Inventories

V.S.A. tit. 32, ch. 129, subch. 1

in effect

32 V.S.A. § 4001 Inventory forms

4001. Inventory forms (a) Annually on April 1, at the expense of the State, the Director shall furnish to the several town clerks and boards of appraisers for unorganized towns and gores inventory forms sufficient in number to meet the requirements of this chapter. Such forms shall be formulated by the Director and, among other things, shall contain suitable interrogatories requiring each taxpayer to furnish therein a brief statement of all of each taxpayer’s taxable property, real and personal, and such other information, including income and expense information with respect to any income-producing properties, as will enable the listers or appraisers to appraise such part thereof as is required by law to be by them appraised, and to make up the abstract of individual lists and grand list in the manner prescribed by law. (a) Annually on January 1, at the expense of the State, the Director shall furnish to the several municipal clerks and boards of appraisers for unorganized towns and gores inventory forms sufficient in number to meet the requirements of this chapter. Such forms shall be formulated by the Director and, among other things, shall contain suitable interrogatories requiring each taxpayer to furnish therein a brief statement of all of each taxpayer’s taxable property, real and personal, and such other information, including income and expense information with respect to any income-producing properties, as will enable the listers or appraisers to appraise such part thereof as is required by law to be by them appraised, and to make up the abstract of individual lists and grand list in the manner prescribed by law. (b) The Director shall include in the blank inventories furnished pursuant to subsection (a) of this section sufficient space for describing the personal property of the taxpayer. This information may be furnished by schedules to be attached to the inventories. (c) Listers shall obtain detailed inventory information respecting real and personal property only in such cases as in their judgment is necessary to ascertain the fair market value of property that is subject to an appraisal or reappraisal. Amended 1977, No. 105, § 14(a); 1999, No. 49, § 25, eff. June 2, 1999; 2005, No. 38, § 5, eff. June 2, 2005; amended 2025, No. 164 (Adj. Sess.), § 39, eff. July 1, 2031.

32 V.S.A. § 4002 Oath

4002. Oath Such form shall contain the following: I do solemnly swear (or affirm), under the pains and penalties of perjury, that, to my best knowledge and belief, the foregoing inventory by me subscribed is a full, true, and correct list and description of all taxable property, both real and personal, which should be set in the list to me. _________________________________________ Sign here Listers may administer all oaths prescribed in this chapter other than such as are required to be administered to listers.

32 V.S.A. § 4003 Distribution of inventories

4003. Distribution of inventories Inventory forms and printed copies of the law prepared as provided in subdivision 3411(6) of this title shall be delivered by the town clerk or listers to all taxpayers requesting the same. At the expense of the town, listers shall forward by mail such inventories and copies to such foreign corporations and nonresidents who are taxable therein, except those taxable for real estate only, as shall be known to them, and the listers or town clerk in like manner may furnish such copies to any taxpayer. Failure on the part of the listers or town clerk to mail or otherwise to furnish such copies, or of the aforesaid persons or corporations to receive the same, shall not in any manner affect or invalidate a grand list prepared and filed according to law. Amended 1993, No. 49, § 3, eff. May 28, 1993.

32 V.S.A. § 4004 Return of inventories by individuals [Effective until July 1, 2031; see also § 4004 effective July 1, 2031 set out below]

4004. Return of inventories by individuals [Effective until July 1, 2031; see also § 4004 effective July 1, 2031 set out below] On or before April 20, unless otherwise required, every taxable person shall procure such inventory form, make full answers to all interrogatories therein, subscribe the same, make oath thereto, and deliver or forward the same to one of the listers in the town wherein such person owns or possesses property required by law to be set to him or her in the grand list. When notice in writing to file, deliver, or forward such inventory on or before a given date is delivered by one of the listers to a person, or mailed postage prepaid to him or her at his or her last known post office address, such person, within the time therein specified, shall properly fill out such inventory and deliver or forward the same to one of the listers, notwithstanding he or she may not own or possess property subject to taxation. Persons taxable only for real estate shall not be required to file such inventory unless notified so to do as herein provided. Amended 2013, No. 73, § 31, eff. July 1, 2014.

