Can I claim the amount paid in 2017 for an "Escape Tax" from a 2015-2016 Secured Property Tax Bill?

[erick]

The form I received is a 2015-2016 Secured Property Tax Bill for an amount which I paid in 2017. Notes on it are as follows: 

- This is an escape tax bill for the year stated

- This is a prorated tax bill pursuant to revenue & taxation code 531.2(c). The original tax bill was prorated for the days of ownership of each owner. 

[MichaelL1 · Accepted solution]

Yes, you can deduct this if you owned the property for the period of time for when the escape tax bill is for.

If it is personal property it is added to the other property tax paid for 2017.  If this is a business property, such as a rental it is deducted on the business section of TurboTax such as rental expense in my example. 

If you did not own the property in 2015-2016 and had to pay the "Escape Tax Bill" then this cost is added to the basis "or cost" of the property acquired.

An “escape assessment” is a correction to a property's assessed value on the local property tax roll. The correction is made because the Assessor's Office discovered a property or a taxable event that should have been assessed but was not.