How the clock works
Miss. 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. 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.
Who can redeem
The owner, any person acting for the owner with the owner's consent, or any person interested in the land sold for taxes. A mortgagee may redeem in part. Minors who inherit or acquire land by will and persons of unsound mind may redeem within two years after reaching full age or being restored to sanity, on paying the value of permanent improvements made after the first two years.
What the owner pays to redeem
All 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. The statute fixes this amount regardless of the purchaser's winning bid, so an overbid is never repaid by the redeemer.
How your interest accrues
Redemption interest runs at one and one-half percent per month, or any fractional part of a month, on the taxes and costs from the date of sale, which is 18 percent per year simple. Because a fractional month counts as a whole month, a redemption on day one still owes one month of interest, so 1.5 percent is the practical floor. The redeemer also pays 5 percent damages on the taxes, but Miss. Code Ann. 27-45-1 directs the chancery clerk to pay those damages to the county and only the balance to the purchaser, so the damages are not part of the investor's return.
How the bidding works
Mississippi does not bid the interest rate down. 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.
A redeemed certificate, plus your accrued interest, is what makes the wait profitable; see how redemption periods work across states. An unredeemed certificate is instead your path to the property through a tax deed sale, which still does not convey marketable title on its own, so budget for a quiet title action.
Verified Aug 6, 2026 against Mississippi statutes.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.