June 2003
WACs 458-12-110 detail the penalties provided for late filing, failure to file, willful failure to file, and fraudulent listings of personal property.
There has been some confusion about the maximum penalty of $50 per day. The $50 per day maximum only applies when calculating a penalty of one month or less.
There is no daily maximum after the first month. It is also important to realize that the penalty does not change the assessed value -- it is a percentage of the tax due.
The maximum penalty is 25 percent except when there is a willful failure to list or a fraudulent listing. When willful failure or fraudulent listing occurs, the penalty is 100 percent of the tax due and…"Both the tax and the penalty are to be recovered by the prosecuting attorney in an action in the name of the state and to be paid into the county treasury to the credit of the current expense fund….”