Property Tax Payment & Deferment TEST

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Payment & Deferment Options

Property taxes are due the first business day in July. Pay early to avoid the 10% late payment penalty.

Pay in Full

Pay your property taxes online, through your bank, or in person at City Hall.

See Payment Options

Pre-Pay Monthly

Pre-pay your property taxes with pre-authorized withdrawals or recurring online payments.

See Payment Options

Defer & Reduce

Apply to provincial programs that can help defer or reduce your property taxes.

See Options

 

Need assistance? See our Frequently Asked Questions.

 

Have you applied for the provincial Home Owner Grant?

Eligible home owners can reduce property taxes on their principal residence by $770 or more each year.

See if you qualify


 

Pay in Full

Explore options to pay your property tax bill in one lump-sum payment.

Property Account

See and pay your property tax bill with your Property Account. This secure portal gives you access to current and past Property Tax Notices, shows whether the Home Owner Grant has been applied to your account, and allows payments by credit card and debit. Plus you can sign up for paperless electronic billing (eBilling).

Pay your bill:

  1. Login at billing.kelowna.ca
  2. Select your tax account if registered (or skip to step 5 for registration)
  3. Select Make a Payment to pay via credit card or bank account.
  4. Enter your payment details and submit.

Note: Credit card payments will incur a 2.3% non-refundable transaction fee.

Don’t have a Property Account? Create one:

  1. Visit billing.kelowna.ca
  2. Click the Create One link to create a new account.
  3. Complete the form and click Continue.
  4. Check your email for the verification code and enter it to activate your Property Account.
  5. Login at billing.kelowna.ca to register your tax account.
  6. Click Add or Add/Manage.
  7. Click Register Account then Register a Tax Account.
  8. Enter your Tax Folio Number and access code found on the front of your Property Tax Notice (see sample notice). Your access code is unique to you.
  9. Select eBilling to go paperless and receive next year’s Property Tax Notice by email.
  10. Click Register.

You can now access your property tax details, including account balance, assessment information, and view your bill online.  You can also register your City Water Utility account and business licence account if you have one.

Online Banking

If you are an online banking customer, you can conveniently pay your property taxes online.

  1. Login to your bank’s website or mobile app.
  2. Go to the online bill payment section.
  3. Search for payee “Kelowna” and select “Taxes” from the results.
  4. Enter your Tax Folio Number in the account number field, ignoring the decimals. Locate your Tax Folio Number at the top of your tax notice (see sample notice). If your Tax Folio Number is shorter than the minimum number of characters, add leading zeros before the number.
  5. Enter the tax amount and pay. Print or save the payment confirmation page for your records.

Renew early to avoid the late payment penalty. Online payments can take up to five business days to be processed by your financial institution. For assistance, please contact your bank. 

Telephone Banking

If you are a telephone banking customer, call your bank to pay property taxes by phone. Have your Property Tax Notice on hand to locate your Tax Folio Number and tax amount (see sample notice).

Renew early to avoid the late payment fee. Telephone payments can take up to five business days to be processed by your bank. For assistance, please contact your bank. 

At your Bank

Visit your bank to pay property taxes in person. Bring your Property Tax Notice to locate your Tax Folio Number and tax amount (see sample notice).

Renew early to avoid the late payment fee. Payments can take up to five business days to be processed by your bank.

At City Hall

Visit City Hall to pay your property taxes in person. Bring your Property Tax Notice to locate your Tax Folio Number and tax amount (see sample notice).

Several payment options are available: 

  • Cash, debit, or cheque at the Cashier Desk inside City Hall (1st floor).
  • Debit, credit card, or cheque at the Application Centre inside City Hall (2nd floor).
  • Cheque using the City Hall drop box located outside the Water Street doors. Include your Tax Folio Number in the cheque memo.

If you visit City Hall to pay in person, avoid long lineups by coming a few days early.

By Mail

Mail your cheque payment to:

City of Kelowna, Attention: Revenue Branch
1435 Water Street, Kelowna, BC V1Y 6S7.

Include your Tax Folio Number in the cheque memo. Locate this number on your Property Tax Notice (see sample notice).

Allow at least one week for delivery. Your payment must be received by the deadline to avoid late payment fees.

Your mortgage company pays your taxes

If it is your mortgage company's intent to pay your property tax, a statement confirming notification to the organization that holds your mortgage will be shown on the Property Tax Notice. Please ensure that your mortgage provider knows if you’re claiming the provincial Home Owner Grant each year.

The City of Kelowna is not responsible for errors made by mortgage providers.


