In most jurisdictions, property owners are required to pay property taxes annually. Regardless of whether it’s a business, warehouse or home, property taxes come due twice a year from your county and, possibly even, your city government. If these taxes are not paid on time, your local government(s) can place a tax lien on your property and force a sale after waiting the requisite time. But what options exist if you’re finding it hard to pay your property taxes on a timely basis? A couple of steps are possible.
Delay
The option to delay payment of your taxes exists in most jurisdictions. However, no surprise, there is a penalty for doing so. A surcharge of 2 percent to 10 percent of the amount owed is tacked on top of the taxes now late. But if that’s you’re only option, it’s far better to pay late than to not pay at all. Another way to look at it is as a governmental loan. The penalty surcharge is basically the interest charge you would otherwise pay a bank for similar financing.
Tap Into Your Tax Refund
Most people who work and get paid receive some type of a tax refund in the spring, depending upon how promptly they filed their state and federal income taxes. Depending on your individual income tax situation, this refund amount could total to a few thousand dollars. The money could then be utilized to pay down or completely pay off your property tax bill.
Pull Out Your Plastic
Most governmental authorities are more than happy to accept your credit card as payment tool for squaring away your property tax bill due. The credit card companies like it too because they will earn a handsome transaction fee off the amount. Unfortunately, you will end up incurring this fee because the local government is going to pass it on to you. You can expect it to be approximately 2% to 5% of the taxes owed. This is still probably less expensive than paying a late penalty.
But don’t forget that your credit card company will start their own interest charge on the amount paid within 25 to 30 days. You could get hit with a much higher interest charge than you are prepared to deal with in the long run.
Ask Friends and Family
If your property tax bill is not overly large, your close friends and/or family might be willing to lend you the money on a short-term basis. However, borrowing money from family and friends comes with a lot of strings attached. If you don’t pay them back in a timely basis, you could end up souring the relationship forever. So if you decide to take this path, make doubly sure that you pay off this debt as soon as humanly possible. You don’t want to spend the next 20 Christmas’ hearing from about how long it took you to pay off the loan dear old uncle George gave you.
Ask for an Extension
Although the payment extension option is rare, some tax districts are willing to provide you a time delay. You will likely incur a late payment penalty for this privilege. However, it doesn’t hurt to investigate if your jurisdiction offers this option. It could save you from paying a higher interest rate with some of the above-mentioned options.
Verify the Amount Owed
You could try to trigger a delay by asking your county assessor to reevaluate your property tax to determine if you are being charged the correct amount. A successful re-assessment depends on how early in the tax year you file this request. A review takes several months, and you can bet your tax assessor won’t do it if you put your request in days before your bill is due. However, if the real estate markets in your area have taken a tumble you could be in luck. The tax charged on your property should be lower than it is which would then lower the real tax bill.
Sources:
Community Legal Resources: brochure: “Property Tax Help for Low-Income Homeowners”
NeedHelpPayingBills.com; article: “How To Get Help with Paying Property Tax Bills, and How to Challenge Property Taxes”