Cook County Tax Pre-Payments Accepted

More Cook County property taxpayers than ever before have been opting to pay taxes as soon as possible. According to to the office of Treasurer Maria Pappas, people may want to increase their 2017 tax write-offs by laying down the first installment of their tax bill. Taxpayers have until Sunday night to make any payment they want to include in this year's deductions.

Under the new tax bill President Donald Trump signed into law last week, property and state income tax deductions will be capped at $10,000.

That means taxpayers are eager to offer up their taxes to the county, even though the average homeowner in north suburban Cook County will see their property tax bill rise by about 6.5 percent this year.

Under state law, the first installment of tax year 2017 taxes are due March 1, 2018. It's made up of 55 percent of the prior year's total tax.

In order to pay it, you'll need to know your 14-digit Property Index Number (PIN) number to do so. You can find it on your most recent tax bill near the amount due or look it up on the Cook County Treasurer's website.

More than 47,000 property taxpayers have chipped in so far, Pappas said. As of Wednesday, the total amount of money collected was more than $312 million. She described it as a "tsunami," according to WBBM.

Last year fewer than 2,000 people paid early – mostly people those travelling out of state for during the winter.

But this year, people have been rushing to pay taxes like never before.

“We had one building on East Lake Shore Drive where the entire condo co-op association came in and laid out the $791,000 wire transfer,” she told

You can prepay your taxes online as well, and Pappas said it's been growing in popularity.

"[P]eople no longer want to deal with the mail. They don’t want to talk to anybody," she told WLS. They don’t want to walk into a bank,” she said.

The IRS Wednesday issued some guidance about pre-paying and deductions:

The Internal Revenue Service advised tax professionals and taxpayers today that pre-paying 2018 state and local real property taxes in 2017 may be tax deductible under certain circumstances.

The IRS has received a number of questions from the tax community concerning the deductibility of prepaid real property taxes. In general, whether a taxpayer is allowed a deduction for the prepayment of state or local real property taxes in 2017 depends on whether the taxpayer makes the payment in 2017 and the real property taxes are assessed prior to 2018. A prepayment of anticipated real property taxes that have not been assessed prior to 2018 are not deductible in 2017. State or local law determines whether and when a property tax is assessed, which is generally when the taxpayer becomes liable for the property tax imposed.

Find out more about how to pay from the treasurer's office below:

Four Ways to Prepay

Prepaying Online:
To prepay your first installment property taxes online, begin by enter your 14-digit Property Index Number (PIN) on the first page of the payment process. Payments are accepted from your bank account or credit card.

Prepaying by Mail:
Send your payment with an original prepayment tax bill or an electronic PDF tax bill downloadable from this site and mailed to:

Cook County Treasurer
PO Box 805436
Chicago, IL 60680-4155

Prepaying at Chase Branch:
You may pay at any Chase Bank in Illinois with an original prepayment tax bill or an electronic PDF tax bill downloadable from this site.

Prepaying in Person:
You may submit your original payment coupon or an electronic PDF tax bill downloadable from this site and pay at the Cook County Treasurer's Office.
If you pay by escrow, contact your lender prior to attempting to prepay to avoid double payments. If your prepayment is received by December 31st, the First Installment tax bill which will be mailed in late January will reflect the prepayment. You may verify your payment status by selecting Payment Status after February 1. Please note that the Treasurer’s Office has authorization to reduce the amount of your check to prevent overpayment.

Disclaimer: The Office of the Cook County Treasurer does not provide legal, financial or tax advice. Consult your licensed legal, financial or tax consultant prior to making any prepayment of real estate taxes.

» via the Cook County Treasurer

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