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If you own a business in Utah County, the county taxes the desks, computers, ovens and dental chairs you use to run it, separately from the building. This guide covers what the Utah County Assessor asks for, how it values your equipment, how small businesses get out of the tax, and what it costs to ignore the letter.
Every business in Utah County must report its equipment, furniture and fixtures to the Utah County Assessor on the annual personal property statement, due May 15 unless the statement gives another date. If everything your business owns in the county is worth $30,100 or less in 2026, you owe no tax, but you still have to file the statement with the exemption form. Missing the deadline costs 10 percent of the estimated tax or $25, whichever is more.
Utah taxes business equipment as property, the same way it taxes land and buildings. The Utah County Assessor's examples are furniture, fixtures, machinery, appliances, tools, signs, and office equipment like computers, phones and wall decor. A salon pays on its chairs and dryers. A coffee shop in Orem pays on its espresso machine, refrigerators and tables.
Some things are left out. The state's Publication 20 lists inventory you hold for resale, supplies, household furniture, farm machinery used mainly for farming, and intangible property like software licenses and goodwill. An item that cost under $500 and is not critical to running the business is also exempt, and Utah Code 59-2-1115 says the county cannot make you list those items or supplies on the statement.
Equipment you have written off on your books still counts. The Tax Commission says property that is fully depreciated for accounting is still taxable and must be reported. Leased equipment is usually taxed to the leasing company, and you list it on Schedule D so the county knows whose it is.
The tax follows what you owned at noon on January 1. A printer you buy in March 2026 is not taxed until the 2027 statement. If you are opening a business this year, the county will likely find you anyway. Its letter to new owners says the Assessor's office checks state and city business registries, leasing companies and field visits, and runs state audits to find every business operating in the county.
State law exempts a business whose taxable equipment in one county adds up to a small amount. The base in Utah Code 59-2-1115 is $25,000, and the Tax Commission raises it with inflation each year. For 2026 the limit is $30,100, and both the state's Publication 20 and Utah County's 2026 exemption form use that number.
The limit is per owner, per county. Utah County's form says the exemption is determined by ownership, so if one LLC runs two shops in Provo and Spanish Fork, both locations count toward the same $30,100. Equipment the same company owns in Salt Lake County is counted separately by that county.
Getting the exemption takes paperwork. You fill out the Application for Exemption of Taxable Tangible Personal Property and send it in with your statement, or check the box when you file online. Utah County says the exemption is not official until the Board of Equalization grants it, and that its staff send the application to the board for you.
Here is where state law and the county form differ. Utah County's 2026 exemption form says the exemption is not automatic and you must apply every year by the filing deadline. Utah Code 59-2-1115 says that once you qualify and file a statement, the assessor may not require a statement in each following year you still qualify, and that the assessor has to send you a notice telling you so. Until the county tells you in writing that you can stop, file every year. Skipping a year can turn into an estimated bill you cannot appeal.
The county does not use your tax return depreciation. It takes what you paid for each item, including shipping, installation and sales tax, and multiplies it by a percent good rate from schedules the Tax Commission publishes each year. The rate drops with age and then stops at a floor, so old equipment never goes to zero.
These are some of the rates on Utah County's 2026 Percent Good Rate Table, by the year you bought the item:
| Property code and examples | Bought 2025 | Bought 2024 | Bought 2023 | Bought 2022 | Lowest rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5: furniture, shelving, TVs, signs other than billboards | 96% | 90% | 83% | 74% | 13% |
| 12: computers, copiers, POS systems, monitors | 62% | 46% | 21% | 9% | 7% |
| 3: cash registers, phones, cameras, security systems, barbershop equipment | 90% | 79% | 59% | 41% | 21% |
| 8: ovens, refrigerators, food prep, medical, dental and chiropractic equipment | 97% | 93% | 89% | 82% | 11% |
| 1: software, linens, uniforms, pots and pans | 76% | 47% | 12% | 12% | 12% |
Say you opened a cafe in Provo. In 2024 you bought $12,000 of kitchen equipment and $4,000 of computers and a POS system. In 2025 you added $8,000 of tables and chairs. On the 2026 statement the kitchen equipment is worth $12,000 times 93 percent, or $11,160. The computers are $4,000 times 46 percent, or $1,840. The furniture is $8,000 times 96 percent, or $7,680. That adds up to $20,680, under the $30,100 limit, so the cafe files the statement and the exemption form and owes nothing.
