The City of Milton is providing updated information regarding the prepayment of future property taxes, following an IRS advisory issued on Dec. 27, 2017.
COMMUNITY UPDATE
This email provides updated information about the prepayment of future property taxes following an IRS advisory issued yesterday on Dec. 27, 2017.
Dear Milton Residents:
On Friday, December 22, we sent a community update regarding prepayment of property taxes. The City of Milton had received a number of inquiries from citizens regarding their ability to double pay 2017 property taxes in order to avoid the $10,000 property tax deduction limit included as part of the 2017 Tax Reform Bill.
While the payment of future tax bills initially appeared appropriate, the IRS just issued an advisory on Wednesday, December 27 regarding overpayments. Based on the updated advisory information below, we will cease taking overpayments immediately and return all previously made payments to our residents.
We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion. However, we believed it was important to act on the information available at that time, and to err on the side of the taxpayer rather than risk our residents being unable to take advantage of a possible tax deduction.
Official Details
In the absence of guidance from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and so as not to deprive any resident of the opportunity to claim tax deductions they are entitled to, the City of Milton in consultation with the city attorney initially determined that voluntary overpayments would be accepted. The IRS subsequently issued an advisory yesterday (December 27), which appears to have definitively resolved the matter in the negative. As such, the City of Milton will no longer accept voluntary overpayments and any such payments will be immediately returned or canceled. A copy of the IRS Advisory, IR-2017-210, may be accessed at: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-advisory-prepaid-real-property-taxes-may-be-deductible-in-2017-if-assessed-and-paid-in-2017. We strongly encourage you to consult your tax counsel and/or CPA for further guidance. If you have already made a voluntary overpayment, the Milton Finance Department will process refunds by the end of the business day on Friday, December 29.
Should you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
