2023 Personal and Real Estate taxes are now payable. The Saline County tax books are open and personal and real estate taxes can be paid. Please keep in mind that we do not accept personal checks on delinquent accounts.

FAQs: Delinquent Taxes

TAXES NEVER GO AWAY. Saline County is actively collecting taxes that are 15 years delinquent. We have many new resources to help us locate delinquent taxpayers. If the taxpayer fails to pay their lawful due, these could be the next course of action;
  • A 10% penalty will be applied to your tax base, plus an advertising fee for personal property of $1.75, and $1.50 for real estate property, and a redemption fee of $2.50 is also added to real estate.
  • Name and address will be published in the local newspaper and on Facebook.
  • All lands upon which taxes have not been paid for one (1) year following the date the taxes were due, October 15, shall be forfeited to the State of Arkansas and transmitted by certification to the Commissioner of State Lands for collection or sale. No tax delinquent lands shall be sold at the county level.
  • A Certificate of Indebtedness may be filed at the Circuit Clerk's Office for Tax Evasion.
  • A TAX EVASION lien may be filed in your name.
  • Tax liens are entitled to preference over all judgments, encumbrances, or liens when created.
  • Tax liens on Mobile Homes follow the property into whosoever hands it goes.
  • Garnishment proceedings are authorized.

A personal property tax bill is created from anything that was assessed between January 1 and May 31 of the last calendar year; and billed the next calendar year. If a couple was married and assessed together, but divorced during the year, they are still responsible for the combined tax bill.  If you move to another Arkansas County, or to another State, the personal property tax bill will never just go away.  An attempt will be made to find the taxpayer, but if collection cannot be made, a CERTIFICATE OF INDEBTEDNESS WILL BE FILED IN THE NAME(S) OF THE DELINQUENT TAXPAYER(S) FOR TAX EVASION IN THE STATE OF ARKANSAS AT THE CIRCUIT CLERK'S OFFICE.  IT WILL BE SHARED WITH THE NATIONAL CREDIT AGENCIES.

A real estate tax bill is created from the owner of the record on January 1. If a property was sold during the year, closing documents will explain the responsibility of the buyer and the seller concerning the tax bill.

26-3-203. Mobile homes and manufactured homes.


(a) Mobile homes and manufactured homes shall be deemed real property for the purpose of ad valorem property taxation.

(b) Real property taxes and any interest, penalties, or other charges on a mobile home on a leased site in a mobile home park or any other leased site, and any assessment or user fee chargeable to the owner of the mobile home and constituting a lien, shall be assessed and levied against the owner of the mobile home whose name appears on the certificate or other acceptable evidence of ownership, and shall be a lien on the mobile home or manufactured home only.

(c)When the property tax on mobile homes and manufactured homes which are now assessed as real property become delinquent, the delinquent real property tax shall be attached to the personal property tax of the owner of the mobile home or manufactured home and the county collector shall not accept payment of the personal property taxes without collecting payment of the delinquent real property taxes at that time.

AG Opinion No. 2010-143

The obligation to satisfy a property tax lien on a mobile home transfers with a transfer of the property. The seller is responsible to satisfy to the collector that a transfer of ownership of the mobile home has occurred to be relived of the obligation to satisfy the tax lien on the transferred mobile home. The purchaser shall become responsible for the satisfaction of the delinquent tax lien on the mobile home and the new owner will be subject to ACA 26-3-203 and seller released of the property tax obligation. The Attorney General explained that the law establishing property tax liens is clear. The purchaser should be aware of the tax liens on the property at the time of purchase and accordingly take into account in the purchase price.


If you have property that has been delinquent more than two (2) years, you will need to contact the Commissioner of State Lands. The Real Estate Office is located at 1020 W 4th ST., 5th Floor, Little Rock, AR 72201. The phone number is, 501-324-9422; to visit their website click here. To search their website for a parcel of delinquent land click here.

26-37-101. Transfer of tax-delinquent lands.

