O.C. property taxpayers directly affected by COVID-19 will have penalties cancelled

SANTA ANA – The Orange County Treasurer is now accepting penalty cancellation requests for taxpayers who have been directly impacted by COVID-19.

“COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the taxpayers here in Orange County, in the United States and all over the world.  We want to be as compassionate and generous as possible,” said Treasurer Shari Freidenrich.  “We will be cancelling penalties for those homeowners, small businesses and other property owners that have been directly affected by COVID-19.”

If you have been directly impacted by COVID-19 and did not pay your property taxes by April 10, you should complete the COVID-19 Penalty Cancellation Request Form. Although we were not able to change the payment deadline set by state law, we are now able to extend the time for you to submit and pay the base property taxes.  You will need to submit the COVID-19 Penalty Cancellation Request form and pay the base tax amount (without penalties and costs) so that it is received between April 11 and June 30, 2020.

Examples of direct impacts due to COVID-19 include: illness, hospitalization, quarantine, loss of employment or business closures. Examples of documentation include hospitalization records, doctor’s notes, employment notifications due to a business closure, layoff notices, rent receipt postponement notices/waivers, CA EDD Unemployment Insurance claim letters, etc. As these requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, we encourage you to apply and provide your specific circumstances to be considered.  See COVID-19 FAQs at ttc.ocgov.com/proptax/infofaq/penalties.

“During these unprecedented times, it is important that you know we understand the current economic hardships you directly experienced due to COVID-19 and are doing our part to help by cancelling penalties.  We want to thank taxpayers who timely paid their second installment taxes,” said Treasurer Freidenrich.  “Many of the services being provided during this emergency are paid for using property tax dollars, including those of first responders.”

Our customer service center is available to assist taxpayers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at (714) 834-3411 or you can email ttcinfo@ttc.ocgov.com.  Our website at ttc.ocgov.com also has a lot of information on property taxes.