32 V.S.A. § 4005 Return by corporations, estates, or fiduciaries

4005. Return by corporations, estates, or fiduciaries The officer of a corporation on whom service of process may be made shall procure such form and the same shall be executed by its president or other principal officer and the same shall be delivered or forwarded to one of the listers. The person who has charge of the property of a trust, or the property of an estate of a decedent or of a ward or of the property of another person, shall procure and deliver or forward such form to one of the listers.

32 V.S.A. § 4006 Failure to return inventory [Effective until January 1, 2031; see also § 4006 effective January 1, 2031, set out below]

4006. Failure to return inventory [Effective until January 1, 2031; see also § 4006 effective January 1, 2031, set out below] Failure of a taxpayer to make and return a signed, sworn to, or affirmed inventory within 45 days after the mailing of such inventory by the town listers shall bar the taxpayer from any statutory appeal under this chapter or chapter 131 of this title, unless such failure is due to factors beyond the taxpayer’s control. In addition, a taxpayer who fails to submit an inventory within the time and in the form prescribed may be fined not more than $100.00 for each violation. Amended 1965, No. 194, § 10, eff. July 1, 1965, operative Feb. 1, 1967; 1999, No. 49, § 28, eff. June 2, 1999.

32 V.S.A. § 4007 Final disposition of inventories

4007. Final disposition of inventories Inventories filled out by taxpayers shall be lodged by the listers in the town clerk’s office on or before June 1, shall be maintained in a manner reasonably calculated to protect the confidentiality of the information contained in the inventories, and shall be retained therein for a period of not less than three years. Added 1999, No. 49, § 26, eff. June 2, 1999.

32 V.S.A. § 4008 Willful destruction

4008. Willful destruction A person who willfully destroys or removes an inventory from the office of the town clerk during the time the same is required to be preserved, except in obedience to process, shall be fined $500.00.

32 V.S.A. § 4009 Examination of inventories

4009. Examination of inventories (a) Any inventory collected pursuant to section 4001 or 4452 of this title that is in the custody of the town clerk shall be available for inspection, tabulation, and copying by any commission authorized to do so by the General Assembly, a member of such commission, the Attorney General, the Director, the State’s Attorney of the county, and any person designated in writing by the commission, or by any officials listed in this section. (b) Listers, selectboard members, treasurers, collectors of taxes, attorneys for the town, and any person designated by the town to assist the town in appraising, as required under section 4041 of this title, the fair market value of the property identified on the inventory form may examine any inventory that they name, and the taxpayer, or the taxpayer’s administrator or executor, may examine the taxpayer’s inventory. (c) Town clerks shall upon request furnish a certified copy of an inventory to an official or person entitled to examine the same and, upon subpoena for that purpose, shall produce in court any inventory in the clerk’s custody. (d) Copies or abstracts so taken or furnished and any data or information obtained by such examination or contained in such abstracts or copies shall not be disclosed in any manner that will reveal the name or identity of the person making such inventory, except for official use. (e) Except as provided in this chapter, the town clerk shall not allow a person to examine such inventories. (f) An official or person entitled to examine an inventory or any other person possessing such information by or through the town offices other than the reporting taxpayer, who, in a manner not provided for in this chapter, discloses any information so possessed shall be fined not more than $100.00. Amended 1977, No. 105, § 14(a); 1999, No. 49, § 27, eff. June 2, 1999; 2017, No. 93 (Adj. Sess.), § 27.

32 V.S.A. § 4010 Inventories in unorganized towns and gores

4010. Inventories in unorganized towns and gores Persons liable to pay taxes in unorganized towns or gores, except as otherwise provided, shall be subject to the same provisions in regard to making out and returning inventories of property to which taxpayers in organized towns are subject; and in taking the list for taxation in unorganized towns and gores, the appraisers therefor, except as otherwise provided, shall be governed by the provisions of this chapter.

Source: Vermont General Assembly (legislature.vermont.gov)URL: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/chapter/32/129Fetched: 10/21/2026