(a) (1)  (A) All lands upon which the taxes have not been paid for one (1) year following the date the taxes were due, October 15, shall be forfeited to the state and transmitted by certification to the Commissioner of State Lands for collection or sale. (B)  The Commissioner of State Lands may accept an electronic certification of tax delinquent parcels from a county. (2)  Tax-delinquent lands shall not be sold at the county level.

(b)  The county collector shall hold all tax-delinquent lands in the county for one (1) year after the date of delinquency, and, if the lands are not redeemed by the certification date, which shall be no later than July 1 of the following year, the county collector shall transmit it to the state by certification, after notice as provided in this chapter, indicating all taxes, penalties, interest, and costs due and the name and last known address of the owner of record of the tax-delinquent lands.

(c)  Upon receipt of the certification, title to the tax-delinquent lands shall vest in the State of Arkansas in care of the Commissioner of State Lands.

26-34-103 Liability of executor or administrator.

The personal property of any deceased person shall be liable in the hands of any executor or administrator for any tax due on the same by any testator or intestate.

AG Opinion No. 1994-022: Collectors and Sheriff Collectors are not authorized to forgive the amount due from a taxpayer. Ark. Code 26-28-111 only authorizes correction of actual and obvious errors. All taxes assess become a lien upon the property assessed and do not extinguish at the time of death of the taxpayer. Ark. Code 26-35-401, the personal property of the deceased is a liable in the hands of the administrator or executor.

26-35-401 Liability generally.

Every person holding lands as guardian, executor, or administrator and neglecting or refusing to list or pay the taxes upon them, in the manner indicated, sahll be liable to an action by his or her ward or devisee for any damage sustained by his or her neglect. (b) Every person having the care of lands as agent or attorney as indicated having funds of the principal in his or her hands, for such purpose, and neglecting or refusing to list or pay the taxes on the lands shall be liable.

26-18-201 Attempt to evade or defeat tax.

(a) Any taxpayer who willfully attemps to evade or defeat the payment of any tax, penalty, or interest due under any state tax law shall be guilty of a Class C felony. (b) Any person who willfully assists a taxpayer in evading or defeating the payment of any tax penalty, or interest due under any state tax law shall be guilty of a Class C felony.

Opinion No. 2010-042

May 27, 2010

In Ark. Ops. Att’y Gen. Nos. 90-040, 90-040A, 94-143 and 96-006, various of my predecessors opined that the collector could not accept partial payment of delinquent taxes. Although A.C.A. § 26-35-501, as amended by Act 295 of 2003, authorizes the initial payment of taxes in installments, the Code contains no parallel provision for the partial payment of delinquent taxes. In my opinion, then, the collector is not authorized to accept any such partial payment, regardless of whether the lien would continue to attach.



All forms of payment need to be made out to Saline County Tax Collector. Please note that we do not accept personal checks on delinquent accounts. Delinquent Accounts can be paid with money order, cashiers check, credit/debit card (approximately a 2.8% fee will apply) or cash in office. 


It is the taxpayers responsibility to make sure their personal property and real estate taxes are paid on time. Failure to receive a statement does not excuse you from the taxes or the penalties and interest.

