Tangible Personal Property

What is Tangible Personal Property?

Tangible Personal Property is any corporeal or physical movable property that can be owned, including items such as furniture, cars, jewelry, art and collectibles, clothing, and household goods. Tangible Personal Property is distinguished from real property (land and buildings) in that it may be moved without changing its legal ownership. As a form of movable property, tangible personal property is subject to different rules than real estate in terms of acquisition, registration, and taxation.

Tangible vs Intangible Personal Property

Tangible personal property is composed of physical objects like furniture, houses, cars, jewelry, art machines, etc. In contrast, intangible personal property includes non-physical items such as licenses, intellectual property (patents and copyrights), stocks and bonds, profit-sharing plans, and more. When it comes to legal protection from theft or fraud, tangible personal property typically has stronger protections than intangible due to the difficulty of affirming ownership by individuals that possess the latter type of asset.