When Are DeKalb County Property Taxes Due? The Two-Installment Trap

If you own property in DeKalb County and you have been told Georgia property taxes are due December 20, you are working from the wrong calendar. DeKalb does not use the statewide default. It bills in two installments, and the first one is due September 30.

That gap between what people believe and what DeKalb actually does is where the penalties come from. By the time a December-20 mindset kicks in, a DeKalb owner has missed both deadlines and is carrying penalties on the entire bill.

Here are the dates, the penalty math, and what to do if you have already missed one.

DeKalb County Property Tax Due Dates

• First installment — September 30. Covers half the total bill.
• Second installment — November 15. Covers the remaining balance.
• Paying in full instead? Still September 30. Choosing a single payment does not buy you until November. The full amount must be received by the first installment deadline.

2026 bills were mailed on August 14, so they should already be in hand — or in your inbox if you are signed up for paperless billing.

A wrinkle specific to 2026

November 15, 2026 falls on a Sunday. DeKalb’s stated policy is that when a deadline lands on a weekend, the due date extends to the following business day — which would make it Monday, November 16. In 2025, a Saturday deadline was pushed to November 17.

Do not plan around the extension. Confirm the current date with the Tax Commissioner, or simply pay before the weekend and remove the question entirely.

If your DeKalb property is inside Atlanta city limits, none of the above applies

This catches people badly. Property owners in the City of Atlanta portion of DeKalb do not get the two-installment option. They pay in one installment, due November 30 — and the penalty structure that follows is different too, adding 5% every 120 days beginning January 1.

So within a single county there are two entirely different tax calendars. If you are unsure which side of the line your parcel sits on, look it up before you assume.

The Penalty Is 5%, and It Attaches Immediately

There is no grace period. DeKalb applies a 5% penalty for late payment of either the first or second installment if the payment is not postmarked by the due date. Miss both, and you are penalized on both.

Then Georgia law layers interest on top. The rate is the federal bank prime loan rate plus 3%, accruing monthly. For 2026 the Georgia Department of Revenue set that at 9.75% annually — roughly 0.8125% per month.

You will still find Georgia real estate sites citing a flat 1% per month. That rule was replaced by House Bill 960 effective July 1, 2016. Any source repeating it is a decade out of date.

What that looks like on an actual bill

Take a $3,000 annual DeKalb tax bill split into two $1,500 installments.

• Miss September 30 only. A 5% penalty on the unpaid $1,500 adds $75, plus interest accruing from October 1.
• Miss both. Penalties on both installments total $150, with interest running on the full balance.
• Still unpaid the following spring. Interest alone at 9.75% adds roughly $24 per month on a $3,000 balance, and the county has by then almost certainly recorded a lien.

None of that is catastrophic on its own. The problem is what it starts.

The Postmark Rules That Trip People Up

DeKalb is unusually specific here, and the details matter if you are mailing close to a deadline:

• Payment must be postmarked by the due date, not received by it.
• Metered postage and postal kiosk dates are not accepted as proof of timely payment.
• If you mail near the deadline, take the envelope inside and ask for a hand cancellation so the postmark is clear and dated.
• If the post office fails to postmark a timely-mailed payment, DeKalb still counts it late.

The simpler answer is to skip the mail. DeKalb launched a new payment platform this year that accepts e-check, credit and debit cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Venmo, and PayPal. E-check carries no service fee. There are also secure drop boxes at the county’s office locations.

And if the bill never arrived

DeKalb has had genuine problems with undeliverable mail — bills going out and payments coming back. The Tax Commissioner’s position has not changed: failure to receive a bill does not relieve the owner of responsibility to pay.

If yours has not shown up, check your spam folder, then pull your record directly at DeKalbTaxGA.gov or call 404-298-4000. Note the office recently moved from dekalbtax.org to the new address, so update any bookmark you have saved.

This is the single most common way vacant land falls behind. There is no mortgage escrow paying it automatically and nobody living there to notice the mail. See what happens when property taxes on land go unpaid.

What Happens After You Miss a Deadline

Missing an installment does not put you in danger of losing the property. It starts a sequence that can, if left alone long enough.

• Penalty and interest begin. 5% immediately, then monthly interest.
• A Fi.Fa. is issued and recorded. A fieri facias is a tax execution — a lien recorded against your property. DeKalb describes it plainly as the first step toward taking a property to tax sale. It shows up in every title search from that point on.
• The property is levied and advertised. Costs for title research, advertising, and administration get added to the balance.
• Tax sale. DeKalb holds tax sales in front of the county courthouse, generally on the first Tuesday of the month, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The next scheduled sale is Tuesday, September 1, 2026.

How long does that take? Longer than most articles suggest. DeKalb’s April 2026 tax sale included parcels with delinquencies reaching back to 2005. Georgia gives counties seven years to enforce a tax execution, and that clock can be restarted — we cover the full statutory picture in how many years you can be behind on property taxes in Georgia.

That is not permission to wait. It means the panic framing is wrong, and you have room to make a good decision rather than a rushed one.

One thing to know before a sale date

Once a property is scheduled for tax sale, DeKalb will only accept cash, a bank-issued cashier’s check, or a bank wire, payable to the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner. Personal checks, business checks, third-party checks, money orders, and debit and credit cards are all refused at that stage.

People show up with the wrong instrument and lose the window. If you are near a sale date, sort out certified funds early.

If You Already Missed a Deadline: Four Steps

1. Get a written payoff figure

Call 404-298-4000 or check your record at DeKalbTaxGA.gov. Ask for the amount in writing — interest accrues daily, so a number quoted over the phone last week is already stale. Ask two questions specifically: what is my payoff today, and has this parcel been levied or scheduled for sale?

