§ 137.122 RSMo — Depreciable tangible personal property — definitions — standardized schedule to be used — valuation table — exceptions

1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:

(1) "Business personal property" , tangible personal property which is used in a trade or business or used for production of income and which has a determinable life of longer than one year except that supplies used by a business shall also be considered business personal property, but shall not include livestock, farm machinery, grain and other agricultural crops in an unmanufactured condition, property subject to the motor vehicle registration provisions of chapter 301 , property assessed under section 137.078 , the property of rural electric cooperatives under chapter 394 , or property assessed by the state tax commission under chapters 151 , 153 , and 155 , section 137.022 , and sections 137.1000 to 137.1030 ;

(2) "Class life" , the class life of property as set out in the federal Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System life tables or their successors under the Internal Revenue Code as amended;

(3) "Economic or functional obsolescence" , a loss in value of personal property above and beyond physical deterioration and age of the property. Such loss may be the result of economic or functional obsolescence or both;

(4) "Original cost" , the price the current owner, the taxpayer, paid for the item without freight, installation, or sales or use tax. In the case of acquisition of items of personal property as part of an acquisition of an entity, the original cost shall be the historical cost of those assets remaining in place and in use and the placed-in-service date shall be the date of acquisition by the entity being acquired;

(5) "Placed in service" , property is placed in service when it is ready and available for a specific use, whether in a business activity, an income-producing activity, a tax-exempt activity, or a personal activity. Even if the property is not being used, the property is in service when it is ready and available for its specific use;

(6) "Recovery period" , the period over which the original cost of depreciable tangible personal property shall be depreciated for property tax purposes and shall be the same as the recovery period allowed for such property under the Internal Revenue Code.

2. To establish uniformity in the assessment of depreciable tangible personal property, each assessor shall use the standardized schedule of depreciation in this section to determine the assessed valuation of depreciable tangible personal property for the purpose of estimating the value of such property subject to taxation under this chapter.

3. For purposes of this section, and to estimate the value of depreciable tangible personal property for mass appraisal purposes, each assessor shall value depreciable tangible personal property by applying the class life and recovery period to the original cost of the property according to the following depreciation schedule. The percentage shown for the first year shall be the percentage of the original cost used for January first of the year following the year of acquisition of the property, and the percentage shown for each succeeding year shall be the percentage of the original cost used for January first of the respective succeeding year as follows:

4. Such estimate of value determined under this section shall be presumed to be correct for the purpose of determining the true value in money of the depreciable tangible personal property, but such estimation may be disproved by substantial and persuasive evidence of the true value in money under any method determined by the state tax commission to be correct, including, but not limited to, an appraisal of the tangible personal property specifically utilizing generally accepted appraisal techniques, and contained in a narrative appraisal report in accordance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice or by proof of economic or functional obsolescence or evidence of excessive physical deterioration. For purposes of appeal of the provisions of this section, the salvage or scrap value of depreciable tangible personal property may only be considered if the property is not in use as of the assessment date.

5. This section shall not apply to business personal property placed in service before January 2, 2006. Nothing in this section shall create a presumption as to the proper method of determining the assessed valuation of business personal property placed in service before January 2, 2006.

6. The provisions of this section are not intended to modify the definition of tangible personal property as defined in section 137.010 .