Reminders
Pay Property Taxes to Get Full W.Va.Credit
In the past few weeks, many West Virginia residents received two of their favorite annual reminders — a postcard-sized bill that shows the amount of tax owed on your home or any land you own, and also a separate bill showing what is owed on your personal property — cars, trucks, car trailers, etc. As we’ve reminded you previously, it’s important to understand how and when to pay that personal property tax bill on your vehicles so that you qualify for a full credit on your 2025 state income taxes, as provided through tax relief approved by lawmakers in 2023.
The tax relief provides a credit, starting in the 2024 tax year, to all state residents who pay their personal property taxes on schedule. That means you must have paid the first half of your tax bill no later than Oct. 1 of last year, and the second half by April 1 of this year. It also means you have to pay at least the first half of your 2025 bill by Oct. 1 of this year.
If you pay the tax bill late, you don’t qualify.
Sounds simple, right? It is. There have been a few hiccups along the way, but as long as you’ve paid your prior tax bills on schedule, and you pay at least the first half of your 2024-25 tax bill by Oct. 1, you’ll qualify for the credit on the taxes you’ll file in 2025.
But wait, there’s more. Not only can you get the second half of the tax you paid this year credited against your taxes — that was what you paid April 1 — you also can take the full credit for next year’s taxes if you pay the entire 2024-25 bill by Oct. 1. If you follow that schedule, when you file your 2024 state income taxe, you’ll be eligible for a credit for all the personal property tax paid in 2024.
For example, if your bill is $1,000 annually, and you paid $500 by Oct. 1, 2023, the second $500 for this current year by April 1, 2024 and then the full $1,000 bill by Oct. 1, 2024, you would receive a credit of $1,500 on your 2024 state income taxes filed in 2025.
Don’t leave money on the table.