26-36-206 Distraint of goods to pay delinquent personal property taxes

If the county collector distrains goods and chattels under subsection (a)(1) of this section, the county collector shall immediately proceed to advertise the sale of the goods and chattels in three (3) public places in the county, stating the time when and the place where the goods and chattels shall be sold. (3) The county collector shall collect taxes and penalties under this subsection and deposit the taxes and penalties under this subsection into the county school fund. (b)(1) If the taxes for which property is distrained, and costs which shall accrue thereon are not paid before the day appointed for sale, which shall not be less than ten (10) days after taking the property, the county collector shall proceed to sell the same at public venue, or so much thereof as will be sufficient to pay the taxes and the costs of the distress and sale. (2) The county collector shall not distrain any goods and chattels for taxes levied on real property, except as provided in § 26-3-204. (c)(1) The county collector is authorized and empowered to levy on and sell the goods and chattels of the person liable for taxes provided, in the same manner and under the same restrictions as goods and chattels are required to be levied and sold under execution on judgment at law, when not inconsistent with the provisions of this subchapter. (2) No goods and chattels of any person shall be exempt from levy and sale. (d) The county collector is allowed the same fees for making distress and sale of goods and chattels for the payment of taxes which are allowed by law to the county sheriff for making levy and sale of property on execution under § 21-6-307 for each delinquent taxpayer. (e)(1) If a taxpayer operating a business in a county is delinquent in the payment of personal property taxes for personal property owned by or used in the business, then following the certification and publication of delinquency under § 26-36-203, the county collector may distrain goods or chattels of the taxpayer owned by or used in the business under subsection (a) of this section by publication of a Notice of Distraint and Tax Sale in three (3) public places in the county or in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. (2) The Notice of Distraint and Tax Sale shall contain: (A) The location, date, and time of the sale; (B) The name of the taxpayer and business under which the goods or chattels to be sold is assessed; (C) The principal sum of personal property taxes owed with a certification of the principal sum by the county collector; (D) The following specific information: "The goods or chattels of the taxpayer listed above located within __________ County, Arkansas, is under distraint and shall be sold to satisfy the delinquency in the payment of personal property taxes under Arkansas Code § 26-36-206. Under Arkansas Code § 26-34-101, the taxes assessed on real and personal property shall constitute a lien entitled to preference over all other judgments, executions, or encumbrances, or liens whensoever created. Under Arkansas Code § 4-1-201, a buyer in ordinary course of business does not include a person that acquires goods in a transfer in bulk or as security for or in total or partial satisfaction of a money debt.”; and (E) A statement that it is a Class B misdemeanor to remove, destroy, or deface the Notice of Distraint and Tax Sale or to interfere or obstruct the sale of or the access to the goods or chattels on the date of the sale by the county collector, the county sheriff, or their deputies. (3) The county collector shall provide a copy of the Notice of Distraint and Tax Sale to the taxpayer by regular mail or by posting a copy at the physical location where the goods or chattels are held. (4) The Notice of Distraint and Tax Sale shall be posted conspicuously at the location of the sale. (5) In lieu of physically securing the goods or chattels or storing or transporting the goods or chattels to another location for sale, the sale may be held at any place of business, warehouse, storeroom, or facility owned or under the possession of the taxpayer, including without limitation the current location of the goods or chattels to be sold. (6) It is a Class B misdemeanor to knowingly remove, destroy, or deface a Notice of Distraint and Tax Sale posted under this section or to knowingly interfere or obstruct the sale or access of the county collector, the county sheriff, or their deputies to the goods or chattels on the date of the sale.


26-35-506. Credit cards.

(a)  All county collectors may accept payment of county property taxes, penalties, and associated costs by an approved credit card or debit card.

(b) (1)  As authorized by subsection (a) of this section, all county collectors may enter into contracts with credit card companies and may pay the fees normally charged by those companies for allowing the county collector to accept their cards as payment. (2) (A)  When a taxpayer pays his or her property taxes by an approved credit card, the county collector shall assess a service fee equal to the amount charged to the county collector by the credit card issuer. (B)  This charge may be added to and become part of any underlying obligation.

If you buy a mobile home from an individual, and back taxes are owed on that mobile home, then you must pay those taxes.  

