AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 67-5-2013, relative to collection of property taxes.
Summary
SB0783 amends Tennessee’s property tax collection law to give county trustees and other local property tax collecting officials limited discretion over very small personal property tax debts. For a de minimis personal property tax bill totaling less than $20 for a specific taxpayer, the official may, if authorized by a private act, resolution, or ordinance, choose not to bill the tax, not to refer it for further collection, or to waive any late-payment penalty or interest.
The bill also requires tax collecting officials to keep a list of these small unpaid personal property tax amounts by taxpayer account and year. Those amounts may still be collected later if the taxpayer later tenders a tax payment for the same account, so long as collection is not barred by the statute of limitations. The act takes effect immediately upon becoming law.
Impact
The bill would amend Tennessee Code Annotated section 67-5-2013 by adding a new subsection governing collection of very small personal property tax liabilities. It does not eliminate the underlying tax obligation statewide, but it authorizes local officials, where permitted by local law, to reduce administrative burden by foregoing billing, collection referral, or penalties/interest on debts under $20. The measure affects county trustees, other local tax collectors, and taxpayers with small personal property tax balances.
Sentiment
No committee transcript or vote record is available, so there is no documented debate or recorded sentiment in the provided materials. Based on the text alone, the bill appears administrative and narrowly targeted, suggesting a practical approach to reducing collection costs for trivial tax amounts rather than a major policy change.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is the discretion it gives local tax officials and the fact that it applies only if authorized by a private act, resolution, or ordinance. Supporters would likely view it as a commonsense efficiency measure for low-dollar accounts, while critics could question whether allowing officials to decline billing or collection creates uneven treatment across counties or weakens tax enforcement, even for small amounts.