FAIRFAX COUNTY, Md. (7News) — Fairfax County, Virginia, officials said it will refund some residents impacted by a system glitch that caused some users to pay late fees on personal property taxes before the actual deadline.
The county’s Department of Tax Administration said it became aware of the glitch in its online personal property tax payment systems on Monday at 9 p.m. The issue was corrected at around 10:23 p.m., officials said.
Officials said the system deadline was set to start issuing late penalties and interest after 11:59 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) instead of 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). This meant users started seeing penalties after 7:59 p.m. EDT.
Taxpayers will not be penalized due to the issue, and those who paid on time will not be penalized, a Fairfax County spokesperson wrote in a statement.
Those taxpayers who did pay the penalty will automatically receive a refund, the county spokesperson said.
County officials said it’s working with its contractor to learn how the incorrect system time setting occurred.