Billing & Payment
Wake County offers several options for paying your taxes. You can:
1. Pay by mail – Mail payments with the coupon from your tax bill to:
Wake County Revenue Department
P.O. Box 96084
Charlotte NC 28296-0084
Please send all other correspondence and payments without coupons to:
Wake County Revenue Department
P.O. Box 2331
Raleigh NC 27602
2. Pay with your Personal Online Banking Bill Pay Program
Please
verify and update the tax account number on file with your bank as vehicle tax account numbers change annually. Failure to update your records prior to remitting payment may result in delayed posting. BillPay customers should remit payment to:
Wake County Revenue Department
P.O. Box 2331
Raleigh NC 27602
3. Pay Online with our Free Electronic Transfer Option
This method of payment allows you to pay your tax bill by electronic transfer of funds from your checking account. No service fees are charged for using this payment option. Your checking account will be debited within two business days from the time of your online authorization.
Your tax account number and the preprinted Access Code found at the top left of your tax bill are required to use the
online payment system. If you do not have your Access Code, please
email a request to the Revenue Department. Requests should include the tax account number (if available), the name(s) on the bill, the last 4 digits of the owner's social security number, and a brief description of the property.
4. Pay by Telephone using VISA or MasterCard
Call our main number at 919-856-5400 and follow the prompts for payment by credit card or debit card. This payment option is normally available seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Please note that a service charge will be added for the use of this payment option. The system will advise you of the total charge prior to your authorization.
PLEASE NOTE: CREDIT CARDS AND DEBIT CARDS CANNOT BE USED WHEN PAYING IN PERSON. Payments made with
Visa Consumer Debit cards will be assessed a fee of $3.95 per transaction regardless of the amount of tax paid. Visa Consumer Debit customers are not subject to the fees listed in the chart below.
Payments made by
Visa Credit,
Visa non-Consumer Debit,
MasterCard Credit or
MasterCard Debit are subject to the following fees:
|
Tax Paid |
Fee |
|
|
$0.01–$50.00 |
$3.00 |
|
|
$50.01–$100.00 |
$5.00 |
|
|
$100.01–$200.00 |
$8.00 |
|
|
$200.01–$300.00 |
$11.00 |
|
|
$300.01–$400.00 |
$14.00 |
|
|
$400.01–$500.00 |
$17.00 |
|
|
$500.01–$600.00 |
$20.00 |
|
*$3.00 for each additional $100.00 charged
5. Pay in person at any of these locations:
Billing Information
Duplicate Statements
Statements for real estate, business and personal property can be printed using our Search Tax Bills application. Bill copies for registered motor vehicles are not available online. To receive a copy of your tax bill, please email your request to the Revenue Department. Requests should include the tax account number (if available), the name on the bill, and a description of the property. If you submit a partial payment, a balance due statement will automatically be mailed to you.
Mailing Address UpdatesMailing address updates can be submitted by
email for real estate, business and personal property accounts.
For registered motor vehicles, address changes should be made with the
North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV). Tax bills are created using the address on file with the NCDMV at the time of registration.
Registered Motor VehiclesIndividual statements are issued for each vehicle approximately three months after registration takes place. Bills are created based on information provided to the
North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV) at the time of registration. The Wake County Revenue Department is not notified of name or address changes made after renewal. Motor vehicle bills are due on the first day of the fourth month following registration and become delinquent on the first day of the fifth month following registration.
Past due accounts are assessed an interest charge of 5% the first month and an additional 3/4 of 1% each month thereafter. Any bill not paid in full by the eighth month following registration will result in the enforcement of a "block" to the registration. If this occurs, NCDMV will not issue a renewal card for the vehicle or allow registration without evidence of payment.
If the vehicle is sold or moved out of state during the tax year, you may be entitled to an
adjustment.
