Anne Arundel County issues over 200,000 real estate tax bills every July. Tax Department staff understand that some property owners will inadvertently pay a tax bill that should be paid via their mortgage, receive and pay a tax bill for a property that was sold, or pay real estate taxes while appealing the assessed value of the property. Tax Department staff will endeavor to assist with any requests for real property tax refunds and questions about refunds can be made by calling (410) 222-1736 or emailing realproperty@aacounty.org.
Refunds may be initiated as the result of an overpayment, erroneous payment, or adjustment to a tax bill that results in a credit balance.
Requesting a Refund of Overpayment / Erroneous Payment
Anne Arundel County will process refunds of tax overpayments or erroneous payments upon request for such payments made during the current fiscal year.
Your request must be made using the refund request form and must include proof of payment for all payments made on the account for the fiscal year in question. The refund request form includes a list of various forms of proof of payment that can help facilitate the refund request.
Your request will be reviewed and a determination will be made within 7 business days. You will be sent a formal response from the Anne Arundel County Real Property Tax Department with a decision. If your refund request is approved, it will include details on when to expect your refund. If additional documentation is required regarding your request, then you will be sent an email explaining what additional documentation is needed and why.
Should our office not receive a response to the request for additional documentation, then the refund request will be denied
Letter Notification Sent from Anne Arundel County Regarding an Overpayment
Tax Department staff review accounts receivable records periodically to detect overpayments on real estate taxes. If a credit balance is detected on a tax bill that is $250 or greater, then our office will mail a letter to the owner of record using their mailing address per the State Department of Assessments and Taxation.
If you have received a letter from the Tax Department regarding an overpayment on your account, then you will need to respond to the request to initiate a refund. To help facilitate this process, you will be requested to provide any necessary documentation along with proof of all payments made on the account for the fiscal year in question. The letter will include a list of various forms of proof of payment. The letter needs to be signed and dated before being returned to the Tax Department along with any necessary documentation.
It is the property owner’s responsibility to provide proof for all payments. Failure to provide necessary documentation may result in the Tax Department being unable to process a refund request.
If you do not recognize a payment listed on the letter, then please contact our office. It is possible that a payment has been posted to your account in error. Tax Department staff will perform additional research to determine where the funds may need to be refunded.
Refunds Due to Abatements, Homeowners Tax Credits, or Tax Exemptions
Tax bills may be adjusted during the course of the year, based on documents received from other County offices or the State Department of Assessments and Taxation. If an adjustment to a paid tax bill results in a credit balance, then the Tax Department will automatically process a refund of that credit balance. Property owners do not need to request a refund of the credit balance. If you have questions about the status of an adjustment, please contact the Tax Department to inquire as to whether we’ve received the necessary documentation and are processing the refund.
W-9 Requirements for Appealed Assessments
Should an abatement provided by SDAT be the result of an assessment appeal, then it may be eligible for a refund of interest on any taxes that were paid. Refunds eligible for a refund of interest, in addition to a refund of taxes that were paid, are the result of petitions to the supervisor of assessments for Anne Arundel County, the Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board (PTABB), or the Maryland Tax Court (MTC).
Any refund of interest will only be made with a completed and signed Form W-9 for the person or entity receiving the refund. That person or entity will also need to provide a completed W-9 Information Request Form that includes contact information for the person or entity. The completed and signed Form W-9 will be checked against Internal Revenue Service (IRS) records to ensure the provided information is accurate before any refund of interest is processed.
If the necessary documentation is not provided to the Tax Department or the provided information does not match IRS records, then no interest will be refunded.
Unclaimed Refunds / Credit Balances
Credit balances on tax bills that are not refunded will be applied to the property owner’s next tax bill to be issued by Anne Arundel County. This is dependent upon the property remaining in the same name and not having transferred between different parties. In the event that a credit balance on a tax bill cannot be refunded or otherwise applied to the property owner’s next tax bill, then the credit balance may instead be declared unclaimed property and transferred to the Office of the State of Maryland Comptroller.