A Van Zandt business owes the appraisal district a list of its stuff by April 15

Sales tax is the part of running a business everyone remembers. The one that surprises plenty of owners in Van Zandt County is the property tax on the business itself: the inventory on the shelves, the furniture, the fixtures, the machinery and equipment a shop or restaurant uses to operate. That property is taxable, and every year you tell the appraisal district what you had.

The report is called a rendition, and it's a snapshot of what you owned on January 1. You file it with Van Zandt CAD (Emily Reeves is the chief appraiser, at 27867 State Hwy 64 in Canton) and the statewide deadline is April 15, with a few regulated categories on different timelines. The district uses what you render to set the taxable value, so an honest, complete list is in your interest.

If you're opening a storefront in Canton or Wills Point, put the rendition on the calendar alongside your sales-tax permit. The forms live on the VZCAD forms page and the Comptroller's site, and the district can grant an extension as long as you ask while there's still time, not once the deadline has passed.