Real Estate, Business & Personal Property
Tax bills are normally mailed to property owners in July of each year. If you do not receive your tax statement by September 1, please contact our office to request a duplicate. Real estate accounts that were paid through an escrow account in the prior year do not receive a bill in July. Statements for real estate, business and personal property can be printed using our Online Tax Bill Search.
Annual tax bills are calculated for the fiscal taxing period of July 1 through June 30. They are not based on a calendar year. (Example: A bill issued in July 2011 would cover the period of July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012.) Property taxes not paid in full by January 5 following billing are assessed an interest charge of 2% for the month of January and an additional 3/4 of 1% each month thereafter.
Mortgage Company Payments
Tax bills are not mailed to mortgage companies. The majority of lenders electronically access and retrieve tax data directly from our system, eliminating the need for a paper copy of the bill.
Most mortgage companies contract with a tax service to handle the processing and payment of tax bills. Although your mortgage company may forward your escrow funds to the tax service as early as August, the tax service does not normally remit payment to the County until December. Mortgage companies not using a tax service also generally wait until December before remitting payment. The County applies payments as they are received.
Please be advised that even if the taxes are to be paid from an escrow account, the property owner remains responsible for ensuring timely payment of the bill.
Real Estate Sold During the YearIf you sold your real estate between January and June and do not have a remaining interest in any portion of the property, you will not receive the annual tax notice mailed in July. This notice will be mailed to the current owners, and they are responsible for ensuring timely payment.
For real estate sold after the annual July billing and before the bill becomes delinquent in January, a statement for the unpaid tax will be mailed to the new owner. If the seller does not have a remaining interest in any portion of the property, they may disregard the original notice as the new owner is responsible for payment.
If a real estate bill becomes delinquent, the owner on the day the bill becomes delinquent is responsible for payment. Should the property be sold with a delinquent bill present, both the owner on the day the bill became delinquent and any subsequent owners are equally responsible for payment, regardless of any private agreements made at closing.
Collection action against the owner on the day the bill became delinquent and any subsequent owners may include garnishment of wages; attachment of bank accounts, rental income or income tax refunds; seizure and sale of personal property by the Sheriff's Office; or foreclosure. In addition, the owner as of the day the bill became delinquent will be advertised in the local newspaper as having unpaid taxes.
Prepayment of TaxesBefore the confirmation of tax rates for an upcoming year, our office will accept advance payments using estimated rates. The tax rates are normally established by Wake County and its municipalities in June, and annual tax bills are mailed in July. These annual bills will reflect any prepayments made during the year.
Partial Payments and ArrangementsYou may elect to pay your bill in installments. Payments may be made in any amount and at any interval as long as the taxes are paid in full before the bill becomes delinquent. No approval is required from this office for these partial payments. An adjusted bill will be mailed to you after each payment.
If you are not certain you will be able to pay your entire balance in full before it becomes delinquent, contact our office immediately upon receiving your bill and staff will work with you to set up a formal payment plan. You will be asked to provide basic contact information along with your employer and banking information. If you wait too long to establish the payment plan, the options available may be limited.
By keeping your payment plan current, your account will not be subject to enforced collections; however, please note that formal payment plans do not prevent real estate from being advertised in your name in the local newspaper should any portion of the bill be delinquent at the time the advertisement is made.
Delinquent Taxes
Enforced collections may begin immediately upon an account reaching delinquent status. Action for collection may include garnishment of wages; attachment of bank accounts, rental income or income tax refunds; seizure and sale of personal property by the Sheriff's Office; or foreclosure of real estate. Commencement of any of these actions will result in additional costs and/or fees being added to the unpaid bills.
Returned ChecksN.C. General Statute 105-357 provides a penalty of ten percent (10%) of the check amount, with a minimum of $25, on checks returned by the bank due to insufficient funds or nonexistence of an account. Tax receipts are invalid if payment is made with a check that fails to clear the bank.
Need help? Email us your questions and we'll respond as quickly as we possibly can.
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