Tax Collector

Real Property Tax Law § 924 requires the collecting officer to impose a penalty on all payments received after the interest-free period expires. The collecting officer has no discretion in the process. Additionally, the Office of the State Comptroller has specifically opined that “[i]f taxes are received after the due date, or are received after the due date and do not bear a postmark date prior to the due date, a penalty must be added and collected and no employee or official can waive the penalty (Op St Comp 68-626).

New York state law sets the penalty schedule. Local governments are required to comply with the penalties imposed at the state level. Real Property Tax Law § 924-a sets forth the amount of interest/penalty to apply to late payments.

Real Property Tax Law § 922 addresses the form and contents of real property tax bills. This law explicitly states that the failure of the collecting officer to mail the tax bills and / or the failure of the taxpayer to receive a tax bills does not in any way impact the validity of the taxes or penalties due. Real property taxes are due regardless of whether the taxpayer receives a bill, and penalties are imposed on any late payments, including late taxpayers that did not receive a bill (Real Property Tax Law § 922 [3]).

Real Property Tax Law § 925 provides that any mailed tax payment received with a postmark dated within the penalty-free period is a timely payment – even if the collecting officer physically receives the payment after the interest-free periods expires. To qualify as a timely postmarked payment, the payment must be:

• Contained within a post-paid wrapper (envelope) with a legible postmark – the collecting officer must be able to ascertain the date of the postmark;
• Properly addressed to the appropriate collecting officer; and
• Deposited in a post office or official depository under the exclusive care and custody of the United States Postal Service (USPS).

The postmark rule also applies to tax payments mailed via certain designated delivery services, including DHL, UPS and FedEx. Tax payments mailed via metered mail do not meet the above-referenced parameters and are considered paid upon receipt by the collecting officer.

Most banks mail taxpayer-initiated bank check payments by metered mail. Metered is not postmarked and is considered paid upon receipt by the collecting officer. Online bank payments typically include a message indicating that the taxpayer should not use the service for time-sensitive matters, including tax payments. Oftentimes taxpayers initiate payment with their banks well within the interest-free period, only for the collecting officer to receive the check from the bank without a postmark after the interest-free period has expired. In this scenario, the collecting officer must impose a penalty.

Schools are the foundation of communities. Real property taxes serve to educate the individuals that will ultimately become doctors, nurses, mechanical engine operators, accountants, attorneys and other professions that ensure your community runs smoothly.