Ark. Code Ann. § 26-3-301 (2026)
Property exempt from taxes generally
All property described in this section, to the extent limited, shall be exempt from taxation:
- Public school buildings and buildings used exclusively for public worship and the grounds attached to these buildings necessary for the proper occupancy, use, and enjoyment of the buildings, not leased or otherwise used with a view to profit;
- All public institutions of higher learning and all buildings and grounds belonging to those institutions;
- All lands used exclusively as graveyards or grounds for burying the dead, except those held by any person, company, or corporation with a view to profit or for the purpose of speculation in the sale of the lands;
- All property, whether real or personal, belonging exclusively to this state and heavy equipment, as defined in § 26-52-318, and motor vehicles, as defined in § 26-52-103, that are subject to a lease of at least twelve (12) months by the state, including property of state agencies, institutions, boards, or commissions, or the United States;
- All property, whether real or personal, belonging exclusively to any county of this state and heavy equipment, as defined in § 26-52-318, and motor vehicles, as defined in § 26-52-103, that are subject to a lease of at least twelve (12) months by a county of the state;
- All lands, houses, and other buildings belonging to any county, city, or town used exclusively for the accommodation of the poor;
- All buildings belonging to institutions of purely public charity, together with the land actually occupied by these institutions, not leased or otherwise used with a view to profit, and all moneys and credits appropriated solely to sustaining, and belonging exclusively to, these institutions;
- All fire engines and other implements used for the extinguishment of fires, with the buildings used exclusively for the safekeeping of the fire engines and other implements used for the extinguishment of fires, and for the meeting of fire companies, whether belonging to any town or to any fire company organized in the town;
- All market houses, public squares, other public grounds, town and city houses or halls owned and used exclusively for public purposes, and all works, machinery, and fixtures belonging to any town and used exclusively for conveying water to the town;
- Public property which may be reserved for use by any person or organization, with or without a fee for such use, and is being used exclusively for public purposes, regardless of whether the event for which the property is reserved is open for attendance or participation by the general public;
- All property owned by the Girls' 4-H house, Boys' 4-H house, and the Arkansas Future Farmers of America Association houses when the houses are used for the sole purpose of occupancy and use and enjoyment by students on the property and not leased or otherwise used with a view to profit; and
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- Under the provisions of this section, all dedicated church property, including the church building used as a place of worship, buildings used for administrative or missional purposes, the land upon which the church buildings are located, all church parsonages, any church educational building operated in connection with the church, including a family life or activity center, a recreation center, a youth center, a church association building, a daycare center, a kindergarten, or a private church school shall be exempt.
- However, in the event any property is used partially for church purposes and partially for investments or other commercial or business purposes, the property shall be exempt from the ad valorem tax.
History. Acts 1883, No. 114, § 7, p. 199; C. & M. Dig., § 9858; Pope's Dig., § 13603; Acts 1953, No. 252, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 84-206; Acts 1987, No. 627, §§ 1, 2; 1987, No. 1040, § 1; 1995, No. 669, § 1; 2005, No. 1281, § 1; 2007, No. 827, § 195; 2019, No. 610, § 1.
Amendments. The 2019 amendment inserted “and heavy equipment, as defined in § 26-52-318, and motor vehicles, as defined in § 26-52-103, that are subject to a lease of at least twelve (12) months by the state” in (4); and added “and heavy equipment, as defined in § 26-52-318, and motor vehicles, as defined in § 26-52-103, that are subject to a lease of at least twelve (12) months by a county of the state” in (5).
Cross References. Exempting new manufacturing establishment from taxation, Ark. Const. Amend. 27.
Intangible personal property, Ark. Const. Amend. 57.
Other tax exemptions forbidden, Ark. Const., Art. 16, § 6.
Personal property taxes, Ark. Const. Amend. 71.
Property, tax exemptions, Ark. Const., Art. 16, §§ 5, 16.
State ad valorem tax prohibited, Ark. Const. Amend. 47.
Textile mills, tax exemptions, Ark. Const. Amend. 12.
Case Notes
In General.
All property is subject to taxation except such as is specially exempted by the Arkansas Constitution, and nothing else is or can be made exempt. Garland County v. Gaines, 56 Ark. 227, 19 S.W. 602 (1892).
Adjacent Property.
