BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 852
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 20, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                      AB 852 (Fong) - As Amended:  May 4, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                              Revenue and  
          Taxation     Vote:                            6-1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill authorizes a county assessor to require a taxpayer who  
          owns taxable personal property with an assessed value of  
          $100,000 or more to electronically file a business property  
          statement. The bill also:

          1)Provides for a one-year grace period for the taxpayer to  
            comply with the electronic filing requirement.

          2)Requires the Board of Equalization to prescribe a format and  
            method for filing annual business property statements,  
            including those filed electronically, and permits a county  
            assessor to reject property statements that are not filed in  
            the requested format.  

          3)Requires BOE to adopt, by January 1, 2011, equipment category  
            codes established in consultation California Assessors'  
            Association and taxpayer representatives. Requires that these  
            codes be used by taxpayers beginning January 1, 2012. 
           
          FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor absorbable costs to BOE. The BOE staff estimates this bill  
          will have no direct impact on state revenues. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Background  . Personal property used in a trade or business is  
            subject to property taxation in California. Unlike real  
            property (land and buildings) - that are subject to an  
            acquisition based valuation system - personal property is  








                                                                  AB 852
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            assessed each year base on current fair market value.

            Current law requires taxpayers to submit, under penalty of  
            perjury, an annual business property statement to the local  
            county assessor, reporting the cost of their property, if the  
            aggregate cost of the taxable personal property is at least  
            $100,000. These statements may be filed either electronically  
            or by paper.  

           2)Purpose.  The sponsor of this bill, the California Assessors'  
            Association, states that it will establish uniformity and will  
            reduce errors and costs associated with paper filings.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081