Tax collector adds QR code to tax notices

Madison County taxpayers now have another option for paying their personal property and commercial taxes.

Tax bills mailed in November included a Quick Response code, more commonly referred to as a QR code, that will take taxpayers directly to their tax bills when scanned using a smartphone or tablet.

Many restaurants use QR codes for customers to access their online menus. The addition of QR codes on tax bills is another way to make paying Madison County personal property and commercial tax bills easier, said Kay Pace, Madison County tax collector.

“There are a few bar codes on statements this year,” Pace said. “People who use their smartphones can scan that QR code with their smartphone, and it takes them directly to their taxes.”

Pace said the first page the smartphone brings up includes customers’ tax bills, and a second page contains their credit card information for paying their bills online.

The QR codes will also make it more efficient for tax collector office workers to help customers who come in to pay their taxes in person if the customers bring their bills with the QR codes on them because the office staff can scan the QR codes for them in the office, Pace said.

Pace said adding the QR codes to bills is just a way of keeping up with the times and giving taxpayers another option.

“You either keep up with it, or you don’t,” Pace said of changing technology. “It will be great for the new generations that are coming along because that’s what they’re used to.”

Pace said people can still pay their taxes the way they always, by mail or in-person at the office, have if they prefer not to use the QR codes.