A newly detected property tax scam targets people who own real estate in San Diego, San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector Larry Cohen announced Tuesday.
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The scam tells people they can reduce or freeze their property taxes or avoid local taxes or school bonds. That is a lie. For this fake tax benefit, scammers charge a fee or request personal or financial information. The fake form, which does not exist, is called IRS Form 1098-SR.
The scam is circulating on social media, online videos and telephone solicitations, Cohen said. Some videos are made using artificial intelligence, or AI, video creation tools, according to news reports in California.
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The federal government does not determine, cap or freeze local property tax assessments. The state of California sets property tax policy and state and local agencies administer these taxes.
While several state property tax exemption and tax reduction programs do exist, none of them involve IRS Form 1098-SR, which does not exist. These are the proper avenues through which property taxes may be lowered or postponed:
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- Proposition 13 limits annual increases in a property’s assessed value to no more than 2 percent, with some exceptions.
- Proposition 19 allows “eligible homeowners who are age 55 or older, severely disabled, or victims of wildfire or other natural disasters to transfer their taxable base-year value to a replacement principal residence,” the county says.
- The California homeowners’ exemption reduces the assessed value for an owner-occupied principal residence by $7,000.
- The Disabled Veterans’ Exemption gives property tax relief for qualifying disabled veterans and sometimes their surviving spouses.
- Property tax postponement lets eligible seniors and blind or disabled homeowners in California postpone paying their current-year property taxes. Taxes must be paid after this permitted delay.
- Note that some legitimate state programs have transaction or filing fees. The postponement charges interest. None of these programs have an application fee owed to the government.
How to protect yourself
- Don’t reply to any calls, emails, text messages, letters or online requests asking for your personal, private information. This includes your Social Security number and banking information.
- Check your property tax information on an official government website, not sketchy third-party sites.
- Remember: There is no “1098-SR” property tax relief form or program.
- Be skeptical of official language, government terminology, social media videos or calls designed to make fraudulent claims appear legitimate.
- When a request sounds urgent, hit the brakes.
Look up your property tax information directly at sdttc.com.
A reminder: The first installment of property taxes is due Nov. 1.
