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New York Homeowners are Encouraged to Prepay their Property Taxes before the Income-Tax Overhaul 

December 27, 2017

On December 22, 2017 the Governor issued an emergency order to help protect property owners in New York from the impact of the tax bill.

This order allows local governments to immediately issue tax warrants for the collection of 2018 property tax payments so that property owners are allowed to pay at least a portion of their bill before the end of the year which may be advantageous under the current tax changes. 

Advanced Payments Now Accepted 

The process put in place will allow New Yorkers to pay their property taxes for 2018 in the 2017 calendar year and allow localities to accept advance payment so that property owners can deduct the full amount of their payment at the federal level.  The prohibition against partial payment of property taxes will be suspended. Since many taxpayers do not yet know the exact amount of their bill, this will allow for a portion of taxes to be paid early and under the current federal tax law.

Local tax collectors are authorized to accept partial payments of warranted taxes from property owners until the close of business on Friday, December 29, 2017. Online payments can be made until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, December 31, 2017, and payments made by mail that are postmarked on or before December 31, 2017, are authorized.  Since it appears that not all websites are set up to accept these prepayments, it’s advisable to call local tax departments for further instructions. It is also recommended that your lender be contacted if you currently have a mortgage with an escrow account which pays your property taxes in order to find out how the prepayment will be handled.

If you any questions, please call Tiveron Law at 716-636-7600 and one of our attorneys will be happy to speak with you regarding the impact of the tax bill.