Residents have couple of weeks to list their property
By Andrew Bell
Published in News on January 14, 2007 10:48 AM
Wayne County residents still have two and a half weeks to list their personal property for their 2007 tax bills.
Personal property includes mobile homes, boats, motors, watercraft and aircraft. It also includes all unlicensed vehicles, trailers, campers, motorcycles and recreation vehicles. Business personal property includes supplies, farm equipment, machinery or any other assets.
Many residents already went to the tax office earlier this month to pay their 2006 tax bills before they became delinquent on Jan. 6.
But people will need to start thinking about this year's taxes before the month is through. The tax listing period will end on Jan. 31. Any residents who don't list their personal property on or before that date will be assessed a penalty of 10 percent of the total taxes due, Wayne Tax Administrator David Ward.
Fortunately, most residents won't have to return through the doors of the tax office, which is located on the first floor of the county courthouse, to list their property, Ward said.
If personal property was listed with the tax office last year, a listing form has already been sent to that property owner. That form can be mailed back to the tax office by sending it to the Wayne County Tax Department, P.O. Box 227, Goldsboro, N.C., 27533. Any mailing must be postmarked by the United States Postal Service on or before Jan. 31.
Real estate bought in the past year doesn't have to be listed with the tax office because the county has a permanent listing system, Ward said. But any new construction, additions, renovations or other changes to the property must be listed.
If a person no longer owns the same personal property from last year, he or she needs to include on the listing form if the property was sold and whom he or she sold it to, he said.
But if a resident hasn't listed property with Wayne County before, he or she will need to pick up a listing form at the tax office. The tax office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but it will be closed on Monday in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
For more information, call the Wayne County Tax Department at 731-1461.