Friday April 19, 2024
Local Connection
Weather
Traffic
@LouisvilleDispatch
@LouisvilleDisp
Subscribe
Kentucky tangible personal property tax returns are due on Monday, May 15, 2017. Returns filed after May 15, 2017 are considered past due in accordance with KRS 132.290 and subject to penalties and interest.
Tangible property consists of physical property that includes, but is not limited to business furnishings and equipment, inventories, artwork, antiques, coin collections, and construction equipment. Answers to frequently asked questions concerning the assessment of tangible personal property can be found at http://revenue.ky.gov/Documents/TangibleFAQPamphlet.pdf.
Links to form 62A500-P and other useful resources are online at http://revenue.ky.gov/Property/Business-Personal-Property.
Returns filed by the due date should be mailed directly to the Property Valuation Administrator’s office of the county in which the property is located. Mailing addresses for the offices are included with the returns. Returns may also be filed with the Kentucky Department of Revenue.
Photo: IRS
For taxpayers who have not filed their 2016 individual income taxes, there is a little more time to file this year.
The filing deadline to submit 2016 tax returns is Tuesday, April 18, 2017, rather than the traditional April 15 date. This year, April 15 falls on a Saturday, which would usually move the filing deadline to the following Monday, April 17. However, Emancipation Day, a legal holiday in the District of Columbia, is on that Monday and pushes this year’s filing deadline to Tuesday, April 18, 2017.
Another holiday is just around the corner, Easter.
In observance of Good Friday, all Kentucky Department of Revenue offices will close at noon local time, Friday, April 14, 2017.
DOR offices will open Monday, April 17 at their regularly scheduled business hours.
For more information on DOR programs, please go to revenue.ky.gov
To help guard against the growing threat of tax fraud and identity theft, the Kentucky Department of Revenue (DOR) has taken additional steps that enhance the safety and security of processing taxpayers’ individual income tax returns, including an Identity Confirmation Quiz.
Beginning today, some taxpayers will receive letters from the department asking the taxpayer to take a short online Identity Confirmation Quiz before their tax refund is fully processed. The letter will give specifics as to what the taxpayer must do to take the quiz.
“We have multiple internal procedures in place, along with third party techniques, that assist us in preventing tax fraud,” said Daniel P. Bork, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Revenue. “We encourage taxpayers who receive this quiz letter to quickly respond, which will confirm their identities so we can continue processing their returns.”
The identity confirmation quiz will be available for 30 days from the date of the letter at revenue.ky.gov/quiz. Once a taxpayer successfully completes the quiz, the department will continue processing their return. If the taxpayer fails the quiz twice or does not take the quiz, the department will require additional documentation such as the hard copies of W2s or 1099s.
The taxpayer should not ignore this letter. The sooner the quiz is taken and passed, the quicker the Kentucky Department of Revenue can continue processing the return.
The Identity Confirmation Quiz can be taken online anytime or by telephone at (502) 892-3399, during regular work hours (Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET) with an authorized representative to help with the process.
Receiving the Identity Confirmation Quiz letter does not mean the taxpayer has been a victim of identity theft. It only means the Department of Revenue wishes to verify the identity of the person filing before issuing the refund.
If the taxpayer receives this letter and has not yet filed a return, he or she should contact the Kentucky Department of Revenue immediately by email at kyidquiz@ky.gov or telephone at (502) 892-3399.
A short video with more detail about the Identity Confirmation Quiz information is available on the department’s website at revenue.ky.gov/quiz.
As tax season begins, Attorney General Andy Beshear issued a scam alert to help Kentucky families avoid falling victim to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and tax-related identity fraud.
The start date for electronic filing of tax year 2016 federal and Kentucky returns began Jan. 23, 2017, and, as a result, reports of tax identity fraud are increasing.
Beshear’s office has received nearly 100 IRS scam reports over the past seven months, and the most recently reported scams were in Boyd, Greenup and Hardin counties.
“The IRS will never call, text or email asking for your personal or financial information,” Beshear said. “If you are contacted by someone claiming to be an IRS agent and requests your Social Security number hang-up and report it to the actual IRS.”
Tax identity fraud occurs when someone uses your Social Security number to file a tax return in your name, before you file in order to steal your refund.
Beshear and his Office of Senior Protection and Mediation recommends these tips from fraud.org to help Kentucky families avoid falling victim to tax-related identity theft.
- File early. Beginning Jan. 23, 2017, the IRS and the state will begin accepting electronic filing of tax returns. By filing early in the tax season, you can reduce your risk of identity theft by submitting your return before scammers. Waiting only gives con artists more time to steal your refund.
