How to Pay a Tax Bill

In Person

To pay your bill in person, you must visit the Tax Collector's Office at Town Hall Annex during regular business office hours, which are 7:30 am to 4:30 pm. Monday through Friday. If you want a receipt for your payment, bring the entire bill to the office and the staff will stamp your copy with the date of your payment.

By Mail

Tax bills (real estate, personal property, and motor vehicle and boat excise) may be mailed to the office at 11 Town Hall Avenue, Tewksbury, MA 01876. Please include the remittance copy in order to ensure that your payment is properly credited.

Water / Sewer and Sewer assessment bills may also be paid by mail to the above address.

Outside Mail Box - Drop Box

Payments are accepted not only when we are closed but are allowed all throughout the day.

There is a locked metal box located at the rear of the Town Hall Annex. While this box was installed to make bill paying convenient when the building is not open, payments may be dropped in this box at any time.

Please be advised that drop box is opened twice each business day. Please be aware of the due date of your bill and the time of day in order to ensure that your payment is credited on time to avoid late charges.

Cash Payments

Please do not send cash by mail, either to the office or the Drop Off Box. If you wish to pay in cash, the safest way to do so is to pay at the office during regular business hours.

Checks

The Town of Tewksbury accepts only checks that are made payable to "Town of Tewksbury". We do not accept checks made payable to a third party, even with an endorsement. Most of the time we can accept personal checks in payment of your bills. The following occasions are exceptions:

  • If you are marked at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, you need to pay with cash or a bank check to be cleared immediately.
  • If your property is in the process of a tax taking, we will accept payment only by cash or bank check. Please call if you are unsure. When you make a payment with any type of check, the check must be dated no later than the date on which you are tendering payment. We cannot accept checks, which are post-dated, that is, are dated in the future.

Please remember this when you make out your check. If you have post-dated your check, we will ask you to change the date, and to initial your change.

On-Line Payments Through Your Bank

If you use your bank's "On-Line" payment such as "Bill Pay" please note that the Town is actually sent a paper check, it is not done electronically. It may take up to 7 to 10 days for the Collector's office to receive the check from your bank.

Please be sure to use the correct account numbers when entering on line so that we can apply your payments correctly.

Insufficient Funds Checks

Any check which is returned to this office and, for whatever reason, is not honored by the payer's bank, will be subject to the statutory penalty as outlined in Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 60, Section 57A. The penalty is 1% of the face value of the check with a minimum charge of $25.

If your check is returned to us, we will not redeposit it until we have collected the $25 penalty charge. If the penalty is not paid, we will charge back the payment to the appropriate account.

If the insufficient funds check was in payment of a tax bill, and if the payment due date has past, interest and all other applicable fees will be charged to the account.

Timely Payments

Payments must be received in the Collector's office by the due date in order to be considered "on time". Postmarks are never accepted.

This policy is in accord with the ruling of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue on what constitutes "timely payments".