Add a $15,000 espresso machine bought in 2025 and the picture changes. At 97 percent it adds $14,550, the total goes over $30,100, and the whole amount becomes taxable, not just the part above the limit. The tax is then that value times the property tax rate for the district your shop sits in. The Utah County Treasurer has a tax rate search on its site, and rates differ between Provo, Orem, Lehi and the rest of the county.
Utah County mails statements to every business on its rolls at the start of the year. You can file online through the county's personal property filing site, pptax.utahcounty.gov, using the account number and PIN printed on the first page, or mail the paper copy back. The county's page says the deadline is May 15 unless the statement says otherwise, which matches Utah Code 59-2-306.
If you do not file, Utah Code 59-2-307 sets a penalty of 10 percent of the estimated tax, with a minimum of $25 for each missed statement, and the county can charge it starting May 16. The county then estimates your property's value from what it knows. Neither the county Board of Equalization nor the Tax Commission can lower that estimate. Utah County's form also warns that it does not send a certified letter before it estimates your account and adds penalty and interest.
The Tax Commission audits business accounts across the state, and Publication 20 says not filing is one of the things that gets you picked. Under Utah Code 59-2-309, property that was never reported can be taxed back five years, and property you hid or misreported on purpose carries a penalty equal to the tax on it.
Late tax picks up interest. The state sets it at the federal funds target rate on January 1 plus 6 points, never under 7 percent or over 10 percent, and Publication 20 puts it at 9.5 percent for 2026. You pay the bill through the Utah County Treasurer's site under Business Personal Property Tax. An electronic check has no fee. If you have a good reason for missing the deadline, the Treasurer takes a Business Personal Property Penalty Reduction Form, and state law lets the county waive or cut the penalty for reasonable cause.
A lot of people search for TC-160 when they mean the property tax statement. TC-160 is a Utah State Tax Commission form, but it is the application for a sales tax exemption number for religious and charitable organizations. It has nothing to do with the equipment statement from the county.
If you run a nonprofit and want its equipment off the property tax roll, that is a separate request. Utah County says property owned and used only by a nonprofit religious, charitable or educational group can be exempted after it applies and the Utah County Board of Equalization approves it. Until the board approves it, the county treats the property as taxable. Equipment you lease to a nonprofit is still taxable.
Selling or closing does not stop the statements on its own. Utah County's letter to new owners says you must tell the Assessor in writing, and tell the city and the state, or the account can stay open and keep adding penalties and interest. Use the Account Information Change form, or call the Personal Property Division and ask for a closing affidavit.
If you bought an existing business, the purchase resets the clock. The county's instructions say to list every piece of equipment on Schedule B with the year you bought it and the price you paid, and to delete the old owner's list on Schedule A. If you started from scratch, list what you use to run the business on Schedule B, not the inventory you sell.
The Personal Property Division of the Utah County Assessor's office is at 100 East Center Street, Suite 1100, in Provo. Call 801-851-8295, email [email protected], or fax 801-851-8282. Every form, including Schedule B, Schedule D, the exemption form and the new owner form, can go in by email.
If you think the county's value is wrong, you can appeal to the Utah County Board of Equalization. Publication 20 says you have 60 days from the date the tax notice was mailed, and if you lose there you have 30 days to take it to the State Tax Commission.
Once the paperwork is done, the next job is getting customers through the door. Our guide to where to advertise in Utah County compares local options with their published prices. Provo FOMO is our own newsletter, and we sell ads in it: it goes to 3,115 Utah County subscribers, one closing spot in a single issue costs $99, and monthly plans run $249 to $649. The details are on our advertising page. A listing in our Local Directory costs $99 a month, a 30 day post on our local job board costs $149, and our AI 101 class for business owners is free.
