Property owners in Gwinnett County can now pay their tax bills online with debit or credit cards without convenience fees, Tax Commissioner Tiffany Porter announced Tuesday.
The county allocated $1.5 million of its American Rescue Plan Act funds to cover the costs of convenience fees, which normally run at 2.25% of the taxes owed by each individual.
“It’s safer for people to pay online, so it makes sense to cover the convenience fees,” Porter said in a news release. “Gwinnett County commissioners wisely appropriated federal American Rescue Plan funds to encourage more residents to skip the trip and pay securely online from the safety of their homes.”
The office encourages taxpayers who wish to pay with a debit or credit card to take advantage of the waived fees now, as the funds could be depleted before bills come due on Oct. 15.
Anyone who has already paid their 2021 tax bill with a convenience fee will automatically receive a refund of the fees within four to six weeks to the card they used or a refund check in the mail if they paid with PayPal, PayPal Credit or Venmo.
The tax commissioner’s office sends county tax bills to all property owners and mailed them in August. It also handles municipal property taxes for Berkeley Lake, Dacula and Peachtree Corners.
A judge ordered Porter to collect municipal taxes on behalf of Grayson, but she plans to appeal the decision and seek a halt on the order. All other cities in Gwinnett County handle their own billing for municipal property taxes.
As of Sept. 20, the office has collected $144 million in property taxes of the $1.5 billion owed, according to a spokesperson. Property owners can pay their tax bills online at GwinnettTaxCommissioner.com/pay by e-check, debit and credit cards.
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