining | Prorate Percentage |
|---|---|
| 12 | 100% |
| 11 | 91.67% |
| 10 | 83.33% |
| 9 | 75% |
| 8 | 66.67% |
| 7 | 58.33% |
| 6 | 50% |
| 5 | 41.67% |
| 4 | 33.33% |
| 3 | 25% |
| 2 | 16.67% |
| 1 | 8.33% |
Property Tax Refund Application
Personal property that leaves the state during the same calendar year might be eligible for a prorated property tax refund. You can get applications from your local county office.
You must submit the application to the county commissioners of the county where we assessed the property and where you paid the personal property tax.
Special Mobile Permits
Any heavy equipment that moves on, over, or across state highways requires a $5 special mobile permit. You must pay the property tax to the county treasurer when you get the permit. You must also give us proof of tax payment to avoid double assessment.
Paying Personal Property Tax
The elected county treasurer in each county bills and collects personal property tax.
The Department of Revenue does not bill or collect personal property tax.