Published: March 6, 2018 • Last updated: January 6, 2021 at 6:18 am

How to pay your property taxes

Property tax bills come in three separate chunks throughout the year. But what is the best–easiest, smartest, fastest… you get the idea–way to pay your property taxes?

Property taxes can often be a shock to the bank account, as some people don’t necessarily set aside the money. That’s why I ALWAYS recommend you pay your taxes automatically and monthly — treat them like any other non-discretionary expense.

Earlier this week a client was not happy her new mortgage lender does not want to collect property taxes from her bank account along with the monthly mortgage payment. “My old lender did this and I found it very convenient!”

Luckily… there is an equally good–and quite simple–alternative for paying your property taxes – 2 ways actually.

METHOD 1:  SETTING UP RECURRING BANK PAYMENTS

• Use online banking and set up your municipality as a payee.
• Divide your annual tax bill by 12 and set up a recurring monthly bill payment from your bank account for whatever day of the month you want.

(Pretty easy… right?!)

METHOD 2: SET UP PREAUTHORIZED PAYMENTS THROUGH YOUR MUNICIPALITY

• Contact your municipality and set up a pre-authorized withdrawal from them

Same result! Choose whichever lets you sleep at night, and gets your taxes paid.

Of course, if you have the money lying around, you can pay them off in one fell swoop, go for it.

But it's easier to budget and you will not likely fall behind if you pay your #propertytaxes monthly, and that's what I recommend for all home owners who can't afford to pay a full year at once. Click To Tweet

Related Articles:

• First Time Home Buyers Ontario: Everything You Need to Buy Your First Home
• First Time Home Buyer Government Incentives
• Explain amortization period and term