Dec 27, 2017 2 min read

WAYNESBURG – Greene County property owners will not be able to prepay 2018 county property taxes before the end of the year, a strategy now being considered by some taxpayers to lessen the impact of a new federal cap on tax deductions.

Greene County Treasurer Cory Grandel said he researched the matter in the state tax code and discussed the issue with the state Treasurer’s Association before determining prepayment of taxes to seek a deduction in the current year would not be permitted legally.

The new federal tax law, signed by President Donald Trump on Friday, will cap federal taxpayers’ deductions next year at $10,000 for state, local and property taxes. Under existing law, taxpayers can deduct 100 percent of state and local taxes.

Taxpayers have considered prepaying 2018 taxes to deduct them in the current year. Grandel said, however, he believes that can’t be done.

“You can’t legally claim a deduction for paying a liability that doesn’t yet exist,” Grandel said.

Property owner would first have to be assessed and notified of the liability, he said

Though the county has adopted a budget, tax liabilities for the coming year have not been calculated and produced, Grandel said. Current year tax liabilities have yet to be settled or reconciled, he added.

Some neighboring counties have been allowing property owners to prepay 2018 real estate taxes, including Washington and Allegheny counties. However, Grandel said not all counties share the same tax-collection period. Washington County, for example, sends out tax bills at the first of the year.

Grandel said he had received only one telephone call asking whether taxes could be prepaid by Friday – the last business day of the year – before the limit on deductions goes into effect.

Waynesburg Borough Tax Collector Kayla Balint said she had received several inquiries from taxpayers about prepaying borough and school taxes.

Balint said none of the tax collectors she has spoken with are accepting the early payments. She noted a memo issued to tax collectors by the Pennsylvania State Tax Collectors’ Association in regard to the matter states prepayment of 2018 real estate taxes would not be permitted and is “expressly prohibited” by statute.