ABOUT PAYING TAXES ONLINE

Please Read Carefully

Browsers: Minimum and Recommended.  To use this web site and the online tax payment feature, the minimum browsers are Netscape 4.7 and Internet Explorer 5.0.  Netscape 6.0 and Internet Explorer 6.0 or above are recommended.

Uniform Surcharge.  A uniform surcharge of two percent of the billing total plus one dollar is added to the bill for all online payments.  The purpose of the surcharge is to defray the direct costs of providing this convenience.

Payment Method.  Online payment must be made by credit card: MasterCard, Visa or Discover.

"Receipt Number" required to access account.  To get access to tax bill information, the "Receipt Number" of the original tax bill must be entered in the window below.  This number appears in bold print at the left side of the line that is just below the line that reads "***OFFICIAL RECEIPT UPON VALIDATION***" on the bill.  Online payment is made one tax bill at a time, based on the "Receipt Number" of each.  You also may use this feature to check whether payment of the tax bill has been recorded.  If it has been the program will show the payment date.

Required information.  In addition to the "Receipt Number," you will be required to provide some additional information on the payment screen.  The required information is indicated with an asterisk (*).  It will be kept as part of the transaction record.  The transaction cannot be processed if you do not fill in the required information.

Optional information.  Other information requested on the payment screen is not required.  It simply would provide information that might make it easier for you to be contacted.  If you provide an email address on the payment screen (optional), a confirmation email will be sent to the email address that you supplied.  You may wish to save or print this email screen for your records.  As an alternative or for additional documentation you have the option of doing a screen print on the confirmation screen that appears to notify you that the transaction was accepted.  

Not available for use if prior year taxes are owed.  If property taxes from a previous year are owed on the taxed property, payment of the prior year tax will not be accepted online because of additional steps required to process such payments.  Also, payment of current taxes for property on which previous year taxes are still owed cannot be accepted.  State law requires that outstanding taxes from previous years must be paid prior to the Treasure accepting payment of current taxes on that property.  It is recommended that taxpayers go to the Delinquent Tax Office at the Office of the Treasurer, 212 South Lake Drive, Lexington, SC to pay any previous year property taxes owed.

Not available during certain hours.  The online tax payment system is not available during certain hours for backup and maintenance reasons.  The hours that the system is not available are: 1:30 a.m. through 6:30 a.m., Monday through Saturday mornings.

More questions?  Good resources for answers to questions about tax bills are at your fingertips:

§         The back of the long form real property and personal property tax bills has an explanation of the information shown on the front of the bill.  (Vehicle tax bills and revised real and personal property tax bills are not printed on the long form.)

§         The back of all property tax bills provides contact information for offices that you can call for additional information.

§         Many specific property tax questions are answered on the county's web site, in the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section, under "Property Taxes," http://www.lex-co.com/faq/2.htm.