Prepaying Your Property Taxes? I.R.S. Cautions It Might Not Pay Off<br />In those states, tax lawyers said, homeowners who prepay taxes will almost certainly be able to deduct their taxes under the 2017 rules.<br />Some states have encouraged residents to try to skirt the new cap on state and local tax deductions.<br />The tax bill that President Trump signed into law last week sharply limited the itemized deductions for state<br />and local taxes while raising the standard deduction for individuals and couples.<br />In Fairfax, Va., hundreds of people lined up to prepay taxes on Tuesday, according to local media reports,<br />and communities in New York, New Jersey and other states have likewise reported a rush of prepayments.<br />The Internal Revenue Service has a message for the homeowners rushing to prepay their<br />property taxes before new rules take effect on New Year’s Day: Not so fast.<br />To qualify for the deduction, property taxes not only need to be paid in 2017, they must also be assessed in 2017 — meaning<br />that homeowners who prepaid their taxes based on estimated assessments, or who tried to pay several years’ worth of taxes at once, will probably be out of luck.
