Prepaying Next Year's Taxes Made Easy
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas says her office is making it easier to prepay property taxes.
Thousands of requests for next year's first installment property tax bills, due in March, indicate a growing number of Cook County residents are already thinking about their property taxes. Additionally, with Congress considering whether to keep the deduction for state and local taxes on federal returns, Pappas says a lot of people are wondering if they can pay some of next year's taxes now.
LISTEN: "We're getting a minimum of 600 emails a day about can I prepay?"
The answer is yes, Pappas says, and you can take the deduction. Furthermore, for the first time, you can download a copy of your tax bill from the Cook County Treasurer's Office website.
"You can take that bill, which is the March bill, which is 55 percent of your taxes, you can bring it to this office and pay, or you can take it to -- which is also new -- any Chase bank any pay," Pappas said.
You can also pay online or by credit card.
This year, requests for prepayment total 6,652, nearly four times last year's prepayment total of 1,775.
Pappas says it's just like an airline boarding pass, but for taxes.
Her office will be opening every morning at 8:30 to handle the anticipated rush.
"If this escalates as much as we think it's going to escalate, I am letting them know now that we may have to increase our office hours. "
If you don't have all your tax funds now to prepay, the County will accept a portion of what's due in advance, which will help with your 2017 federal deductions. We usually get our second installment bills in July. With the new online system, Pappas promises those bills could be available as early as June.