Mecklenburg County residents can again pay their property taxes online. This service was disabled earlier this month when the county was hit with a ransomware attack.
And it comes back online just in time for those looking to trim their federal tax bill.
Mecklenburg County gives residents a four month window to pay their property taxes. That window ends on January 5. The next day, interest is charged on the unpaid bills. But this year there's another good reason to pay up before that.
It has to do with the tax bill President Donald Trump signed into law late last week. A key provision of the new law places a $10,000 cap on the amount of state and local taxes people can deduct from their federal tax bill come April.
But like all the provisions in the law, that cap doesn’t take effect until January 1.
That's why if you pay your property tax bill before the big, glittering ball drops on New Year's Eve, that amount would not be subject to the cap.
As for prepaying next year's property taxes, Mecklenburg County is happy to accept those payments by mail or in person. But county officials say they are not equipped to answer whether prepaying property taxes would indeed get you an additional tax break.
The IRS issued an advisory about this on Wednesday. The key is if the property tax is assessed before January 1 of 2018. Under North Carolina law, January 1 is assessment day so those eager to prepay may not get that little something extra come tax time.
