CLIENT
Kimberly-Clark Corporation—a global manufacturer of paper-based consumer products, including Kleenex, toilet paper, and paper towels.
At one of the company’s Oklahoma manufacturing facilities, which handles pulping, papermaking, and converting operations, capital investments had been consistently reported as taxable personal property. But buried within those costs were non-taxable intangible components—leading to an overstated tax base as certain assets came off the facility’s incentive agreement.
CASE SNAPSHOT
| INDUSTRY | Consumer Products Manufacturing |
| PROPERTY TYPE | Tissue Mill |
| JURISDICTION | Tulsa County, OK |
| ASSESSMENT REDUCTION | $11.2M |
| FIRST-YEAR TAX SAVINGS | $115,000 |
| PROJECTED MULTI-YEAR SAVINGS | Over $1 million |
Pinpointing Non-Taxable Value in the Asset Base
Working alongside the client’s internal tax and engineering teams, DMA’s property tax consultants identified an opportunity to reduce the reported value of machinery and equipment by isolating embedded intangible costs—such as engineering, design, and other services not subject to taxation in Oklahoma.
After reviewing the facility’s asset listings and capitalization history, DMA collaborated with plant engineers and project managers to analyze cost breakdowns and supporting invoices for several large capital projects spanning several years.
This detailed review enabled the team to quantify non-taxable costs and present them clearly as exempt intangible personal property on Oklahoma Form 901-IP as part of the personal property tax filing.
Results That Scale Across the Portfolio
- $11.2 million market value reduction
- $115,000 in first-year tax savings
- Forecasted $1+ million in total tax savings over the life of reviewed assets
- The Assessor accepted findings based on provided documentation
- Methodology is now being applied across additional sites and future filings
“DMA presented an opportunity to help us identify embedded intangibles within our machinery asset costs. They took the time to come on site to our plant to see the machinery and work with our engineers to understand our manufacturing processes. They worked with us to develop a method to identify the intangible costs and due to their expertise in this area we are enjoying some significant tax savings.”
Property Tax Manager
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Why Kimberly-Clark Trusted DMA
DMA’s assessment review process is built to uncover tax-saving opportunities that can otherwise go unnoticed—without overburdening internal teams. In this case, our embedded intangibles analysis complemented the client’s in-house expertise to secure meaningful savings with minimal disruption.
Our valuation professionals draw on both technical knowledge and jurisdiction-specific experience to document positions clearly and support favorable outcomes in filings, negotiations, and audit defense.
Oklahoma Industrial Property Tax Expertise
DMA’s property tax consultants understand how Oklahoma assessors treat complex manufacturing assets—and where costly mistakes can happen. Our team has secured millions in tax savings for capital-intensive operations by identifying non-taxable components buried in personal property valuations.
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