Kansas Property Tax: Deadlines, Late Costs, and Disputes

Kansas property tax due dates are set by statute: the first half of the year’s tax is due on or before December 20, and the second half on or before May 10 of the following year.¹ Both of those dates fall on a Sunday in the 2026 cycle, so the effective deadlines become Monday, December 21, 2026 for the first half of 2026 taxes and Monday, May 11, 2026 for the second half of 2025 taxes. County treasurers collect the money, and missing either date is expensive: interest on delinquent real property runs at 13% per year for 2026.

The Two Deadlines and How the Split Works

Kansas gives you a choice. Pay the full year’s bill by December 20, or split it in half and pay the balance by May 10. Personal property taxes follow the same schedule under a parallel statute.²

When either date lands on a Saturday or Sunday, it moves to the next business day the treasurer’s office is open.¹ For the current cycle:

First half of 2026 taxes: Monday, December 21, 2026
Second half of 2025 taxes: Monday, May 11, 2026

The weekend-shift language in the statute names only Saturdays and Sundays. A weekday state holiday would not automatically extend a deadline under the statute as written, so plan around one if it falls near December 20 or May 10.¹

One small exception to the split: if your total tax bill is $10 or less, you don’t get the half-payment option. The full amount is due by the December deadline.²

When Your Statement Should Arrive

Your county treasurer is required to mail a tax statement before December 15 each year, after receiving the tax roll from the county clerk.³ The statement lists each taxing unit, your assessed value, the mill levy, and the amount owed. It goes to the last address on file, so update the county clerk (for real estate) or the county appraiser (for personal property) if you’ve moved. Many counties accept address changes online or on the back of the statement.

Not receiving a statement is not a defense against a late-payment charge. If nothing has arrived by early December, call the treasurer’s office and confirm your balance.

How to Pay

You need your Parcel ID or Tax ID number, which appears on the statement and is usually searchable on the treasurer’s website. Most Kansas counties accept online payments by electronic check or credit card. County treasurers may charge a convenience fee equal to the processing cost on card transactions.⁴ In practice that’s around 2.35% for credit or debit and a small flat fee (often under $2) for e-check.

Mailed payments should be postmarked on or before the deadline. Put the Parcel ID on the memo line. In-person payments go to the county treasurer’s office, and most locations have an after-hours drop box.

If a mortgage lender pays your taxes through escrow, the lender handles the deadline. Confirm the disbursement anyway. A late payment accrues interest against the property, not the lender.

What Late Payment Costs

Missing December 20 is not the same as being one installment late. If at least half is not paid by that date, the entire year’s tax becomes immediately due and starts accruing interest.¹ Paying half on time and the second half late means interest only on the second half, but paying nothing by December 20 accelerates the whole bill.

The rate is tied to the federal underpayment rate as of July 1 of the prior year, plus one percentage point under K.S.A. 79-2968, with an additional five points on top for real property.⁵ The Kansas Department of Revenue set the 2026 rates as follows:⁶

Real property: 13% per year
Personal property: 8% per year
Real property with a delinquency of $10,000 or more: 15% per year
Personal property with a delinquency of $10,000 or more: 10% per year

Interest runs from the missed deadline to the day you pay. On a $3,000 first-half real property bill paid two months late, that works out to roughly $65 in interest. The gap widens as time goes on, and the real-property surcharge (the extra five points) does not apply to personal property, which stays at the base rate.²

If You Disagree With the Bill

The deadlines apply even if you think the underlying valuation is wrong. Kansas has two separate windows for challenging value. The first is the informal appeal to the county appraiser, which must be filed within 30 days of the valuation notice mailing date (late February or early March for real property, with a May 15 deadline for personal property).⁷

The second is payment under protest. You can pay your taxes and file a written protest with the treasurer at the same time (or by December 20, whichever applies), explaining which portion of the tax you believe is invalid. You cannot use both routes for the same property in the same year, and you cannot protest the second-half payment if you already protested the first half.⁸

Two Kansas relief programs, the Homestead Refund and SAFESR, can put money back in a qualifying owner’s pocket, but both are claimed through the state income tax return and do not move the December or May deadlines.⁹¹⁰

If You Don’t Pay at All

Interest is only the near-term consequence. Eventually the county sells delinquent property at a tax sale, and when the county itself bids on the property, the former owner has a redemption period to pay the back taxes, interest, and costs and reclaim it. The periods under K.S.A. 79-2401a are:¹¹

General real estate: two years from the tax sale
Homestead property: three years from the tax sale, with partial redemption available by paying off one or more delinquent years
Abandoned property (unoccupied with no reasonable maintenance for at least a year): one year from the sale

If nobody redeems in time, the county forecloses under K.S.A. 79-2801 and sells the property at auction, publishing notice roughly 30 days ahead. The owner can still redeem any time before auction day. After the sale, the former owner has 12 months to challenge the sale procedures in court.¹¹ Redemption gets more expensive the longer you wait, because interest keeps running and the county’s abstracting and administrative costs get added to the bill.

1
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 79-2004 – Time for Payment of Real Estate Taxes; Interest, When
2
Justia Law. Kansas Code 79-2004a – Time for Payment of Personal Property Taxes
3
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 79-2001 – Entry of Unpaid Real Property Taxes; Mailing of Tax Statements
4
Kansas Statutes. Kansas Code 79-2973 – Payment of Taxes and Fees by Credit Card Authorized
5
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 79-2968 – Rate of Interest on Delinquent or Unpaid Taxes
6
Kansas Department of Revenue. Property Tax Interest Rates for Calendar Year 2026
7
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 79-1448 – Appeal to County Appraiser From Classification or Appraisal
8
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 79-2005 – Payment of Taxes Under Protest
9
Kansas Department of Revenue. Kansas Homestead Refund Programs
10
Kansas Department of Revenue. Kansas Property Tax Relief for Low Income Seniors
11
Kansas Statutes. Kansas Code 79-2401a – Redemption of Real Estate Bid Off by County