26-34-101. Preference of tax liens. (a) Taxes assessed upon real and personal property shall bind them and be entitled to preference over all judgments, executions, encumbrances, or liens whensoever created. (b) All taxes assessed shall be a lien upon and bind the property assessed from the first Monday of January of the year in which the assessment shall be made and shall continue until the taxes, with any penalty which may accrue thereon, shall be paid. However, as between grantor and grantee, the lien shall not attach until the last date fixed by law for the county clerk to deliver the tax books to the county collector in each year after the tax lien attaches. (c)( 1) Failure to satisfy a personal property tax lien following a purchase of a business or a business’s assets, goods, chattels, inventory, or equipment not in the ordinary course of business shall result in the assessment of an additional penalty under § 26-36-201( c) except with respect to a purchase of the following: (A) A vehicle subject to registration; or (B) A manufactured home or a mobile home. (2) A purchase of a business or a business’s assets, goods, chattels, inventory, or equipment not in the ordinary course of business does not include the deed of property in lieu of foreclosure or the acquisition of title to property following a foreclosure sale. History. Acts 1883, No. 114, § 101, p. 199; 1911, No. 125, § 1; C. & M. Dig., § 10023; Pope’s Dig., § 13770; Acts 1941, No. 337, § 1; 1943, No. 278, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 84-107; Acts 2011, No. 821, § 1. Amendments. The 2011 amendment added (c). Cross References. Lien for taxes due improvement districts continues indefinitely until paid, § 18-61-101.

27-14-1602. Registration -- Fee.

(a) (1) An owner of a manufactured home or a mobile home shall register the manufactured home or mobile home with the Office of Motor Vehicle for the purpose of receiving a certificate of title to the manufactured home or the mobile home or for any other purpose. (2) Subdivision (a)(1) of this section does not apply to: (A) A manufactured home or mobile home for which a certificate of origin, original document of title, or existing document of title has been cancelled or surrendered under § 27-14-1603; or (B) A manufactured home or mobile home held for sale or resale by a licensed retailer, financial institution, beneficiary, mortgagee or the mortgagee's attorney-in-fact or trustee, or other holder in due course.

(b) A certificate of title shall be issued upon the payment of a registration fee of twenty-six dollars ($26.00) and a title fee of ten dollars ($10.00).

CASE NOTES Analysis Liability for Taxes. Liens. Personal Property. Real Property. Tax Sales. Liability for Taxes. Where the buyer was to receive no legal or equitable right under the contract until the purchase price had been paid in full, at which time the seller obligated himself to execute a special warranty deed conveying the lands free of all liens and encumbrances, and the contract was entered into some six weeks after the tax books had been delivered to the collector, the seller was liable for the payment of taxes under the warranty. Broadhead v. McEntire, 19 Ark. App. 259, 720 S.W. 2d 313 (1986). Liens. Taxes and improvement assessments held “obligations secured by lien” within the meaning of Acts 1927, No. 195 (superseded by § 28-49-113). Rose v. W.B. Worthen Co., 186 Ark. 205, 53 S.W. 2d 15, 85 A.L.R. 212 (1932). Personal Property. Taxes are a lien on personal property and follow it into whosoever hands it goes. Bridewell v. Morton, 46 Ark. 73 (1885) (decision under prior law). Where, prior to an application for a receiver in insolvency, an attachment was levied by the seller upon specific goods sold to the insolvent, upon which the seller owed taxes, the state’s lien for taxes was payable from the amount allowed the attaching seller upon his preferred claim. First Nat’l Bank v. Tribble, 155 Ark. 264, 244 S.W. 33 (1922).

26-35-501. Time to pay

(1)  A county collector shall assess a penalty of ten percent (10%) against all unpaid tax balances remaining after October 15 for every taxpayer other than a utility or carrier or after the prescribed dates listed in subsection (b) of this section for utilities and carriers.
(2)  (A)  A taxpayer paying in installments under subdivision (a)(2) of this section shall not be assessed a penalty until the taxes become due and remain unpaid after October 15. (B)  However, if the last day for the payment of taxes on any installment is a Saturday, Sunday, or postal holiday, the last day to pay taxes without a penalty is the following business day.
(3)  (A)  A property tax balance payment is timely received under this subsection if mailed through the United States Postal Service and postmarked by October 15. (B)  If October 15 is a Saturday, Sunday, or postal holiday, a property tax balance payment is timely received if mailed and postmarked through the United States Postal Service the following business day.


Categories
Delinquent Taxes

26-28-106. Charging uncollected taxes.

When, for any cause, the taxes in any county, for any year, shall not be collected, they shall be charged on the tax books for the next year and collected by the same officers and in the same manner as the taxes of that year.

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