How Long Can You Go Without Paying Property Taxes in Indiana?

In Indiana, you can typically go about a year to a year and a half without paying property taxes before your county puts the property up for a tax sale, and you generally have one more year after the sale to redeem it before losing ownership for good. That is the outer edge of how long you can go without paying property taxes in Indiana, but penalties start piling on the day after each installment is due, and properties classified as vacant or abandoned can be sold with no right of redemption at all.

When Indiana Property Taxes Are Considered Late

Property taxes in Indiana are paid in two equal installments, due May 10 and November 10 each year.¹ If either installment is not fully paid by its due date, the taxes are delinquent the very next day. There is no built-in grace period. May 11 is already late, and so is November 11.²

Some counties use alternative installment schedules. When they do, the penalty clock adjusts to those dates, but the underlying rule holds: unpaid taxes on the day after the due date are delinquent.

What Each Month of Nonpayment Costs

Indiana’s late penalties are not simple interest. They are flat percentage charges that hit the unpaid balance at specific moments, and the first 30 days matter more than the rest.

The First 30 Days: 5%

If you pay the full unpaid amount within 30 days of the due date, and you have no prior delinquencies on the same parcel, the penalty is 5% of the unpaid taxes.² It is a one-time charge, not an annual rate. Both conditions have to be met. Miss either, and the reduced penalty is off the table.

After 30 Days: 10%

Once the 30-day window closes, or if there was already a prior delinquency on the parcel, the penalty is 10% of the amount due.² That charge lands the same whether you pay on day 31 or a year later.

Each Following Year: Another 10%

Every year the debt stays unpaid, another 10% penalty is added to the remaining unpaid principal on each installment due date. The recurring penalty applies only to the original tax amount, not to previously accumulated penalties, but it stacks quickly. Ignoring a delinquency for two or three years can grow the total debt by 30% or more from penalties alone.²

Well before the penalties are your biggest problem, the lien attached to your property will complicate any sale or refinance. Title companies and lenders flag delinquent taxes, and the debt usually has to be cleared at closing before a transaction can proceed.

When the County Can Sell Your Property

If delinquent taxes stay unpaid long enough, the county auditor puts the property on a list for public auction. The notice includes the property description, the minimum bid, and a statement about the owner’s right to redeem afterward.³

The minimum bid is not just the back taxes. It rolls in the delinquent taxes and special assessments, the current-year taxes due in the year of the sale (even if not yet delinquent), all accumulated penalties, and administrative costs of at least $25 or actual postage and publication costs, plus any other costs the county directly incurred.³

The property goes to the highest bidder, but the winner does not walk away as the owner. They receive a tax sale certificate, which is a lien on the property.⁴ Actual ownership transfer only happens later, after the redemption period ends and the purchaser petitions the court for a tax deed.

How Long You Have to Get Your Property Back

Indiana gives most owners a redemption window after the tax sale, but the price of redemption is set high on purpose to compensate the buyer.

Standard One-Year Redemption

For most properties, the redemption period is one year from the date of sale.⁵ What you owe depends on when you act:

Within six months of the sale: 110% of the minimum bid amount.
After six months but within one year: 115% of the minimum bid amount.

Those percentages are only part of the bill. On top of them, you owe 5% annual interest on any amount the purchaser paid above the minimum bid, plus any taxes or assessments the purchaser paid on the property after the sale (with 5% annual interest on those as well), plus the purchaser’s attorney’s fees for required notices and the cost of any title search.⁶ The total redemption cost can run well above the original tax debt.

If a qualifying redevelopment agency was the purchaser, the redemption period shrinks to 120 days.⁵

Vacant and Abandoned Properties: No Redemption

The redemption right disappears entirely if your property has been placed on the county auditor’s vacant and abandoned property list. The sale is final.⁵

A property lands on that list when two conditions are met: taxes are delinquent from the prior year’s fall installment or earlier, and a court or hearing authority has determined the property is vacant or abandoned. The auditor then removes it from the regular delinquent tax list and schedules a separate auction. The winning bidder receives a fee simple deed, meaning full ownership rather than a lien. The notice sent to the owner must state that there will be no right to redeem after the sale date.⁷

The Tax Deed and the Point of No Return

After the redemption period expires, the tax sale purchaser has three months to petition the court for a tax deed.⁸ You receive notice and have 30 days to file a written objection. With no objection, the court can issue the deed without a hearing. If you object, a hearing is held. Either way, the court must rule within 61 days of the petition.

Once the court directs the auditor to issue the tax deed, your ownership rights are extinguished. By that point you have already had at least a year of delinquency, a tax sale, a redemption period, notice of the deed petition, and a 30-day objection window. Every step carries a warning, and every step costs more to resolve than the last.⁸

If You’re Already Behind

You still have options after a missed payment, but they narrow with time.

Pay Within the 30-Day Window if You Can

If you just missed a due date and this is your first delinquency on the parcel, paying in full within 30 days keeps the penalty at 5% instead of 10%.² Once that window closes, it does not reopen. If you can cover one installment but not both, paying the current one on time while working out a partial arrangement for the older debt at least stops penalties from compounding on two fronts.

County Payment Plans

Indiana law gives counties two paths to accept partial payments. A county fiscal body can adopt an ordinance allowing monthly installments, and if it hasn’t, the county treasurer must still develop a plan to accept partial payments.⁹ Every Indiana county has some mechanism for accepting less than the full amount. Terms vary, so contact your county treasurer’s office directly.

Bankruptcy Does Not Erase the Debt

Filing bankruptcy does not wipe out property tax debt. Under federal law, property taxes incurred before the filing that were last payable without penalty within one year of the filing date are priority claims and cannot be discharged.¹⁰ In a Chapter 13 repayment plan, delinquent property taxes on your home are typically folded into the plan and paid over its three-to-five-year term, which can pause a pending tax sale while you catch up. Bankruptcy carries consequences well beyond property taxes and only works if you can sustain the plan payments.

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 6-1.1-22-9 – Tax Installment Due Dates; Exceptions; Delinquent Penalty
2
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 6-1.1-37-10 – Penalties for Delinquent Taxes
3
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 6-1.1-24-2 – Notice of Tax Sale; Information Required in Notice
4
Justia. Indiana Code Title 6, Article 1.1, Chapter 24 – Sale of Real Property When Taxes or Special Assessments Become Delinquent
5
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 6-1.1-25-4 – Period for Redemption; Issuance of Tax Deed
6
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 6-1.1-25-2 – Amount Required for Redemption
7
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 6-1.1-24-1.5 – Vacant or Abandoned Real Property List
8
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 6-1.1-25-4.6 – Petition to Court for Issuance of Tax Deed
9
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 6-1.1-22-9.7 – Property Taxes; Monthly Payments; Partial Payments
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 507 – Priorities