Business Personal Property

Businesses in Mecklenburg County are subject to a personal property compliance review, or audit, to ensure that the self-reporting of their business personal property is accurate and complete. For our formal audits, the Mecklenburg County Assessor has contracted with Tax Management Associates, Inc. (TMA), as prescribed under North Carolina General Statute 105-299. You will receive an introductory letter letting you know your business or businesses have been selected for an audit. This is a valid notice that your business has been randomly selected for audit and that further communication from our audit partner, TMA, will be coming soon. 

If you have received an audit introduction letter, it means your business has been selected for a business personal property audit. It is a legitimate notification so you can be prepared when you are contacted to schedule the audit. Please know TMA auditors are bound by the same law of confidentiality, disclosure, and penalty that apply to local governments and their employees.

Scheduling: A few weeks after receiving the audit introduction letter, a calendar link will be sent via email, or a call from a TMA representative will be made to set an appointment for the audit to take place.  This will also provide the scope of the audit and include the deadline for submitting any requested documentation. This audit appointment is usually set at the location where records for the business are maintained, and in some cases, a site visit of the business may also be requested to better understand the business.  Commonly requested documents:

• Chart of accounts
• Trial balances for years under review
• Depreciation schedules for years under review
• NC Corporate Tax Returns
• If the business owns vehicles/trailers, provide a list of the tag numbers, VIN, and state of registration.
• Copies of submitted business personal property listings 

For assets pertaining to leases, provide at least four of your leases that include:

• Terms of the lease
• Freight, installation, and shipping costs
• Applicable taxes
• All other sundry costs 

• Audit Review: Auditors will take the information from their review of your books and records and reconcile that with the business personal property listings that were submitted. You may also receive further questions or requests for additional documents to verify or validate an audit finding.
• Exit Interview: Prior to finalizing your audit, the auditor will conduct an exit interview, usually done by e-mail, to let you know what they’ve found and answer any questions prior to submitting their audit findings to the Mecklenburg County Assessor’s Business Personal Property Audit team.   
• Documented Audit Findings: You will receive final notification of the audit findings in writing. This information will align with the information presented in the Exit Interview.  
  • Notice of Compliance: Most audited businesses receive compliance letters, indicating their records reconciled with the business personal property listings submitted for the years audited.
  • Discovery Notice: Some businesses receive a Notice of Discovery, because the audit found taxable assets on your books and records that were not included on your listings, and/ or the audit that assets were reported, but in the incorrect group or depreciation schedule, resulting in an undervaluation of those assets. 

• Contact our office within 30 days of the date on that notice, following the instructions provided in that notice. We are happy to assist you. Usually, an email or phone call is all that is needed to clear up any confusion and get your questions answered.
• If you would like a more in-depth discussion or want to provide additional information to our office relating to the discovery, we will schedule an Audit (Assessor’s) conference with you. In this first step in the appeal process, we can (and do) address and resolve most taxpayers’ concerns.  
• We do not have the power to waive penalties imposed in the discovery process, so any business owner who feels they should not be assessed a penalty on discovery would need to appeal that to the Board of Equalization and Review.

Important: It is very important that you contact us within that 30-day window from the date on the notice. This is a legal deadline, and our ability and the ability of the Board of Equalization and Review to make changes after that time is very restricted. 

For additional questions, email [email protected].