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Mississippi tax lien & tax deed sales

Mississippi is a tax-lien state. Each year the county tax collector sells the land of delinquent taxpayers at a public sale on the last Monday of August, and a county may hold an optional second sale on the first Monday of April. Read more…

Land goes to the highest and best bidder for cash; a tract nobody bids on is struck off to the state. The buyer receives a tax-sale receipt from the tax collector, and the owner has two years from the day of sale to redeem. If nobody redeems, the chancery clerk executes a conveyance to the purchaser. Chapters 41 and 45 of Title 27 of the Mississippi Code govern the process.

Rules verified Aug 6, 2026 against Mississippi Statutes.

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Sale type: Tax lien
Maximum rate: 18%
Redemption: 2 years
Auction method: clerk conveyance

Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 6, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify

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Tax lien certificates

You pay the overdue taxes and receive a certificate that earns a return set by statute. Bidders compete on price by bidding above the minimum, and a premium paid above that minimum changes what you actually earn. Compare bidding methods to see how that changes what you earn.

Bidding method: Premium bid
Maximum rate: 18% per year, set by statute (bidding is on price)
Minimum return: 1.5% floor at redemption
Next expected: on the last Monday in August, 2026 (window; exact dates post per county)
Certificate life: Mississippi issues no expiring certificate. Miss. Code Ann. 27-41-75 gives the buyer a tax collector's receipt as evidence of the purchase, and Miss. Code Ann. 27-45-23 has the chancery clerk execute a conveyance on demand once the two-year redemption period runs out. No statute in Chapter 41 or Chapter 45 sets an outside date by which the purchaser must act, so no certificate-life figure is recorded here.

Sale timingThe county tax collector holds the land sale on the last Monday of August each year, advertised for two weeks in a county newspaper after August 5. More…

A tax collector may also elect a second sale on the first Monday of April, advertised after February 15, under the same rules.

Zero-bid ruleMississippi does not bid the interest rate down. More…

The tax collector offers each delinquent tract to the highest and best bidder for cash, starting with 160 acres or the smaller separately described subdivision, and strikes a tract off to the state if no one will bid the whole amount of taxes and costs. Bidding above the taxes and costs is allowed, but the overbid does not earn anything and is not refunded to the investor. The tax collector reports the excess to the chancery clerk and it is paid into the county treasury, and on redemption the county keeps it.

Redemption, delinquency, and over-the-counter at a glance

Redemption

How longMiss. Code Ann. 27-43-1 requires the chancery clerk to issue notice to the record owner within 180 days and not less than 60 days before the redemption period expires. More…

Miss. Code Ann. 27-43-3 then requires the sheriff or a constable to serve a resident owner, the clerk to mail the notice by registered or certified mail, and the owner's name and the legal description to be published in a county newspaper at least 45 days before the period ends. Recorded lienors get their own notice. If the clerk inadvertently fails to send the notice, the sale is void. The clerk's fees for that work are taxed against the owner on redemption and against the purchaser if the land is not redeemed.

What the owner paysAll taxes for which the land was sold, all costs incident to the sale, 5 percent damages on those taxes, and interest at one and one-half percent per month or any fractional part from the date of sale, plus any costs accrued on the land since the sale with the same interest. More…

The statute fixes this amount regardless of the purchaser's winning bid, so an overbid is never repaid by the redeemer.

Delinquency

How it startsMississippi ad valorem taxes are due and payable on or before February 1 following the year of assessment, and the tax collector begins accepting payment no later than December 26 of the prior year. More…

Unpaid taxes carry interest at one-half of one percent per month, or any fractional part of a month, from February 1 until paid, on top of the other fees, penalties and costs the law imposes for late payment. If any balance is still unpaid on August 1, the land is sold at the land sale on the last Monday in August. A property-tax lien attaches to land on January 1 each year and takes preference over judgments, executions, encumbrances and liens whenever created, with municipal tax liens ranking behind state and county tax liens, which is what makes a Mississippi tax purchase senior collateral.

Over-the-counter

How to buyA tract that draws no bid at the annual land sale is struck off to the state. More…

If it is still unredeemed when the two-year period ends, the chancery clerk certifies it to the Secretary of State within 30 days, and that filing vests title in the State of Mississippi. Any person may then apply in writing to the Secretary of State to buy the parcel, describing the land, the former owner, whether it is occupied, the improvements and the merchantable timber. The Secretary of State may instead dispose of state-forfeited tax land by sealed bid after three weeks of advertisement in a county newspaper, or by online auction. Mississippi counties do not run their own over-the-counter certificate counter; the state holds the unsold inventory.

What is availableThe Public Lands Division publishes the tax-forfeited inventory and takes purchase applications online, and it states that the process normally takes about 60 to 90 days from receipt of the application to the issuance of the patent. More…

Miss. Code Ann. 29-1-33 sets a floor of two dollars per acre and directs the office to investigate actual value where the land is worth more. The office prices a parcel at the higher of a percentage of market value, the total of back taxes and fees, or the applicant's own offer, applying 25 percent of market value for a prior owner or a blighted parcel and 50 percent of market value for other parcels.

All 82 Mississippi counties

Sales are organized by county. Search your city or county, or filter by whether the tax deed sale runs online or in person. Each row shows the certificate-sale platform for quick comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Does Mississippi sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Mississippi sells at a tax lien sale. The county tax collector sells the land of each delinquent taxpayer on the last Monday of August, and the buyer holds a tax-sale purchase that the owner can redeem for two years. There is no separate tax deed auction. If nobody redeems, the chancery clerk executes a conveyance to the purchaser.

What interest rate does a Mississippi tax sale pay?

One and one-half percent per month, or any fractional part of a month, on the taxes and costs from the date of sale. That is 18 percent per year simple. Because a fraction of a month counts as a whole month, even an immediate redemption pays one month of interest.

Does the investor keep the 5 percent damages a Mississippi redeemer pays?

No. The redeemer pays 5 percent damages on the taxes for which the land was sold, but Miss. Code Ann. 27-45-1 tells the chancery clerk to pay those damages to the county and only the balance to the purchaser. Plan a Mississippi return around the 1.5 percent per month interest, not the damages.

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