You can deduct your 2018 property taxes on your 2017 bill — if you’re lucky

Not all filers will have the privilege

Home in Ridgewood, NJ
Home in Ridgewood, NJ

President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ tax bill will severely restrict the amount of state and local tax filers can deduct each year, but many taxpayers can get out ahead of 2018 by putting some of next year’s property taxes on their 2017 bill, according to new guidelines from the Internal Revenue Service. Of course, that’s only if the municipalities has already issued property assessments for 2018.

Hundreds of people have been spotted lining up in front of government buildings in the Washington, D.C., suburbs to pay 2018 taxes ahead of time and deduct them on this year’s bill. But many of those filers will miss out if their local municipalities have not yet issued property tax assessments for next year.

In New York City, where the property tax fiscal year runs July 1 through June 30, homeowners can pay their property tax bills for the third and fourth quarters before the due dates. But the city hasn’t completed the tax roll for all of 2018 yet, meaning that property tax bills for July 2018-December 2018 won’t be completed until June.

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As of Jan. 1, state and local taxes that can be deducted from annual tax bills is capped at $10,000. That’s lower than average property tax bill in Westchester County, New York for example, which is $16,500, according to a ATTOM Data Solutions. It won’t matter much to Westchester residents anyway: outgoing County Executive Rob Astorino said the county couldn’t mobilize quickly enough to accept 2018 filings.

In New Jersey, outgoing Gov. Chris Christie signed an executive order Wednesday allowing residents to prepay their 2018 property taxes. [Bloomberg] — Will Parker