ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – St. Louis County Assessor Jake Zimmerman says his office’s new online personal property declaration system is the real deal.
“Now you don’t even have to send that piece of paper back in the mail. You can click a couple of buttons on the county website. It’s super easy,” he said. “Super user friendly and you can file that declaration in about 30 seconds, and it’s one less thing to worry about.”
Zimmerman says the new system will help reduce the possibility of human error that previously existed.
“For us, it didn’t matter if you sent it in on paper, if you did it on the computer, or if you sent it in by carrier pigeon; we still had to have somebody type that in manually,” he said. “And if somebody has to type your Ford in manually, you always run the risk that it gets screwed up.”
Personal property declaration is required by Missouri law every year.
“You want to check that declaration and make absolutely sure that the car we say you were driving on January 1 is really the car you were driving on January 1,” Zimmerman said.
Your annual personal property tax bill is based on the declaration and the receipt for paying that tax must be accurate in order to register a vehicle or renew your license plate. You still can file by mail or in person, but should you choose to do it online, you’ll need to set up a new account. Zimmerman says the account you used to file online in the past won’t work.
“This way, you do it yourself on the computer. Not only is it quicker, not only does it save the stamp, but you’ll know that it’s right and you’ll get an email confirmation five seconds later that says you did it, so you don’t have to worry about whether you remembered to send the form in this year or not,” Zimmerman said.
All declarations are due on March 1. If taxpayers want to file online and have a problem, you can call the assessor’s office at 314-615-5550.
