10/22   Confused about my property tax bill. It says:
        Payment due: 11/01/07
        If not received or postmarked by 12/10/07, extra fee added.
        So, it's due on 11/01/07, but I really have till 12/10/07.
        What exactly is this saying?
        \ This sounds like my property tax bill for the past 5 yrs. I've
          always sent it in (via mail) by around 12/5/07 so it gets to the
          county by 12/10. Never got harassed. The same goes for your 2nd
          installment which is due by 04/10 (the following year), even though
          it says '03/01'.
        \_ Which county?  My Alameda County statement says the same thing.
           \_ I'm in S Cal and mine says pretty much the same thing. I
              believe ambiguous and confusing government forms has been
              pretty standardized.
        \_ It is saying "We prefer getting your money by 11/01/07 so that
           we can earn interest rate for a month. We'll be happy about it
           and Uncle Sam will be your friend. We'll accept your money by
           12/10/07 and if you don't pay up by then we'll get pissed off
           and charge you extra fees."
           Is this an accurate translation?
        \_ Yeah, they're all like that.  It's like there's an unspoken
           rule that prevents government offices from making sense.
           But seriously, everyone asks the same question.  The best I
           could come up with was: 1) As long as they have your money
           by "delinquent after" date, you're cool.  2) If the payment
           is not made by the "delinquent after" date, then the
           penalties/fees are calculated from the "due date."
        \_ How about you just pay your bill?
        \_ It means that it is due on 11/01/07. This is true of a car or
           a mortgage, too. The date you are assessed a late fee is not the
           "due date". My car payment is due the 1st. I usually pay around
           the 5th-7th. The late fee is assessed on the 11th or something.
           I never pay any late fees, but I am still late and my creditor
           considers me late. This is not limited to the government.
           BTW, the time between the due date and when a late fee is
           assessed is the "grace period". Grace periods are extremely
           common. The property tax one seems weird because it is so long
           and the late fee is so high.
           \_ Does anyone actually pay on time? One month of interest rate
              is not insignificant.
              \_ Neither is the fine for paying late if you miss.
              \_ Of course people pay on time, especially people who hire
                 others to handle their bills and who have fat bank
                 accounts. If you have $5M in the bank then you don't
                 sweat that one month interest on your $3K property tax
                 payment. At 5% it's like $12.