2. Check whether a city bill is also outstanding

DeKalb contains at least twelve incorporated cities, several of which bill separately from the county. The City of Decatur, for example, bills in two unequal installments due June 1 and December 20 — completely different dates from the county’s September 30 and November 15.

A Decatur parcel therefore faces four deadlines a year across two authorities, and can be current with one while delinquent with the other. Worth noting: thousands of properties carry a Decatur mailing address while sitting in unincorporated DeKalb, where no city bill applies at all. Confirm which you are.

3. Search for other recorded liens

Tax liens generally take priority, but code enforcement liens, HOA assessments, and judgments still have to be cleared eventually. Search your parcel through the GSCCCA lien index so nothing surprises you later.

4. Decide before the balance decides for you

Your realistic options: pay in full, ask the Tax Commissioner what arrangements exist, or sell.

On exemptions — worth knowing that a homestead exemption will not help if the parcel is vacant. DeKalb states directly that rental property, vacant land, and commercial parcels are not eligible, and a property that was vacant on January 1 makes the owner ineligible even to keep an existing exemption. And appeals address future bills, not arrears; the 2026 real property appeal deadline was July 13 and has already passed.

Selling Is an Option Most Owners Do Not Realize They Have

You do not need to pay off the taxes before you can sell. In a normal closing, the delinquent balance is paid out of the sale proceeds before anything reaches you — so the debt clears at the closing table rather than out of pocket.

This works even after a Fi.Fa. has been recorded. The lien gets paid and released at closing, the same way a mortgage payoff does.

Atlanta LandBuyers buys land throughout DeKalb County as-is, including parcels with a recorded Fi.Fa. We confirm your exact payoff with the county — and with your city, if you are inside one — factor it into the offer, and pay it directly at closing through a Georgia title company. Most closings run 7 to 14 days.

Call (404) 913-7086 or request a no-obligation cash offer. No fees, no commissions, no obligation. If selling is not the right move for your situation, we will tell you that. Our guide to how cash buyers for tax-delinquent land calculate offers explains what to ask so you can judge whether any offer is fair.

Frequently Asked Questions

When exactly are DeKalb County property taxes due in 2026?

The first installment is due September 30 and the second is due November 15. Because November 15, 2026 falls on a Sunday, expect the deadline to extend to the following business day — but confirm with the Tax Commissioner rather than assuming. If you pay the full year in one payment, it is due September 30.

Can I just pay the whole bill in November?

No. Paying in full requires payment by September 30. If you wait until November and pay everything at once, the first installment is already late and a 5% penalty applies to it.

Is there a grace period on DeKalb property taxes?

No. The 5% penalty attaches the day after the due date passes. DeKalb does extend deadlines that fall on weekends to the next business day, but that is a calendar adjustment, not a grace period.

What if I live in the City of Atlanta part of DeKalb County?

You are on a different schedule entirely. Atlanta residents in DeKalb pay in one installment due November 30, and face an additional 5% penalty every 120 days beginning January 1.

What if my mailed payment was postmarked late through no fault of mine?

DeKalb still treats it as late. The county specifically warns that metered and kiosk postage dates are not accepted, and that a post office failure to postmark a timely-mailed payment does not excuse the lateness. Pay online or use a drop box if you are close to a deadline.

How much interest accrues on unpaid DeKalb taxes?

Interest accrues monthly at the federal prime rate plus 3% — 9.75% annually for 2026, roughly 0.8125% per month — on top of the 5% penalty.

How long before DeKalb takes my property?

Far longer than most articles claim. DeKalb’s April 2026 sale included delinquencies dating to 2005. Under Georgia law counties have seven years to enforce a tax execution, and the clock can be renewed. But penalties, interest, and a clouded title arrive long before any sale.

Can I sell my DeKalb property if I owe back taxes?

Yes. The balance is paid from the sale proceeds at closing, so you do not need to pay it first. This works even with a Fi.Fa. recorded against the property.

I inherited a DeKalb parcel that is behind. What now?

Common situation — taxes do not pause during probate. The executor or administrator can generally sell once the court grants authority. See selling inherited land, what happens if you inherit land in Georgia, and probate real estate in Atlanta.

My property already sold at a DeKalb tax sale. Is money owed to me?

Possibly. If it sold for more than was owed, the surplus — excess funds — belongs to you, not the county. One warning specific to DeKalb: the county does not accept Powers of Attorney on excess funds claims. Only the party entitled to the funds or their Georgia-licensed attorney may file, which means recovery companies asking you to sign a POA cannot actually file your claim. See how excess funds work for the general process.

DeKalb County Resources

• DeKalb County Tax Commissioner — Tax Bill Information (due dates, penalties, postmark rules)
• DeKalb Tax Commissioner — Payment Information
• DeKalb Tax Commissioner — Delinquent Taxes & Tax Sales
• DeKalb Tax Commissioner — Exemptions
• DeKalb County Property Appraisal — 404-371-0841
• City of Decatur — Taxes and Fees
• Georgia Dept. of Revenue — County Property Tax Facts: DeKalb
• GSCCCA Lien Index

DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office
4380 Memorial Drive, Suite 100, Decatur, GA 30032
404-298-4000 · proptax@dekalbcountyga.gov

Behind on DeKalb Property Taxes?

Whether you own vacant land in unincorporated DeKalb, an inherited lot in Lithonia or Stonecrest, or a parcel you have been carrying without a plan, a missed installment is a signal worth acting on rather than filing away.

Get your payoff figure first. Then decide. If selling makes sense, request an offer or call (404) 913-7086. We also work with out-of-state owners remotely.

Related: selling tax-delinquent land · Georgia land buyers · about our team