The parking lot, connecting driveways, and landscaped areas surrounding a tax-exempt church building, were also held to be exempt. Phillips v. Mission Fellowship Baptist Church, 59 Ark. App. 242, 955 S.W.2d 917 (1997).
Cemeteries.
When church building burned and members disbanded, only the portion used as a cemetery was exempt from taxation. Burbridge v. Smyrna Baptist Church, 212 Ark. 924, 209 S.W.2d 685 (1948).
A cemetery is exempt from taxation unless held for profit. Ponder v. Richardson, 213 Ark. 238, 210 S.W.2d 316 (1948).
Charities.
The fact that rents and revenues of certain real estate are devoted to purposes of public charity will not exempt such property from taxation, since it is only when the property itself is actually and directly used for charitable purposes that the law exempts it from taxation. Brodie v. Fitzgerald, 57 Ark. 445, 22 S.W. 29 (1893).
A hospital supported by contributions out of employees' wages and operated for the benefit of employees and persons injured on company property is not entitled to exemption as being an institution of public charity. Missouri Pac. Hosp. Ass'n v. Pulaski County, 211 Ark. 9, 199 S.W.2d 329 (1947).
Part of property for which rents were collected and which was not being directly and exclusively used for public charity was subjected to taxation, as the exemption is based upon the actual use of property rather than the use of its revenues. Burgess v. Four States Mem'l Hosp., 250 Ark. 485, 465 S.W.2d 693 (1971).
Churches.
A vacant lot belonging to a church adjoining the lot on which the church stands is subject to taxation. Pulaski County v. First Baptist Church, 86 Ark. 205, 110 S.W. 1034 (1908).
Lands conveyed to a religious society are exempt from taxes in part only as to portion used for religious purposes. Burbridge v. Smyrna Baptist Church, 212 Ark. 924, 209 S.W.2d 685 (1948).
Subdivision (11)(A) does not clearly embrace television towers or like structures with the degree of exactness and certainty required. Agape Church, Inc. v. Pulaski County, 307 Ark. 420, 821 S.W.2d 21 (1991).
A television tower is not a building, and the fact that a small incidental tower house was located on the property did not convert the land into a “building.” Agape Church, Inc. v. Pulaski County, 307 Ark. 420, 821 S.W.2d 21 (1991).
Ownership is not a condition for tax-exempt status for churches; use is determinative of entitlement to a tax exemption. Phillips v. Mission Fellowship Baptist Church, 59 Ark. App. 242, 955 S.W.2d 917 (1997).
Improvement Districts.
Exempt property is considered in the organization of improvement district according to its value fixed by the assessment roll, since it is not exempt from such assessments. Fry v. Poe, 175 Ark. 375, 1 S.W.2d 29 (1927).
Circuit court committed no reversible error in finding that a recreational improvement district was not operated exclusively for public purposes, and thus was not exempt from ad valorem taxes, where it was formed to serve the district inhabitants and “to contract for the right of the district's property owners”, there was a disparity in the membership fees paid by residents and nonresidents, thereby providing preferential access to residents, and portions of the clubhouse were leased out to a third-party vendor for profit. Silver Springs Prop. Owners' Rec. Improvement Dist. No. 30 of Haskell v. Arey, 2019 Ark. App. 520, 588 S.W.3d 864 (2019).
Municipalities.
Land purchased by a city for present use as a dumping ground and used as such for several months, though such use had been discontinued because the road to it had become impassable, was exempt from taxation. Hudgins v. City of Hot Springs, 168 Ark. 467, 270 S.W. 594 (1925).
Before a city can successfully claim exemption from taxation, the property must have been used for a public purpose; contemplated future use is not sufficient. City of Springdale v. Duncan, 240 Ark. 716, 401 S.W.2d 747 (1966).
Schools.
The exemption as to school buildings applies to private schools as well as public schools. Phillips County v. Sister Estelle, 42 Ark. 536 (1884).
Lands of school district held for profit are taxable. Board of Improv. v. School Dist., 56 Ark. 354, 19 S.W. 969 (1892); School Dist. v. Howe, 62 Ark. 481, 37 S.W. 717 (1896).
Cited: Fordyce & McKee v. Woman's Christian Nat'l Library Ass'n, 79 Ark. 550, 96 S.W. 155 (1906).