San Rafael, CA – The federal overhaul of the tax code has some Marin County residents asking the County’s tax collector if 2018 taxes can be paid in advance. Although the President of the United States had not signed the bill as of December 21 (he did the next day), some property owners are looking to capitalize on 2017 taxation deductions.
If you try to pay your 2018 taxes before your tax bill comes out, your money will get returned to you.
Residents can pay the second installment of the 2017/18 property taxes before the end of the calendar year – or at any time no later than April 10, 2018, without penalty. But there is no provision in
state law to prepay taxes for the next year’s tax bill.
“If you were to try and pay 2018 taxes now, the check would end up being sent back to you,” said Mina Martinovich, Assistant Director of the Department of Finance.
At this time, the Marin County Tax Collector – also called the Department of Finance – is unable to issue bills, give estimates or accept tax pre-payments for property taxes due for the 2018/19 tax year. There is no tax obligation on a property until taxes become a lien at 12:01 a.m. January 1, 2018, and therefore no tax bill can be created in advance.
The new federal tax bill, approved in the House of Representatives and the Senate, limits the amount of state and local taxes people can deduct on their federal income tax returns to $10,000. That includes a combination of property taxes and income taxes. The new federal changes go into effect January 1, 2018.
Taxation professionals should be consulted for more information about future years’ property tax bills and how they might affect a federal tax filing.