Secured O.C. property tax penalty cancellation deadline extended to June 30

SANTA ANA, Calif.-Governor Gavin Newsom just signed a number of executive order extensions, including one that has extended a prior order affecting property taxes that expired on May 6.  This new order extends the deadline for submitting the Secured Property Tax Penalty Cancellation Request Form and payment of base property taxes for homeowners and small businesses that were unable to deliver payment by May 6 due to an impact from COVID-19.  The order extends the deadline to submit these penalty cancellation request forms and pay base secured property taxes to June 30, 2021. 

The Governor’s new executive orders provide for penalty cancellations for eligible homeowners and small businesses that were unable to deliver their secured property tax payments timely this past year if they have been directly affected by COVID-19 or suffered a financial hardship from COVID-19.  Eligible property owners should complete and submit the standard Penalty Cancellation request form, describing the impact from COVID-19 and any related back-up, by the June 30, 2021 deadline.  They also need to identify if they are a homeowner or a small business on the form, which can be found on the Treasurer-Tax Collector website.  Homeowners and small businesses that have already paid their secured property taxes including penalties, can complete the same form, describe the direct impact from COVID-19 and if approved, can receive a refund of the penalties.

“This extension allows eligible property owners additional time to file the required forms and related documentation and pay base secured property taxes up until June 30, 2021,” said Orange County Treasurer Shari Freidenrich.   “Property owners that were unable to pay their FY 2020-21 secured property tax payments by either December 10 and/or April 12 as a result of being directly affected by COVID-19 or suffered a financial hardship as a result of COVID-19 should submit a penalty cancellation request by June 30.”

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. Go to ttc.ocgov.com and click on the penalty cancellation icon for further details.

If you were not impacted by COVID-19 and are unable to pay your secured property taxes, a taxpayer can initiate a five-year payment plan on July 1, 2021 for any delinquent secured property taxes. Details for this are at ttc.ocgov.com and then click on installment payment plans under the Popular section of the webpage.

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.