My question relates to property taxes and our home in Georgia. My wife was recently transferred to Florida for a government job. I am a 100% disabled veteran. While living in Georgia, I was exempt from paying property tax via the homested exemption. We paid usaual taxes for water, school, lights etc. The county of Gwinnett in Lilburn took away all our exemption becanse we moved to Fl. The county came back to hit us with unpaid property taxes from 2009-2012. we paid these taxes recently. Can we claim the back property taxes which came to about $8,000?

ANSWER

The BIDaWIZ Team's Answer:

Any property taxes you paid in prior years that weren't already deducted on your federal and state tax returns, can be deducted. However, interest and penalties for failure to pay are NOT deductible. The $8,000 in property taxes that you paid likely contains interest and penalties, so the full amount is not deductible. Rather, only the amount for property taxes that was due had you paid on time. Please note that you need to itemize your deductions to claim property taxes on your tax return. Please let us know if you have any related followup questions.