Shelby County, TN Property Tax Due Dates and Penalties

Shelby County TN property tax due dates run on a single annual cycle: bills become due on the first Monday in October, and you have until the last day of February the following year to pay without penalty.¹ Miss that February deadline and your balance turns delinquent on March 1, with 1.5% monthly interest added immediately.²

The County Payment Window

Tennessee law sets the property tax due date as the first Monday in October, and Shelby County follows that calendar exactly.¹ Bills are mailed in the weeks before that date. From October through the end of February, you can pay the full amount or make partial payments with no interest or fees added.³

The hard cutoff is the last day of February. Mailed checks must be postmarked on or before that date. Online payments must be completed by midnight CST on February 28, or February 29 in a leap year.¹

What Happens If You Pay Late

On March 1, your unpaid balance becomes delinquent and interest of 1.5% of the base tax is added. The same 1.5% is added again on the first of every month the taxes remain unpaid, working out to 18% per year.² Interest is calculated on the base tax amount, not on previously accumulated interest.

Partial payments after delinquency are applied in a fixed order: court and miscellaneous costs first, then accrued interest, then the base tax itself.³ A partial payment on a long-delinquent bill can go entirely to costs and interest without reducing what you still owe on the base tax.

Accounts that stay delinquent long enough are turned over to a delinquent tax attorney, who can add up to 10% of the delinquent taxes as a collection fee.⁴ From there, the property can be sold at a Chancery Court tax sale. After the sale, the original owner’s window to redeem depends on how many years of taxes went unpaid:

Five years or less delinquent: one year to redeem from the date the sale is confirmed.
More than five but fewer than eight years: 180 days.
Eight years or more: 90 days.

Redemption requires filing a petition with the Chancery Court and paying all taxes, interest, costs, and fees owed.⁵ The petition has specific procedural requirements, so legal advice is recommended before filing.

How to Pay

You’ll need your Parcel ID, which appears on your mailed bill and on the Trustee’s website (searchable by owner name or property address). The Trustee accepts payments three ways:

Online, by credit card, debit card, or electronic check. Card payments carry a 2.6% convenience fee; e-check payments carry a $1.50 fee.⁶
By mail, sent to the Shelby County Trustee at 160 North Main Street, Memphis, TN, with your Parcel ID on the memo line and the payment voucher enclosed.
In person at the Trustee’s main office or an authorized bank branch during tax season.

Allow several business days after paying for the balance to update online, then print or request a receipt as proof the property is clear of any tax lien for that year.

City Deadlines Are Different

The county deadline covers your Shelby County bill, but if your property sits inside a city, you may owe municipal tax on a separate schedule. The Shelby County Trustee collects municipal taxes for Arlington, Lakeland, and Millington alongside the county bill, so those three follow the same October-through-February window.⁷

Memphis, Bartlett, Collierville, and Germantown collect their own current taxes on their own calendars:

City of Memphis: taxes become delinquent after August 31, six months earlier than the county. Delinquent balances accrue the same 1.5% monthly interest.⁸
City of Bartlett: taxes are due December 1 and payable through February 28 of the following year, becoming delinquent on March 1.⁹

Collierville and Germantown also handle their own current collection; contact those city offices directly for their deadlines. Once accounts go unpaid long enough, the Shelby County Trustee takes over delinquent collection, lawsuits, and tax sales for all four of these cities.⁷

If Your Mortgage Escrows Your Taxes

If you have a mortgage with an escrow account, your lender typically pays the property tax on your behalf from money collected with your monthly mortgage payment. You’ll still get the bill in the mail. Don’t pay it a second time; keep it for your records and verify through your lender or the Trustee’s website that the payment cleared before the February deadline. You’re ultimately responsible for making sure the taxes are paid.

Relief and Freeze Application Deadlines

Two Shelby County programs can lower what you owe, and both run on their own application deadlines separate from the payment deadline.

Tax Relief serves taxpayers who are 65 or older, permanently disabled, or disabled veterans with a service-connected permanent and total disability rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.¹⁰¹¹ For the 2025 tax year, signed applications for Shelby County, Arlington, Bartlett, Lakeland, and Millington must be postmarked no later than April 5, 2026. City of Memphis relief has its own earlier deadline of October 6, 2025.

Tax Freeze locks your property tax amount at the current level for homeowners 65 or older who use the property as a primary residence. New applicants in 2026 will have their taxes frozen at the 2025 amount, and the application deadline for the 2026 tax year is April 5, 2026, with signed applications postmarked by that date.¹² Adding improvements like a room, carport, or garage raises the frozen amount proportionally. You can request an income verification affidavit by calling the Trustee’s office at 901-222-0200.

Appealing the Assessment Behind Your Bill

Your bill is calculated from the assessed value of your property, so if the valuation looks too high, the appeal window matters as much as the payment window. You can request an informal review from the Assessor’s office at any time.¹³

The Shelby County Board of Equalization accepts formal appeals from May 1 through June 30 of the tax year. File online by midnight on June 30, deliver in person during business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday), or mail with a postmark by that date.¹⁴ Missing June 30 can mean losing the right to appeal for that year. If the Board rules against you, you have 45 days from the date of that decision to appeal to the State Board of Equalization.¹³ A recent independent appraisal, comparable sales data, or documentation of property damage all strengthen an appeal.

1
Shelby County Trustee. Payment Deadlines and Mailing Payments
2
Justia. Tennessee Code 67-5-2010 – Interest – Delinquent Taxes
3
Shelby County Trustee. Frequently Asked Questions
4
Justia. Tennessee Code 67-5-2404 – Delivery of Delinquent Tax List
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Justia. Tennessee Code 67-5-2701 – Procedure for Redemption
6
Shelby County Trustee. Frequently Asked Questions
7
Shelby County Trustee. Billing and Collections
8
City of Memphis. Tax Information
9
City of Bartlett. Tax Department
10
Shelby County Trustee. Tax Relief
11
State of Tennessee. Property Tax Relief for Disabled Veterans
12
Shelby County Trustee. Tax Freeze
13
Shelby County Trustee. Appeal the Appraised Value of Your Property
14
Shelby County, TN. Board of Equalization