Refund of excess payments

Any person, firm or corporation who pays any property tax in excess of the principal of such tax as entered in the rate book of the tax collector and covered by his warrant therein, or in excess of the legal interest, penalty or fees pertaining to such tax, or who pays a tax from which the payor is by statute exempt and entitled to an abatement, or who, by reason of a clerical error on the part of the assessor or board of assessment appeals, pays a tax in excess of that which should have been assessed against his property, or who is entitled to a refund because of the issuance of a certificate of correction, may make application in writing to the collector of taxes for the refund of such amount. Such application shall be delivered or postmarked by the later of (1) three years from the date such tax was due, (2) such extended deadline as the municipality may, by ordinance, establish, or (3) ninety days after the deletion of any item of tax assessment by a final court order or pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection (c) of section 12-53, subsection (b) of section 12-57 or section 12-113. Such application shall contain a recital of the facts and shall state the amount of the refund requested. The collector shall, after examination of such application, refer the same, with his recommendations thereon, to the board of selectmen in a town or to the corresponding authority in any other municipality, and shall certify to the amount of refund, if any, to which the applicant is entitled. The existence of another tax delinquency or other debt owed by the same person, firm or corporation shall be sufficient grounds for denying the application. Upon such denial, any overpayment shall be applied to such delinquency or other debt. Upon receipt of such application and certification, the selectmen or such other authority shall draw an order upon the treasurer in favor of such applicant for the amount of refund so certified. Any action taken by such selectmen or such other authority shall be a matter of record, and the tax collector shall be notified in writing of such action. Upon receipt of notice of such action, the collector shall make in his rate book a notation which will date, describe and identify each such transaction. Each tax collector shall, at the end of each fiscal year, prepare a statement showing the amount of each such refund, to whom made and the reason therefor. Such statement shall be published in the annual report of the municipality or filed in the town clerk's office within sixty days of the end of the fiscal year. Any payment for which no timely application is made or granted under this section shall permanently remain the property of the municipality. Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow a refund based upon an error of judgment by the assessors. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the legislative body of a municipality may, by ordinance, authorize the tax collector to retain payments in excess of the amount due provided the amount of the excess payment is less than five dollars.

(1949 Rev., S. 1812; 1957, P.A. 194; 1961, P.A. 102; 484, S. 1; P.A. 75-110, S. 2; P.A. 90-101, S. 2; P.A. 95-283, S. 10, 68; P.A. 99-151, S. 2, 3; P.A. 13-276, S. 10; P.A. 22-74, S. 14.)

History: 1961 acts added reference to the certificate of correction, and provided for filing of annual statement of refunds in town clerk's office; P.A. 75-110 allowed six years, rather than one year, from date of payment for filing application for refund; P.A. 90-101 required that application for refund of tax paid in excess of the amount due as a result of clerical error must be submitted not later than three years from the tax due date and deleted the provision related to refunds as to which the procedure has, prior to October 1, 1943, been determined by statute; P.A. 95-283 replaced board of tax review with board of assessment appeals and allowed a municipality to retain overpayments of less than $5, effective July 6, 1995; P.A. 99-151 allowed municipalities to adopt ordinances to extend the time to file an application for a refund of excess property tax payments, effective June 23, 1999; P.A. 13-276 required application for refund of payment be delivered or postmarked by later of existing Subdiv. (1) or (2) or new Subdiv. (3) re 90 days after deletion of any item of tax assessment by final order of court or pursuant to cited statutes, added provision re existence of another tax delinquency to be sufficient grounds for denial of application, and added provision re payment for which no timely application is made or granted under section to remain property of municipality; P.A. 22-74 added reference to Sec. 12-57(b) and specified that upon denial of application for refund due to existence of delinquency or debt, any overpayment applied to such delinquency or debt, effective July 1, 2022.

Cited. 195 C. 587.

Cited. 33 CA 270. Common law unjust enrichment claim unavailable to plaintiff whose property was overtaxed for 25 years as claims are time limited under statutory scheme whether excess taxes are paid due to clerical errors, improper property valuations, or “manifestly excessive” assessments. 211 CA 441.