 

Pre-Pay Monthly

Explore options to pre-pay your property tax bill in monthly installments. Pre-payment options are only available on tax accounts without arrears.

Pre-Authorized Withdrawal System (PAWS)

Prepay your property taxes through automatic monthly withdrawals with Pre-Authorized Withdrawal System (PAWS) and earn interest on your payments.

  1. Pay any taxes that are currently due.
  2. Enroll by completing the PAWS Application Form.
  3. Monthly payments are withdrawn from your bank account on or after the tenth day of each month, starting in July and ending in May. If you start mid-year, the amount will be adjusted accordingly.
  4. The final June payment is NOT automatically withdrawn from your bank account. You are responsible to make the final payment and, if eligible, claim the provincial Home Owner Grant on time to avoid penalties.

Note: Payments will earn interest at the Royal Bank prime rate less three per cent (minimum 0.4 per cent). Your payments and earned interest will show on your annual Property Tax Notice, and interest is considered tax free by Canada Revenue Agency.

Online Banking with Monthly Recurring Payments

Prepay your property taxes in installments through recurring online banking payments and earn interest on your payments. Please contact your brank for assistance.

  1. Pay any taxes that are currently due.
  2. Choose a monthly payment date that works best for you.
  3. Estimate your monthly pre-payment amount: a) Subtract the provincial Home Owner Grant amount (if eligible) from your current year's gross taxes to determine the net taxes owing to the City of Kelowna; and b) Divide the net taxes by the number of months remaining until the next property tax due date in July;
  4. Contact your financial institution to set up recurring monthly payments for next year.

Note: You will earn interest on your monthly pre-payments at the Royal Bank prime rate less three per cent (minimum 0.4 per cent). Interest is credited to your property tax account and is considered tax free by Canada Revenue Agency.


 

Defer & ReduceTaxes

Explore provincial government programs that can help reduce or defer your property taxes.

Defer with Provincial Tax Deferment Low Interest Loan

Eligible home owners may be eligible to receive a low interest loan from the BC Government to pay the current year property taxes on a principal residence. The loan can only cover current property taxes and cannot be used to defer municipal "Utility Service Charges," penalties, interest and any arrears and/or delinquent property taxes

Learn more about the BC Government Property Tax Deferment program, including eligibility and how to apply, www.gov.bc.ca/propertytaxdeferment or by sending an email to [email protected].

Need help? For support to complete the application, call Service BC at 1-888-355-2700 (toll-free within Canada) or 250-387-0555 (outside Canada). For in-person assistance, visit your nearest Service BC centre.

Application Tip: "Roll number" is the same as "Folio number". If using the Roll Number on your BC Assessment Notice, use the last six to eight digits after the dashes. If using the Folio Number on your municipal Property Tax Notice, find the number in the top left box (see sample notice)

Reduce with Provincial Home Owner Grant

Home owners can reduce property taxes on their principal residence with the provincial Home Owner Grant, a program administered by the BC Government since 2021.

For eligible Kelowna home owners, the program provides basic grants of $770 and an additional $275 for eligible seniors, veterans, persons with a disability, those living with a spouse or relative with a disability, or the spouse or relative of a deceased owner. Funds are paid directly to the City of Kelowna and applied to your property tax account. The balance must be paid by the first business day in July to avoid the late payment penalty. 

Please allow up to 3 business days for your approved grant to be applied to your tax account. Home owners are responsible to check the status of their application in order to avoid missed payments and late payment fees with the City of Kelowna.

To apply for a new or retroactive, check your application status, or learn more about the grant, visit www.gov.bc.ca/homeownergrant or call 1-888-355-2700.


 

Frequently Asked Questions

See the most common questions we receive from home owners. For anything else, contact us at [email protected].

What is the penalty for late payments?

A 10% penalty is applied to taxes not paid by the first business day in July. Penalties are provincially legislated and non-discretionary, meaning that the City of Kelowna cannot modify the penalty once it is applied.

If taxes are still outstanding as of January 1 of the following year, additional interest penalties are applied to the balance.

I can only pay part of my taxes. What should I do?
  1. Apply for the provincial Home Owner Grant if you are eligible.
  2. Make partial payments if possible.
  3. Explore whether the provincial Tax Deferment Low Interest Loan is right for you. 

You have until December 31 to pay your property taxes without incurring additional interest on the outstanding balance.

How is a partial payment applied to my tax account?

Payments for property taxes are governed by provincial legislation and must be applied in the following order:

  1. Delinquent taxes, including interest, from past years
  2. Taxes in arrears, including interest, from the preceding year
  3. A penalty added in the current year
  4. Current year taxes
Can I pay my taxes using a post-dated cheque?

