Property tax penalty cancellations available for those affected by COVID-19

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Governor’s Executive Order provides for penalty cancellations for certain homeowners and small businesses that were unable to deliver their property tax payments timely this past year if they have been directly affected by COVID-19 or suffered a financial hardship from COVID-19. The first day to submit the request for cancellation of the late penalties for the second installment and pay the base taxes due is April 13.  All penalty cancellation requests must be submitted along with the base property taxes no later than May 6, 2021.

“While we have seen great improvements with vaccinations, a decrease in hospitalizations, and a decreased rate of positivity, many Orange County residents have been directly impacted by COVID-19,” said Orange County Treasurer Shari Freidenrich. “For that reason, under direction from Governor’s executive orders, my office will grant penalty cancellations for certain homeowners and small businesses that were unable to deliver their payment timely due to an impact from COVID-19.  Payment of base property taxes is required with the submittal of the request.”

If you have been directly impacted by COVID-19 and did not pay your second installment property taxes by April 12, you should complete the COVID-19 Penalty Cancellation Request Form and provide appropriate supporting documentation related to your request. Although we were not able to change the payment deadline set by state law, we are 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 property tax amount (without penalties and costs) by May 6, 2021.

Examples of direct impacts due to COVID-19 may 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. Go to ttc.ocgov.com/proptax/infofaq/penalties for further details. 

Also, check out our property tax and financial tools:

• Subscribe to text/email payment reminders/information at ocgov.com/octaxreminder
• View and download our Property Tax eGuides at ocgov.com/ocpropertytaxguides
• View all County parcels with links to the bills on a GIS map at mello.ocgov.com
• Subscribe to our Financial Tip of the Week at ocgov.com/ocfinancialinfo

If you have payment questions, please email ttcinfo@ttc.ocgov.com, or call (714) 834- 3411 between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST.