Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
UPDATE: Montgomery County officials announced Thursday if you pre-paid your 2018 taxes, you will not get that money back. The amount will be credited against your 2018 tax bill.
The District of Columbia’s Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey DeWitt said District residents who pre-pay their taxes will be able to take advantage of deductions because real property taxes for the fiscal year 2018, which runs from Oct. 1, 2017 through Sept. 30, 2018, are assessed, by law, as part of the approved budget approval process for the new fiscal year which begins October 1. At that time, the tax rate is set and the liability is established for all properties for the fiscal year. Taxpayers also received Notice of Proposed Assessments for Fiscal Year 2018 as of March 1, 2017.
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – The IRS delivered some disappointing news to people trying to take advantage of this year’s property tax deductions – only those whose property taxes have already been assessed for 2018 will be eligible for deductions. Maryland law does not allow taxes to be assessed the year before, and in Virginia tax assessments are sent out in February.
“It is frustrating,” said Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner who pushed the council to allow residents to pre-pay their taxes in the hopes that it would save them money.
Berliner said he and other county officials are scrambling to figure out what to do with the money residents have pre-paid. One option is giving it back. He said the county will give more information Thursday.
Even though the council’s efforts during a holiday week will not ultimately help residents, Berliner doesn’t regret taking action.
“Our job is to try our best help our residents, and that’s what we did, but we can’t overcome the IRS, and we can’t overcome Maryland state law,” Berliner said.
Despite the news from the IRS, Montgomery County spokesperson Patrick Lacefield said people were still pre-paying taxes Thursday morning.
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