02/29/2016 HCAD Offers Rendition Help(2/29/2016)

Harris County Appraisal District News Release

For additional information contact Jack Barnett, Communications Officer, 713-957-5663

February 29, 2016

HCAD Offers Business Personal Property Rendition Help
Houston — The Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) has begun the process of
mailing personal property rendition forms to businesses known to have been operating in
Harris County during 2015.

The appraisal district is offering free workshops to help business owners complete the
required personal property rendition forms before the April 15 filing deadline.
If you own tangible personal property that is used to produce income, you must file a
rendition with the Harris County Appraisal District by April 15. A rendition is a report that
lists all the taxable personal property you owned or controlled on Jan. 1 of this year.
Personal property includes inventory and equipment used by a business such as furniture
and fixtures, supplies, raw materials, and business vehicles, vessels and aircraft.
Six rendition workshops have been scheduled throughout the county. Participants
can attend at any time during the scheduled hours and typically will be able to complete the
process in about an hour. There is no charge to attend.

Workshops will be conducted at the following locations:
 Thursday, March 17 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
HCAD Offices, 13013 Northwest Freeway, Houston – 6
th floor
 Wednesday, March 23 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
HCAD Offices, 13013 Northwest Freeway, Houston – 6
th floor
 Wednesday, March 30 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Trini Mendenhall Community Center, 1414 Wirt Road, Houston
(more)
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 Tuesday, April 5 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Galena Park ISD Administrative Bldg., 14705 Woodforest Blvd., Houston
 Saturday, April 9 8 a.m. to Noon
HCAD Offices, 13013 Northwest Freeway, Houston – 6
th floor
 Wednesday, April 13 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
HCAD Offices, 13013 Northwest Freeway, Houston – 6
th floor

Those who attend will be able to consult individually with appraisal district staff who
will explain personal property taxation and rendition requirements and will answer
questions about completion of the rendition forms.
“We hope these workshops will help business owners avoid the 10 percent tax penalty
for those businesses that fail to render or that render late,” said HCAD Chief Appraiser
Sands Stiefer.

All business owners are required to file renditions whether or not they have received
notification. Filing a fraudulent rendition carries a 50 percent penalty if found guilty.
State law permits business owners to obtain an automatic extension of the filing
requirement by submitting a request in writing by the original April 15 deadline. The
extended deadline for such businesses would then be May 15.
A rendition form is available on the appraisal district’s website at www.hcad.org
under the “Forms” tab along with information on the rules of the process.
Business owners with questions about the rendition requirements are encouraged to
attend any of the workshop sessions or call the appraisal district’s Information Center at
713.957.7800.

About HCAD
The Harris County Appraisal District is a political subdivision of the State of Texas
established in 1980 for the purpose of discovering and appraising property for ad valorem

tax purposes for each taxing unit within the boundaries of the district. The district has
more than 1.7 million parcels of property to assess each year with a total market value of
approximately $526 billion. The appraisal district in Harris County is the largest in Texas,
serving approximately 500 taxing units, and one of the largest appraisal districts in the
United States. For further information, visit www.hcad.org.