Today the Senate unanimously approved legislation from Sen. Keith Wagoner aimed at saving taxpayers money by helping to eliminate erroneous late fees that result from automatic payments.

“It is possible that two taxpayers in the same county, mailing their tax payments in at the same time, on the same day, with both payments being received at the same time, could find one of them is charged a late fee, while the other is not – simply because one has a legible postmark and the other does not,” explained Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley. “This bill would correct that situation, saving money for taxpayers who have paid their bills on time.”

Under Senate Bill 5714, tax payments generated by an automated check-processing service or payments with no discernable postmark date and received within three business days of the due date would no longer be considered delinquent.

SB 5714 now heads to the House of Representatives for its consideration.