Stokes County, NC

All taxable personal property in North Carolina is appraised at its true value in money. The two main exceptions are inventories owned by manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, and contractors as well as non-business personal property. These types of personal property have been exempted by statute in North Carolina. There are other exemptions for different types of personal property where the ownership and use determine the exempt status. These would have to be looked at on an individual basis. Personal property in North Carolina is appraised each year as of January 1 at its true value in money. The personal property owner should list his or her personal property with the correct county during the regular listing period in January. Extensions for listing personal property may be granted by the County Assessor up to April 15 upon a timely request. The request for extension to list must be made before the end of the regular listing period.

The counties in North Carolina use a trending method to appraise personal property. Counties request taxpayers to list their property at original cost by year of acquisition. The counties then trend the original cost up to reach current replacement cost new and then apply a straight line depreciation schedule to reach market value. Most of the counties use trending schedules developed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

The appraised value of any personal property may be appealed to the local county board and then to the North Carolina Property Tax Commission.