Indiana Administrative Code
Title 50 - DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE
Article 4.2 - ASSESSMENT OF TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY
Rule 2 - Filing Requirements
Section 2-10 - Penalties

(a) Any person who willfully makes and subscribes any return, statement, or other document which is verified under oath, which is certified as to the truth of the information contained therein, or which contains a written declaration that is made under the penalties of perjury, and that he or she does not believe to be true and correct in every material respect shall be guilty of a crime and shall be subject to the same penalties as provided by law for perjury.

(b) If a person subject to IC 6-1.1-3-7(c) fails to include on a personal property return the information, if any, that the department requires under IC 6-1.1-3-9 or IC 6-1.1-5-13, the county auditor shall add a penalty to the property tax installment next due for the return. The amount of the penalty is twenty-five dollars ($25). The purpose of this penalty is to require a full disclosure of the information related to the value, nature, or location of personal property on the personal property tax return for the year that is necessary for an assessing official to review the return. If this information is not provided, a thorough review of the return as required by law cannot take place.

(c) Failure to file a return or be granted an extension of time to file a return by May 15 as required by law will result in the imposition of a twenty-five dollar ($25) penalty. In addition, if the return is not filed within thirty (30) days after such return is due, a penalty equal to twenty percent (20%) of the tax determined to be due will be imposed with respect to the personal property that should have been reported on the return. No return shall be considered due within the meaning of this article until the expiration of a period of any extension of time that may have been granted under section 3 of this rule.

(d) If the total assessed value that a person reports on an original personal property return is discovered by the assessing official or the property tax assessment board of appeals during a review conducted under IC 6-1.1-3-14 and 50 IAC 4.2-3.1 to be less than the total assessed value that the person is required by law to report and if the amount of the undervaluation exceeds five percent (5%) of the value that should have been reported on the return, then the county auditor shall add a penalty of twenty percent (20%) of the additional taxes finally determined to be due as a result of the undervaluation. However, a penalty under this subsection shall not be imposed on a taxpayer who filed an amended personal property return under IC 6-1.1-3-7.5 to correct the taxpayer's undervaluation before Form 111/PP has been mailed to the taxpayer.

(e) The purpose of the twenty percent (20%) penalty is to ensure a complete disclosure of all information required by the department on the prescribed self-assessment personal property forms. This enables the township assessor, county board of review, and department to carry out their statutory duties of examining returns each year to determine if they substantially comply with the rules of the department. This examination cannot take place if all required information is not shown on the self-assessment return form. It is not the purpose of this provision to impose a penalty on a person who has made a complete disclosure of information required on the assessment return form.

(f) If the person filing the self-assessment personal property return shows that the person is claiming an exemption or taking an adjustment for abnormal obsolescence or permanently retired equipment on the return form and has complied with all of the requirements for claiming that exemption or adjustment, no penalty should be added to the extent of the amounts accounted for on the return form.

(g) In considering whether or not a taxpayer has made a full and complete disclosure of information, the complete return package must be considered. A complete return package consists of the return form itself (Form 102 or 103) (section 9 of this rule) and all necessary supplemental forms and supporting schedules that must be filed with the return.

(h) If a person has complied with all of the requirements for claiming an exemption or adjustment for abnormal obsolescence or permanently retired equipment, then the increase in assessed value that results from a denial of the exemption or change in the amount of adjustment is considered to be interpretive difference not subject to the twenty percent (20%) penalty for undervaluation for purposes of this subsection. However, all other amounts not fully disclosed through omission or undervaluation that represent property subject to the reporting requirements of this article and the laws of this state are subject to the twenty percent (20%) penalty.

(i) Claims for deductions, exemptions, abnormal obsolescence, permanently retired equipment, and mathematical errors on the face of the return are excluded from the five percent (5%) undervaluation threshold of subsection (d).