The Ultimate Personal Property Tax Quiz

Personal property taxes can fall under the jurisdiction of county or state taxes, depending on where you live. Only certain states tax personal property and the type of property subject to property tax varies from state to state.

Believe it or not, in Minnesota until the 1960s, you would have paid property taxes on cattle and farming equipment and on your beloved dog, as well.

If you buy an expensive new car, be prepared to pay a high personal tax, since personal property taxes are usually a percentage of the vehicle's value.

In some states, only businesses are liable for property tax. Any property that can be removed from a business's premises without damage to it, such as office furniture, can be taxed as personal property.

If you are a farmer in a state with personal property taxes, your land and barn are taxed under real estate property taxes, but you might also have to pay personal property taxes on your livestock and farming equipment.

The tax assessor determines the value of an item for the purposes of taxation. The assessed value is not necessarily the same as the original price of the item.

To assess a vehicle's value, tax assessors usually use a book such as the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Blue Book for cars, trucks, etc. The blue book value is what a dealer would pay to buy the item.

Though a stationary home is always taxed as real estate, mobile homes, because they are not a fixed space, may be taxed as personal property in some states.

A few states tax intangible assets such as stocks, bonds or patents.

If the market value of your home goes up, so will your real estate property tax since it's based on a percentage of the market value of your property. This is true whether the increase in market value is due to extensive renovations to your home or to the vagaries of the real estate market.