Tax Claim Bureau Home

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Effective immediately, the Berks County Tax Claim Bureau is:

Open by APPOINTMENT ONLY to the public.

Effective March 13, 2020:

WE NO LONGER ACCEPT CASH!

Acceptable forms of payment are

Check or Money Order Only.

There are no exceptions to this policy.

We recommend mailing payments or utilizing our drop boxes. Enclose your payment in an envelope with your name, phone number, property address, and/or parcel number to ensure your account is credited accurately.

Please contact our office with questions at 610-478-6625 or via email taxclaim@countyofberks.com.

Thank you for your understanding.

DROP BOXES

For your convenience, drop boxes are now available at:

-Service Center Lobby - Entrance off of Reed Street - After entering through the turn-style doors, before security

-Court House Foyer - Entrance off of Court Street - After going through both sets of doors, before the stairs to security

-Immediately outside of our office, in the hallway

*All items must be enclosed in an envelope when using the drop boxes.

NSF/Returned Checks

Pursuant to Resolution 154-02 passed by the County Commissioners: All checks returned for insufficient funds will be assessed a $30.00 service charge.

Mission

The mission of the Tax Claim Bureau is to collect and distribute delinquent real estate taxes for the county, municipalities & school districts in the most effective manner.

About Our Department

The Tax Claim Bureau is responsible for collecting delinquent Real Estate taxes. To do this, and to remain compliant with the PA Real Estate Tax Law, we send notices to those taxpayers who have not paid their taxes, set up payment plans for qualified individuals, accept and apply payments, and disburse monies collected to the respective taxing district on a monthly basis. We collect delinquent Real Estate taxes for 73 Berks County municipalities and 15 Berks County School Districts.

Goals & Objectives

The Bureau is continuously improving their efforts to provide more effective services to the taxpayers and to the taxing districts. Our ultimate goal is to collect Real Estate taxes and turn the monies collected over to the respective taxing authority. Our tax sales are growing in popularity, but the Bureau would prefer to collect the taxes instead of selling it for non-payment of the taxes. By cooperating with taxpayers and offering various payment options, additional tax monies can be collected in a more timely manner and fewer properties will be exposed/sold at tax sale, resulting in decreased work load for the Bureau, and simplified bookkeeping and timely disbursements for taxing districts.

Contact Information

Address:

Tax Claim Bureau

Berks County Services Center

633 Court Street, 2nd Floor

Reading, PA 19601

Phone: 610.478.6625

Fax: 610.478.6644

Email: taxclaim@countyofberks.com

Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00am – 4:00 pm

Nicole E. Blanding, Director