Frequently Asked Questions

We accept cash, check, money order or electronically by debit/credit card or e-check at www.lincolncountytax.com. A convenience fee will apply to all card and e-check transactions.

Partial payments are accepted for payment of property taxes. Once current year taxes are paid in full, a taxpayer may choose to take advantage of the option to begin making prepayments towards the upcoming year’s taxes.

Annual tax notices for real and personal property are mailed each year in early July to the owner of record as of January 1^st of that year.

The tax rate is set by the Board of Commissioners by the end of June.

Annual tax notices are not mailed to mortgage companies for escrow purposes. Most lenders electronically request billing information and/or access to retrieve tax data directly from our system. If your taxes are paid through escrow, you are still mailed the annual tax notice to keep for your records.

Should ownership of  real property transfer during the year, the taxes are ordinarily pro-rated at the time of closing by the closing attorney. To determine if your taxes were pro-rated at the time of transfer, please contact your realtor or closing attorney.

Lincoln County offers a 2% discount on all tax payments from July 1st through August 31^st.

Taxes are due on September 1^st and considered delinquent after January 5^th of the following year. Should January 5^th fall on a Saturday or Sunday, the deadline to pay is extended to the next business day.

Taxes not paid in full by the January 5^th deadline are subject to a penalty of 2% effective January 6^th and ¾ % of interest will be added on the first day of each month thereafter until paid in full. Past due taxes are immediately subject to enforced collection remedies as provided by the laws of the State of North Carolina.