Refunds

All refunds for real and personal property, motor vehicles and mobile homes are processed through the Accounting Division. Refunds may arise from a variety of situations: decrease in assessment after the property has already been paid, overpayment of taxes due, or payment of the incorrect property.

Motor Vehicle Refunds

Request for a refund of motor vehicle and mobile home payments that include tag fees, title fees and/or title penalties must be approved by the State Department of Motor Vehicle Safety after being researched and approved by the Tax Commissioner’s Office. Adequate time must be given if the payment is made by check to ensure the check has cleared the bank prior to processing the refund. It is important that everyone review the receipt provided to make certain the correct vehicle was paid. Ad valorem changes for Motor Vehicles must be processed through the Tax Assessor’s Office and formally approved. Once approved by the State or Tax Assessor’s Office, and/or is approved by the Accounting Division, the refund will be issued. As a courtesy, letters are sent to individuals renewing via the internet by the Accounting Division notifying them if there has been a duplicate payment made against their credit card. Refunds for duplicate charges incurred while renewing motor vehicles or mobile homes over the internet are to be made by disputing the payment with the credit card company. The credit card company will notify the Accounting Division of the dispute and once researched and approved, the duplicate charge will be reversed.

Property Tax Refunds

All real estate and personal property tax refunds are issued to the property owner of record, the property owner on January 1 of the current year, regardless of who actually paid the taxes. There are no provisions in Georgia law to allow the Tax Commissioner’s Office to prorate property taxes. In the State of Georgia, the owner of property on January 1 remains the owner of record for the entire year. It is the Attorney General’s opinion the owner must return and pay tax for a given year on property owned on January 1 of that year, even if subsequently sold, but is not required to return or pay tax for that year on property bought after January 1. Due to the large volume of property tax refunds processed, the refunds are sent out twice per month. Adequate time must be given to allow payments made by check to clear the bank prior to processing the refunds. The batch processing does not distinguish payments made by check to those made by other means or to those resulting from the changes in tax amounts due. All actions taken by the Tax Assessor’s Office must first be formally approved and the changes entered into the Tax Commissioner’s tax system before the Accounting Division can approve such changes and process refunds or send out adjusted bills.