North Carolina’s Department of Revenue is currently grappling with a significant issue in its tax system, leading to the issuance of incorrect tax bills. This year, over 500,000 state taxpayers received bills with inflated penalties due to an outdated system.
WRAL News first broke the story, reporting that an estimated 526,742 North Carolinians who paid their taxes after the deadline were charged a 10% late fee, despite the correct penalty being only 5%.
.@WRAL you may have been overcharged on your tax penalty this year in North Carolina. We break it down.https://t.co/hWlKnJwGhQ
— Amanda Lamb (@alamb) November 15, 2023
This discrepancy has resulted in taxpayers overpaying the Department of Revenue. The confusion primarily arises from a recent change in the Late Tax Payment Penalty Rate: while 2022 saw a 10% penalty for late payments, this rate was reduced to 5% in 2023. However, many taxpayers are still receiving bills reflecting the outdated 10% rate.
The Department of Revenue has acknowledged this issue and is aiming to resolve it by January 2024.