- Consider e-file. To help file quickly, consumers may qualify for the state and IRS’s Free File programs, which allows the use of free, name-brand tax filing software. For more information on the IRS Free File program, click here and for information on the state program, click here.
- Monitor your refund. Review the status of your refund by visiting the IRS’s Where’s My Refund? website or take advantage of the IRS2Go smartphone app. Remember, by law, the IRS must hold refunds claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit and/or the Additional Child Tax Credit until Feb. 15. The first day the Kentucky Department of Revenue will issue refunds is also Feb. 15; click here to visit the state refund site.
Victims of tax fraud may receive a mailed letter from the IRS or the victim may discover the fraud when they attempt to file their return.
Victims need to act quickly and follow these recommended steps:
- Contact the IRS. To contact the IRS directly call, 800.908.4490. Contact the Kentucky Department of Revenue at 502.564.4581.
- Follow the Attorney General’s Identity Theft Kit. Learn how to obtain an incident report of identity theft from your local law enforcement agency, place an immediate and free fraud alert on your credit file, order and review your credit reports, and create a comprehensive recovery action plan.
For additional information, visit the Office of the Attorney General’s website at ag.ky.gov; the IRS site, www.irs.gov/identitytheft; and Kentucky Department of Revenue at http://revenue.ky.gov/.
One of the critical missions of the Office of the Attorney General is to help Kentucky families and seniors recognize and avoid scams.
Rates Now Unchanged Since 2008 – 12.2¢ per $100
According to a release from the Jefferson County PVA, the Kentucky Department of Revenue has set the 2016 State Real Property Tax Rate at 12.2 cents per $100 of assessed value. Kentucky Revised Statute 132.020 requires the Department of Revenue to set the real property rate no later than July 1 of each year.
This rate is based on the revenue generated from the increase in taxable real property assessments from 2015 to 2016 as calculated after meeting the requirements of KRS 132.020 and KRS 133.110. Because the total real property assessment increase for 2016 did not exceed 4 percent, the state rate will remain the same as the 2015 rate, 12.2 cents per $100 of assessed value.
All of the revenue generated from the state property tax rate will go into the state’s general fund.
Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) Superintendent Donna Hargens announced on Friday that she will recommend no increase to the tax rate for the 2015-16 fiscal year. This will be the second consecutive year that Dr. Hargens has recommended no increase to the tax rate.
Hargens’ recommendation is that the rate remains 71 cents on real property and 71 cents on personal property—the same rate for 2013-14 and 2014-15 fiscal years. This would be the same tax rate for three years.
“Revenue raised using the existing rate will allow the district to balance the budget and continue to provide our students with a quality instructional program and resources,” Hargens said. “Taxpayers should know we are grateful for their investments in children.”
A public hearing to discuss Hargens’ tax rate recommendation will be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 20, at VanHoose Education Center. The Jefferson County Board of Education (JCBE) passed the 2015-16 tentative budget in May. The JCBE will vote on the working budget—the last of the three-part process—in September. School boards in surrounding counties will all review tax rates in the coming weeks. Last year, the 71-cent rate was lower than Fayette, Nelson, Shelby, and Oldham Counties.
The budget sends more money back to schools where students will directly benefit with quality instruction, new opportunities, and additional resources. Next week, the district will open Alex R. Kennedy Elementary in Jeffersontown along with two K-8 Schools of Innovation at Maupin Elementary and Atkinson Academy. A new Early Childhood center in Smoketown will help more children receive early instruction to prepare them for success in kindergarten. This year, all JCPS employees also received at least a 2 percent raise, which was mandated by the state.
JCPS continues to invest more in schools while reducing central services costs.
In the wake of recent downtown violence and LMPD shortcomings, Metro Council has given the green light to a 2% LG&E fee with a relatively narrow 12-10 vote.
The council received hundreds of emails opposing and only four supporting the agreement, which will charge the utility provider up to 2% of its gross natural gas sales in exchange for using city right-of-ways. These additional fees will undoubtedly be passed along to LG&E customers, piling on to rate increases from MSD and an upcoming JCPS tax hike.
The next stop for the agreement is Mayor Greg Fischer’s desk for his signature. Fischer, who recently proposed an even higher 3% fee, called the vote “a strategic investment in our city that will put more police officers on the street and increase programs for youth while benefiting our entire community,” saying that the “small fee” – approximately averaging an extra $12-18 per year per family – will help us continue to have a safe city by helping to pay for new police officers and upgraded community centers, among other things.
The LG&E franchise fee increase was approved by Metro Council for a period of 16 months. The meeting agenda minutes and video may be found online here.
Louisville Metro Council recently outlined the impact that various taxes and fees have on area residents.
