- quote -

Did you borrow money to purchase your home? Usually the
lender requires you to not only make monthly principal and
interest payments, but, also, escrow payments.

From your escrow account, the financial institution will pay
your real estate taxes and fire/hazard insurance when they
come due. And, hopefully, they will pay early in order to
take advantage of any discounts that may be offered.

I'm unsure of how it is in CA, but in PA I still get a real
estate bill even though I know my lender is paying it out of
my escrow account.

It wouldn't hurt to call your lender (if you do have one).
Or, just give your county a call or go to their website.

Josh

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It may not be relied upon for the purpose of avoiding > << penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer or the > << tax preparer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

jj3000 wrote:

- quote -

I'll go from memory so take it for that. (Your mileage may
vary.) I'm familiar with a couple of counties of CA but
what's done might change by county. The property tax bill
is due about November 1st. There is a grace period until
December 10th before they start to add penalties. Therefore
most people just say due December 10th. You can pay in
halves. The second halve is due about March 1st, penalties
start after April 10th. If your escrow closed Dec. 1st, the
seller probably paid a month of property taxes in closing.
Hope this helps. If you need more try your county tax
assessor's office or escrow officer on what was done.

BC

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It may not be relied upon for the purpose of avoiding > << penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer or the > << tax preparer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

jj3000 wrote:
- quote -

Here's how it works in CA. The 2004 fiscal year runs from July
1, 2004 to June 30, 2005. Assessment notices went out in either
Sept. or Oct. of 2004. The first payment for 6 months was due by
12/10/04 to avoid penalty and the final payment was due by
4/10/05. As you took ownership on 12/1/04, the previous owner
would owe the tax for the period 7/1/04 to 11/30/04 and you would
owe the tax for 12/1/04 to 6/30/05. As the previous owner had
not made the first payment (my assumption as it was not due until
12/10), the escrow agent should have credited your account for 5
months of taxes and you should have been charged for 6 months of
taxes and the bill paid. This means that you did not pay for 6
months. You only paid one month of tax. You need to check your
closing statement to make sure that you received the credit from
the seller. In addition, if you deducted 6 months of taxes on
your tax return, you need to amend your return as you overstated
your deductions. Your escrow agent should not have included the
whole year's worth of property taxes in your closing as the
second payment was not due until 4/10/05.

The property will be reassessed by the county to a value equal to
the purchase price retroactive to 12/1/04. The county will send
to you a supplemental tax bill that includes the extra tax due
for the period 12/1/04 to 6/30/05. Hopefully, you or your lender
if you are paying taxes into escrow every month, made the second
payment for fiscal 2004 by April 10, 2005. Typically, the new
owner just makes the payment using the prior owner's tax bill.
If a tax bill is not available, the new owner is obligated to
obtain a copy from the county in order to make the payment on
time to avoid any penalties.

Each county operates on a different schedule when it comes to
supplemental tax bills. The county assessor's office should be
able to help you. The following link has a list of the CA county
assessors: http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/assessors.htm

--
Alan
http://taxtopics.net

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It cannot be used by any taxpayer for the purpose of > << avoiding penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

I have purchased my home in CA as of Dec 1st, 2004. At the time of
escrow I had an expense item which is 180 days of property tax based on
the previous accessed value, my understanding is that this money had
been paid to the county and I declared this as deduction for my 2004
tax as the escrow agent told me to.

In May 2005 I received a letter for me to claim a home owner exception
for I think $75, if I lived there. The letter was addressed to me so I
know the assessor has gotten my information correctly.

My question is when I would receive my next tax bill and when will it
be due? And will I need to paid an reassessment difference for that
180 days of property tax I paid during closing of escrow. Or will I be
paying the re-assessed value only from now on?

I am just unsure because I have taken ownership for over 180 days now
and no new tax bill has been mailed to me yet. I want to know when to
expect the new taxes to come so I can prepare the funds.

Thanks in advance.
JJ.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It cannot be used by any taxpayer for the purpose of > << avoiding penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >