(a) Definitions. “Municipality”, whenever used in this section, includes each town, consolidated town and city, and consolidated town and borough.

(b) Motor vehicles. No person required by law to file an annual declaration of personal property shall include in such declaration motor vehicles that are registered in the office of the state Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. With respect to any vehicle subject to taxation in a town other than the town in which such vehicle is registered, pursuant to section 12-71, information concerning such vehicle may be included in a declaration filed pursuant to this section or section 12-43, or on a report filed pursuant to section 12-57a.

(c) Property included. Confidentiality of commercial and financial information. The annual declaration of the tangible personal property owned by such person on the assessment date, shall include, but is not limited to, the following property: Machinery used in mills and factories, cables, wires, poles, underground mains, conduits, pipes and other fixtures of water, gas, electric and heating companies, leasehold improvements classified as other than real property and furniture and fixtures of stores, offices, hotels, restaurants, taverns, halls, factories and manufacturers. Tangible personal property does not include a sign placed on a property indicating that the property is for sale or lease. Commercial or financial information in any declaration filed under this section shall not be open for public inspection but may be disclosed to municipal officers for tax collection purposes.

(d) Electronic filing. Any person required by law to file an annual declaration of personal property may sign and file such declaration electronically on a form provided by the assessor of a municipality, provided such municipality (1) has the technological ability to accept electronic signatures, and (2) agrees to accept electronic signatures for annual declarations of personal property.

(e) Penalty. (1) Any person who fails to file a declaration of personal property on or before the first day of November, or on or before the extended filing date as granted by the assessor pursuant to section 12-42 shall be subject to a penalty equal to twenty-five per cent of the assessment of such property; (2) any person who files a declaration of personal property in a timely manner, but has omitted property, as defined in section 12-53, shall be subject to a penalty equal to twenty-five per cent of the assessment of such omitted property. The penalty shall be added to the grand list by the assessor of the town in which such property is taxable; and (3) any declaration received by the municipality to which it is due that is in an envelope bearing a postmark, as defined in section 1-2a, showing a date within the allowed filing period shall not be deemed to be delinquent.

(1949 Rev., S. 1719; 1951, S. 1037d; 1957, P.A. 13, S. 68; 1961, P.A. 517, S. 127; February, 1965, P.A. 461, S. 2; P.A. 77-614, S. 139, 610; P.A. 79-610, S. 3, 47; P.A. 83-485, S. 11, 13; P.A. 87-245, S. 1, 10; P.A. 99-189, S. 2, 20; P.A. 04-228, S. 1; P.A. 08-130, S. 2; P.A. 11-69, S. 1; P.A. 13-276, S. 3; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 16-3, S. 203.)

History: 1961 act stated that real estate need not be included in lists in Subsec. (d) and rearranged subsections; 1965 act amended Subsec. (e) to combine elements of two separate provisions re goods on hand of merchants and traders and re goods on hand re manufacturers into one provision for both and to include reference to mechanical business; P.A. 77-614 substituted commissioner of revenue services for tax commissioner, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 79-610 substituted secretary of the office of policy and management for commissioner of revenue services, effective July 1, 1980; P.A. 83-485 amended Subsec. (d) by providing that any assessor's office utilizing data processing or computer equipment for such real estate records or information shall be deemed to be in compliance with requirements in Subsec. (d), subject to provisions concerning duplicate records and capability of transfer to printed form, effective June 30, 1983, and applicable in any town to the assessment year commencing October 1, 1983, and each assessment year thereafter; P.A. 87-245 amended Subsec. (f) to increase penalty from 10% to 25%, effective June 1, 1987, and applicable to assessment years of municipalities commencing on or after October 1, 1987; (Revisor's note: In 1997 the term “state Motor Vehicle Commissioner” in Subsec. (b) was replaced editorially by the Revisors with “Commissioner of Motor Vehicles” for consistency with customary statutory usage); P.A. 99-189 replaced list with declaration, deleted obsolete provisions, added leasehold improvements classified as other than real property, added new Subsec. (d) re 25% penalty and deleted provision requiring Office of Policy and Management approval, effective June 23, 1999, and applicable to assessment years of municipalities commencing on or after October 1, 1999; P.A. 04-228 amended Subsec. (b) to add provision re vehicle subject to taxation in town other than the one in which it is registered, effective June 8, 2004; P.A. 08-130 amended Subsec. (d) by adding Subdiv. (3) re declaration postmarked within allowed filing period not deemed delinquent, effective June 5, 2008, and applicable to annual declarations due on or after November 1, 2008; P.A. 11-69 made a technical change in Subsec. (b), added new Subsec. (d) re filing annual declaration electronically and redesignated existing Subsec. (d) as Subsec. (e), effective October 1, 2011, and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after that date; P.A. 13-276 amended Subsec. (c) by adding provision re disclosure of commercial or financial information in a declaration to municipal officers for tax collection purposes; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 16-3 amended Subsec. (c) by adding “Tangible personal property does not include a sign placed on a property indicating that the property is for sale or lease”, effective July 1, 2016.

See Sec. 12-169 re payment date for local taxes due on Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.

See Sec. 14-163 re duty of Motor Vehicles Commissioner to furnish lists of motor vehicle and snowmobile owners to town assessors.

Corporation's motor vehicles properly are assessed, for purposes of personal property taxation, in the town in which corporation maintains its principal place of business, irrespective of where its motor vehicles are actually located; motor vehicles registered in Connecticut are exempt from declaration of taxable personal property required under the general statutory scheme for taxation of personal property. 266 C. 706.