Business Tangible Personal Property Taxes

Per Arlington County Code § 27-11, all tangible personal property (with a few exceptions) that is used in a business in Arlington County, including all furniture, computers, fixtures, machinery and tools of all Arlington businesses and ensures that all businesses report their owned and leased equipment in the same uniform manner, is subject to Business Tangible Personal Property Tax. Therefore, all Arlington County businesses must file a Business Tangible Personal Property Return each year by 11:59 p.m. EST on or before May 1. Payments, if applicable, are due each year on or before September 5.

The Arlington County Board sets the tax rate.  For 2025, the rate has been set at $5.00 per $100 of assessed value.

• Furniture
• Machinery
• Tools
• Programmable computer equipment (including all computer and peripheral equipment hardware and all operational software).

• Application software and inventory for resale are exempt.
• Some of the property of manufacturers may be exempt.
• The property of nonprofit entities is NOT generally exempt, though a few categories of nonprofit organizations may be exempt. The best course of action for nonprofit organizations is to contact the COR office for more information on exemptions.

• Be sure to indicate on your return the exact date of your business cessation to avoid automatic assessment for taxes in subsequent years.

• If the IRS doesn’t require you to file a depreciation schedule, attach a list of all your business personal property to the return and include the property’s purchase date and the original cost.

If you lease tangible personal property from others, you must report all property in your possession, including leased property, even if the lessor also reports them.

You should not use your Business Tangible return to report any over-the-road vehicles, such as cars, trucks and trailers. Instead, you must report them as part of your Vehicle Personal Property Taxes. For more information, call 703-228-3135.