Maine State law requires businesses to report all Personal Property with its municipality as of April 1st of each year. Personal Property is taxed at the same rate as real estate and consists of furniture, fixtures, machinery and equipment owned by the business.
EXEMPTIONS: The State of Maine has a Business Equipment Tax Exemption (BETE) Program and Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement (BETR) Program. This allows for a personal property tax exemption on qualified personal property. Most businesses, aside from retail, qualify for full or partial exemptions.
We encourage businesses to start filing BETE/BETR information with us electronically when possible. Saving the filled out forms and updating them year to year will prove to be a time saver. You can email these completed forms to Josh Berry at berryj@hermonmaine.gov. Don’t forget that all forms still must be signed and we do not accept BETE applications that have Personal Property lists stating “See Attached”. Each item must be listed on the BETE application with quantity and description.