Yes, property taxes can be paid by post-dated cheque. In order to avoid the late payment penalty, your cheque must be received and post-dated by the tax deadline.

Cheques that aren’t negotiable due to errors made by the payer will be considered returned cheques. All returned cheques are subject to a City administrative fee, possible service fee from your bank and a provincially mandated late penalty if they’re not replaced by the due date.

We’re unable to retrieve and remove cheques for customers. If you wish to re-write a cheque, you may want to put a stop payment on the original. If the original cheque is returned by the bank, our administrative fee is still applicable as well as a possible service fee from your bank.

Why was a late payment penalty applied to the Home Owner Grant amount?

The Home Owner Grant must be successfully applied to your tax account by the tax deadline. Otherwise the amount that would be covered by this grant is considered outstanding and is subject to the provincially-legislated, non-discretionary 10% penalty. It is the responsibility of the home owner to check the status of their grant application in order to avoid missed payments and late payment fees.

How do I change my mailing address?

Your mailing address must be updated with BC Assessment, not the City of Kelowna. This update will be reflected in the City of Kelowna’s property tax system within one week. 

There are several ways to change your address:

  • Submit a Change of Address Form to BC Assessment; or
  • Call BC Assessment at 1-866-825-8322; or
  • Send a letter to: 300-1631 Dickson Ave, Kelowna BC, V1Y 8H2. Include the Folio Number of the property, previous mailing address, new mailing address, your printed name and signature.

You’ll need the following information to change your address:

  • Folio number: this number is found on your Property Tax Notice (see sample notice) or using our online Property Search Portal.
  • Assessment area: 19*
  • Jurisdiction: This number can be found on your Property Tax Notice*.

*If your Folio Number is five digits or less (e.g. roll 8500) then your jurisdiction number is 214. If your folio number is greater than five digits (e.g. roll 12051228) then your jurisdiction number is 217.

For more information, visit Update Your Property Information on the BC Assessment website.

Important: This process refers to change in mailing address only. If a taxpayer no longer owns a specific property, the change in ownership will be picked up when BC Assessment is provided information from the Land Titles office.

How does BC Assessment assess the value of my home?

BC Assessment is an independent provincial crown corporation that assesses the value of all properties in British Columbia and releases Property Assessment Notices in January. The valuation is impacted by many factors, including the age and condition, location, and replacement cost of the property, as well as sales of comparable properties in the area.

Learn how BC Assessment determines the market value of land and improvements of properties across the province:

Can I appeal my property taxes?

No, property taxes are not appealable because the tax rate in applied to properties by class. However, you can appeal your home’s assessed value with BC Assessment. Contact BC Assessment at 1-866-825-8322 or visit their website.

What is the tax rate for each class of property?

The City of Kelowna has separate tax rates for each type of property, including residential, industrial, business, and more. For a detailed breakdown of tax rates, see the Property Class Tax Rates.

Where can I find my tax bill?

Find current and past tax bills in your online Property Account. This secure portal also gives you access to utility bills and business licence information, allows you to sign up for paperless electronic billing (eBilling), and accepts payments by credit card and debit.

Why do I pay Regional District taxes?

The City of Kelowna and neighbouring local governments share the cost of some regional services, such as police and fire protection, street lighting, road and drainage maintenance, and operation of regional parks and recreational facilities. These taxes are shared by residents of multiple municipalities.

Why do I pay a School Tax?

All property owners in the province are required to pay school taxes, unless the property is exempt from this taxation. The school tax is not based on the property owner's use of the school system, but rather a shared cost among all property owners.

I just got a tax notice for a property I sold. What should I do?

If possible, please give the Property Tax Notice to the new owner, to their lawyer, or return it to us by mail or email at [email protected] with a note that you sold the property.

If the property tax bill is not in my name, who pays the tax bill?

If you have purchased the property, you’re responsible to pay the property taxes and apply for the provincial Home Owner Grant (if eligible) by the due date. Legal representatives for buyers and sellers of property normally adjust the purchase/sale price to account for the property taxes that are the responsibility of either the buyer or seller. 

If you’re the new owner claiming the Home Owner Grant, you may need to provide a copy of your Form A Freehold Title Transfer showing your name on title. This Form A is found in the paperwork from the sale of the property or from your legal representative.

Me and another person who own a property both received a tax notice. Do we both pay?

No, you make one payment per physical property.  Each owner receives a bill for notification purposes only.