Everyone knows that the big guy is coming to town on December 25, but Guilford County officials want to make sure that property owners know that another thing that’s quickly coming to town is the deadline to pay property taxes.
Despite the pandemic, Guilford County has done a good job collecting taxes this year and now the county’s tax officials are reminding the laggards and dawdlers that they only have until Tuesday, Jan. 5 to pay their 2020 property taxes.
Property owners in Guilford County are required by state law to pay their local property taxes by midnight January 5 – and this deadline applies to taxes on all real property and on all classes of personal property except vehicles that are licensed in North Carolina.
If you don’t take your payment by a tax office by the close of business on that Tuesday – or put it in the mail postmarked by January 5 – you’ll be subject to interest penalties as well as subject to other collection methods like the garnishment of wages and attachment of bank accounts.
Guilford County Tax Director Ben Chavis said that tax collections have been going very well in 2020 despite the pandemic. He said he’s not exactly sure why that is, but one reason, he surmised, may be that that is one bill they know they absolutely have to pay, and another may be that people aren’t spending much money on things like travel and restaurant meals, so they have the money to make their property tax payments.
Many, many county residents take care of this business soon after the bills go out in July, but now the department wants people to know that they only have a couple of weeks left to pay without penalty.
Payments may be made in person at the Guilford County Tax Collection Center at 400 W. Market St. in Greensboro or at the county’s Governmental Complex at 325 E. Russell Ave. in High Point. The Tax Department workers are asking that you call 336-641-3363 before visiting to ensure that the offices are open to the public that day. If not, there are payment drop boxes open 24/7 at both the Greensboro and High Point offices.
The Tax Department caught a little flack years ago when they started getting people to mail their payments to a Charlotte address, but they say it’s more efficient this way and they still want checks mailed to the Queen City. You can mail your payment directly to a bank processing facility in Charlotte.
The address that should be used for property tax payments in Guilford County is:
Guilford County Tax Department
P.O. Box 71072
Charlotte, NC 28272-1072
You can also pay your taxes on-line with credit or debit cards from American Express, Discover, MasterCard, or Visa – by going to www.officialpayments.com, or by telephoning this toll- free number: 877-717-7679.
However, you’ll pay a convenience fee of 2.5 percent of the amount of your payment for on-line or telephone payments using credit or debit cards. Since these payments are often in the thousands of dollars, many choose not to do it that way.
Boy, I’ll bet they will answer the phone to stick you with 2.5% on a few thou. The city does not answer it’s “customer service” lines. Nor return calls either.
Like signing up with your friendly internet provider. Become a customer? Then they will be experiencing “heavy call volumes”. No “call volume” problem when you sign up, though.
Anyone knows that govt/business knows how many calls they get by the hour, when they will call, and how long the call will last.
There is no excuse for being too busy to answer the customer line————-BB&T!
If you are a BB&T customer, call their “customer service” line and see what happens. “customer service” is like “priority mail”, or “all deliberate speed”.
I just sent a priority mail package today. The clerk said 6-7 days.
Q.E.D.
We are requesting a GUILDFORD COUNTY TAX DEPARTMENT STATEMENT – SO WE CAN PAY OUR TAX AND GET THE DISCOUNT.
The only way to get something like service from the city is to haul yourself down there, park your car, find you way to the right office, and see the attitude you get there.