Property taxes at closing
What happens to your property taxes when you sell mid-year
Arkansas bills property taxes a year behind, so the bill that arrives each spring covers the year before it. That lag is the reason a mid-year sale needs any tax math at all. This guide covers how the estimate, the daily split, and the closing credit work, and how that differs from Arkansas's process for years of unpaid taxes.
By Tara Helgestad Updated Published 7 min read
1 year behind
how Arkansas bills property taxes
Under Ark. Code Ann. 26-35-501, Arkansas property taxes are due and payable at the county collector's office between the first business day of March and October 15, in the year after the year they were levied. So the bill you pay this spring is based on who owned the property, and what it was worth, on January 1 of last year. Arkansas also has no way to prepay a tax bill early, so that lag cannot be closed by paying ahead.
That one-year gap is why a sale that closes in, say, June runs into a bill that does not exist yet. Nobody has assessed, printed, or mailed anything for the year still in progress. Closing has to work around a number that will not be final until the following spring.
This page is only about an ordinary sale, where both sides are current on what they owe. When taxes go unpaid for a full year, Arkansas moves the property down a different and much slower path, one that can end with the state, not a buyer, holding the deed. That process is covered separately on our vacant house page and has nothing to do with the day-to-day math described here.
Can unpaid personal property taxes stop your closing?
Arkansas ties two tax bills together at the collector's window. Ark. Code Ann. 26-35-601 tells a county collector not to knowingly take real estate taxes while personal property taxes are showing due in the office records. That rule is aimed at the collector, not at you, and it is why the window can turn a payment away. The statute carries a few exceptions, and a sale is one of them.
The sale rule is narrower. At a transfer, the collector has to accept the real estate taxes on the parcel being sold if the person transferring title has paid all delinquent personal property taxes. Delinquent is the word that carries the weight. Arkansas property taxes are delinquent if they are not paid by October 15, and when October 15 lands on a weekend or a postal holiday the deadline moves to the next business day. A current year bill that is not past due yet is not a gate on your sale.
For most homeowners, personal property means vehicles. Arkansas assesses every privately owned vehicle as individual personal property, and house boats, camper trailers, recreational vehicles and livestock are assessed too. Mobile homes are not on that list, because Arkansas taxes them as real property. So a county personal property tax bill on a car you stopped paying two years ago can stall the tax payment at your closing, even though that bill has nothing to do with the house.
Here is what to do about it. Before closing, call the county collector where the house sits and ask what personal property taxes are showing delinquent under your name. Pay them. That is the clean fix, and it is the only part of this you control.
There is one narrow backstop, and it does not belong to you. Under Act 521 of 2025, in force since August 5, 2025, whoever is handling your closing can send the collector a written or emailed request for a statement of the real estate taxes owed on the parcel and any related delinquent personal property taxes owed by the owner. The collector then has three business days to answer in writing or by email. If the collector misses that deadline, the collector has to take the real estate taxes on that parcel without the personal property taxes.
Two things that backstop does not do. A call from you does not start the clock, because the law puts that request in the hands of whoever is handling the closing. And it does not erase what you owe. The personal property taxes stay on the books and the county can still collect them. It clears the closing, nothing more.
How the tax split actually works
Arkansas law sets the due dates. It does not set how a buyer and seller divide the bill between them. That comes from the purchase contract, and it usually plays out in this order.
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The county is a year behind
Under Ark. Code Ann. 26-35-501, the tax bill due between the first business day of March and October 15 covers the year before, based on ownership and value as of January 1 of that earlier year. A sale that closes before that bill exists is normal, not a problem to fix.
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No statute sets the split
Arkansas's tax code covers assessment and collection, not private sales. How a buyer and seller divide the bill is a contract term, and standard purchase contracts prorate taxes and similar costs as of the closing date.
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The closing company estimates the number
The real bill for the year still in progress has not been printed yet, and Arkansas has no way to prepay it early. Title and closing companies typically estimate it off the prior year's bill, adjusted if a millage change is known, and prorate from there.
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Days owned, divided by 365
A common method divides the estimated annual bill by 365, then multiplies by each side's days of ownership that year. On an estimated $2,000 bill and a June 30 closing in a non-leap year, that is about $991.78 for the seller's 181 days and about $1,008.22 for the buyer's remaining 184 days. This is a common approach, not a required one, so your own contract controls.
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A credit, not a check to the county
Because the real bill will not go out until the following spring, and the buyer will be the owner of record by then, the seller's estimated share is usually credited to the buyer at the closing table instead of sent to the county. It shows up as a line on the settlement statement.
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The real bill lands on the buyer next spring
The following year, the county mails the actual bill for the sale year to whoever owns the house then, normally the buyer. It comes due between the first business day of March and October 15, and part of it is already covered by the credit from closing.
Arkansas bills taxes a year behind, so at closing you and the buyer usually split an estimated bill by the days each of you owned the house, with the buyer covering the real bill the following spring. No Arkansas statute sets that split, so the actual number comes from your purchase contract, not a formula in the law.
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Questions this guide answers
Why is the tax amount at my closing an estimate instead of the real bill?
Arkansas bills a year behind, so the current year's bill is not printed or mailed until the following spring. There is also no way to prepay Arkansas property taxes ahead of time. Closing companies typically estimate the amount off the prior year's bill instead.
Does Arkansas law require taxes to be prorated at closing?
No. Arkansas's tax statutes cover how counties assess and collect taxes, not how a private sale divides the bill. That split is a term in your purchase contract, and standard contract language prorates it as of the closing date, but you and the buyer can agree to something else.
Will I get a tax bill after I move out?
Usually not directly. Because the real bill for the year of the sale is not mailed until the following spring, the buyer is typically the owner of record by then. Your share is normally handled as a credit to the buyer at closing instead of a separate bill to you.
Is this the same as Arkansas's process for unpaid property taxes?
No. This page covers an ordinary sale where both sides are current on their taxes. When taxes go unpaid for a full year, Arkansas moves the land toward certification to the state and a later sale by the Commissioner of State Lands, a separate and much slower process covered on our vacant house page.
Can I prepay this year's taxes before I sell so there is nothing to estimate?
No. Arkansas has no provision for prepaying property taxes ahead of when they are billed, so the current year's amount is always an estimate at a mid-year closing, no matter when you sell.
Who decides the exact formula used to split the taxes?
Your purchase contract, and whoever handles the closing. A common method divides the estimated annual bill by 365 and multiplies by each side's days of ownership, but nothing in Arkansas law requires that exact formula, so check your own closing statement rather than assume it.
Can unpaid personal property taxes stop the sale of my house in Arkansas?
They can stall the tax payment at closing. Ark. Code Ann. 26-35-601 tells a county collector not to take real estate taxes while personal property taxes are showing due in the office records. At a sale, the collector has to accept the real estate taxes on the parcel if the person transferring title has paid all delinquent personal property taxes. Only delinquent ones count, and Arkansas taxes are delinquent if they are not paid by October 15. Call the collector before closing and clear anything showing under your name.
What counts as personal property for Arkansas property taxes?
Vehicles, mainly. Arkansas assesses every privately owned vehicle as individual personal property. House boats, camper trailers, recreational vehicles and livestock are assessed too. Mobile homes are not, because Arkansas taxes them as real property. You list personal property with the county assessor between January 1 and May 31, in the taxing district where it is located and kept for use.
This is general information about how Arkansas property taxes work, not legal, tax, or financial advice, so talk to your closing company or a tax professional about your own sale.
Sources
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