In a "mad dash" to take advantage of uncapped property tax deductions before the new tax law went into effect this year, 25 percent of San Diego County property owners paid their bills early, the county treasurer's office said Thursday.
The county added it collected $642 million, which is $312 million more than last year.
The office of Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister received almost 72,000 more second installment property tax payments than this time last year. Some 41,000 of those payments were made in the last three days of 2018, McAllister said.
The office received 255,407 second installment payments before Jan. 1, compared to 183,808 by the same time last year, according to the treasurer's office.
Property tax payments are due in two installments, on Nov. 1 and April 10.
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Many people who paid their second installment before the beginning of this year were looking to take advantage of the unlimited property tax dedications for federal income tax under the old set of rules, McAllister said.
Under the new system signed into law by President Trump in December, people can only deduct up to $10,000 in property, state and local tax payments from their federal tax burden.
Prepaying property taxes could be advantageous for those who itemize their taxes, usually pay more than $10,000 in state and local taxes and are not subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax, tax experts told various media outlets.
