Tax Pre-payment application – Durham County, NC

The Tax Pre-payment application is the Durham County Tax Administration form that a property owner completes and mails with a payment to pre-pay real property taxes before the bill is generated, as part of the county's voluntary Pre-Payment Tax Help program.

The county describes the program as similar to an escrow account that homeowners use to pay their mortgage company. Payments go toward the bill before it exists, and you can keep making monthly payments after the bill arrives until it is paid in full. The form asks for five entries: name, phone number, parcel number, account number and amount. There is no fee to participate in the pre-payment program.

The payment amount is up to you. As a suggestion only, the form says to divide the previous year's bill by the number of calendar months remaining before the delinquent date. Any overpayment is carried over to the next year or refunded upon request.

This form is not the application for the county's other payment plans. The county's Tax Payment Help Programs page describes a separate Post-Billing Tax Help plan, which uses the Tax Payment Help Program application and applies after tax bills are issued. It also describes hardship plans for bills that are already delinquent, which require a hardship form, and homestead tax relief programs with their own applications.

Owners of real property in Durham County who want to pay their property taxes ahead of the bill, in amounts and at times of their choosing, use this application. Participation is voluntary.

Conditions stated by the county:

• Previous years' taxes must be paid in full to be eligible for the program.
• You must provide the account number and the parcel number of the property to which the payments are to be applied.

Do not use this form if you want a payment plan after the tax bill has been issued. The county's Post-Billing Tax Help plan uses the Tax Payment Help Program application instead. If the bill is already delinquent, a payment plan requires a hardship form and is at the discretion of the Tax Collector. The county's page also points low-income, longtime homeowners to the Department of Social Services Low Income Homeowner Relief (LIHR) program, at 919-560-8000. The form does not describe signatures or representatives.

Use the form before the tax bill is generated: the program exists so you can make payments toward the bill even before it exists. The form sets no earlier cutoff, and you may keep paying monthly after the bill arrives until it is paid in full.

The date to aim for is the delinquent date. The form prints January 5, while the county's Tax Payment Help Programs page gives January 6 as the last date to pay before taxes become delinquent. Confirm the current date with the Tax Administration office at 919-560-0300. Any amount unpaid after the delinquent date accrues interest, at the rates printed on the form, until it is paid in full by the taxpayer or through a collection action.

The form names one channel: mail. Complete it and mail it with your payment to:

Durham County Tax Collector, Attn: Prepayment, PO Box 3397, Durham, NC 27702.

Include the form with every payment you send. The form does not list accepted payment methods, so ask the Tax Administration office at 919-560-0300 how to pay. No fee applies to take part in the program. After the bill is issued you can continue to pay monthly until it is paid in full, and any overpayment is carried over to the next year or refunded upon request.

FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; submission follows the channels above.