Delinquent Taxpayers Will Lose Homeowner’s Exemption

Real Property Tax Office, Maui Mall, Kahului. Photo courtesy of County of Maui.

By Sonia Isotov

With the real property tax deadline this Monday, August 22, the County of Maui is reminding the public of a recent law change that states that delinquent taxpayers will lose their homeowner’s exemption, resulting in high taxes.

Once homeowners lose their exemption, they will not be allowed to reapply until the balance is completely paid off. Only then can a homeowner reapply for the following year.  

In addition, the parcel will not only lose the $200K exemption, the homeowner will also be taxed based on the underlying land classification established by zoning which is a higher rate.

The County of Maui has mailed real property tax bills to property owners or the agents servicing their accounts. Property owners who pay their real property taxes directly and who have not received a real property tax bill should check on their taxes by contacting the County of Maui Real Property Tax Division by phone at (808) 270-7697, in person at the Maui Mall Service Center (Mon-Fri 8am – 4pm), or online at www.mauipropertytax.com.

Electronic payments options are available from the Real Property Tax Division, and are being accepted via the internet or phone. This service is being offered through a private vendor Link2Gov.  The service provider will be charging a convenience fee which is not being collected by the County of Maui.  You will need your 13 digit tax map key number in order to make electronic payments.

To find out more about electronic payment options visit http://www.mauicounty.gov/departments/Finance/rptpayment.htm.  To make an online payment go to https://gate.link2gov.com/MauiRPT/. You must have an email address to use the online payment service.  To make a payment by phone call 1-877-729-4775 and follow the voice instructions.

Property owners are reminded that failure to pay their taxes on time because of non-receipt of a tax bill will not excuse them from being assessed a 10 percent penalty plus interest at the rate of 12 percent per year.

Unless hand delivered on time, the United States Postal Service cancellation mark is the date of receipt by the County of Maui.  It is the taxpayer’s responsibility when sending via postal mail to assure that all envelopes are timely postmarked by the USPS on or before August 22, 2011.