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Source: San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector
August 17, 2020 (San Diego) -- San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister announced on Aug. 11 that his office is offering penalty relief for small business owners and homeowners who are among those receiving more than 28,000 defaulted bills.
“We know many of the late bills are due to COVID-19, and we want our taxpayers to know there could be relief,” said McAllister. “They may qualify to have their penalties waived if they file for a COVID-19 cancellation request. Our customers must provide documentation as evidence to show how the pandemic impacted their ability to pay their second installment by April 10.”
This week, the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office is mailing 28,623 defaulted bills to property taxpayers who failed to pay all their 2019-2020 property taxes.
“We’re sending 6,195 more defaulted bills than we sent last year,” said McAllister. “We expected to see an increase in tax defaults due to COVID-19’s impact on the San Diego economy and workforce.”
The defaulted bills total over $127 million; last year, $92 million in defaulted taxes was due.
The deadline to pay the 2019-2020 annual tax bill was June 30. Beginning July 1, each late bill will incur a 1.5% penalty each month (18% each year) it remains unpaid. That is on top of the 10% penalty added for each late installment.
Taxpayers who have submitted a COVID-19 penalty cancellation request and have not heard back from the Treasurer-Tax Collector yet will receive a response in the mail. The Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office has received 3,196 COVID-19 penalty cancellation requests and has approved 52% of them. Most denials are due to missing documentation. However, if taxpayers resubmit their request with documentation, we will review it again.
Here is more information about defaulted bills:
- Partial payments are not accepted.
- You may be eligible to set up a 5-year payment plan for payment of defaulted taxes.
- Penalties may only be canceled under specific conditions authorized by The California Revenue & Taxation Code.
- Supplemental bills are separate and in addition to the annual tax bill. They are not sent to your lender for payment.
Penalties will NOT be canceled for the following reasons:
- Forgot to pay
- Lost tax bill/Failed to receive tax bill
- Thought the delinquent date was April 15th
- Out of town on delinquent date
- Payment made through online bill pay not received on time
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