Who should prepay their taxes is not an easy question. Many of sought the advice of an accountant.
The Boston Globe summarized the situation in this report, which said:
“… those who won’t itemize under the new plan, which boosts the standard deduction to $24,000 for a married couple, or whose property taxes and state income taxes, combined, will exceed the $10,000 cap for those deductions that will take effect in 2018. For them, paying next year’s property taxes now could save hundreds, or thousands of dollars.”
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) warned, however, that not all 2018 property taxes can be prepaid. Only those taxes that have been assessed already. See the statement from the IRS here.
In the example given by the IRS, a tax assessed over 2017 and 2018 can in which the first payments have been made, and future ones would go into 2018 can be deducted. This would fit Watertown’s bills for the third and fourth quarter, with the fourth quarter ending on June 30, 2018.
The town is about to send out its third quarter tax bills. Payments can be made in person at Town Hall, 149 Main Street, in the Treasurer/Collector’s Office. On Wednesday, the town sent out an email announcing that real estate bills can be paid online. See the letter here. Online payments only cover half of 2018.
When you go to the online payment page, you have the option of paying the next quarter or the entire balance. To get to online payments, go here (Property Tax Payments is at the top): http://www.ci.watertown.ma.us/index.aspx?NID=432 Payments may be made using checks or credit card. The site charges a 2.95 percent convenience fee when using credit cards and 50 cents when using a check.
News reports today suggest that IRS will not accept payments if town has not already provided the relevant year’s tax assessment. Suggest careful checking on this.
Yes, exactly. That is the IRS statement that is mentioned in the article. The Town has passed taxes through the first half of 2018.
Charlie…you cannot pay the entire balance. My wife was only able to pay the first two quarters and she went to Town Hall to do it.
Fred, you are correct about the first half of 2018. If you look at the bill (mine arrived Thursday) the first quarter of 2018 is actually the 3rd quarter when it comes to Watertown property taxes. I checked the website yesterday and it has an option of paying a quarter or the remaining balance (2 quarters) on the payment website.
For all you homeowners in town, take a look at your new tax bill and see just how much it has increased.
Very disgusted to see the new added tax on our Tax Bills. The extra tax for the CPA for us is close to $175.00 on this bill. In addition to the $175 my bill increased another $200.00 for a total of $375 this quarter from my last quarter.
Is there any information out there as to how to file for any type of hardship to not pay this added tax?
I think there may be exemptions for the CPA. The place to contact is the Assessor’s office. Their number is 617-972-6410.
Landlords in town will automatically push the tax increase on their tenants. So much for affordable rents.