The short answer
2 years from the September 1 the tax certificate was issued, before the county takes title; 1 year where municipal razing costs are included in the amount due, or where the certificate is held by a county of 750,000 or more or by a 1st class city collecting its own taxes
Wisconsin runs 7 different redemption windows
Which one applies is decided by the parcel, not by the state, so read the condition before trusting the headline figure.
How the clock works
The redemption right in Wisconsin runs against the county, and it is over before an investor sees the parcel. Issuance of the tax certificate on September 1 starts the clock. Two years later the county may take its deed or start a foreclosure, but the right to redeem does not end on that anniversary: under s. 75.01(1)(b) any person may redeem at any time before the tax deed is presented to the register of deeds and accepted for record, and a redemption before recording makes the deed void as to the land redeemed. On the in rem route under s. 75.521 the county publishes a notice fixing the last day for redemption at least 8 weeks after first publication, and an interested party may instead serve a verified answer within 30 days after that date on the three grounds the section allows. Once the deed is recorded or judgment is entered, redemption is finished. Between the two, at least 6 and not more than 10 months before the redemption period expires, the county treasurer must publish a class 2 notice listing every unredeemed parcel with its amount due and the last day of redemption, which is the public list an investor can watch. Two things can still pull a parcel off a sale list afterward: the minor and incompetency extension in s. 75.03, and the former owner repurchase right in s. 75.35(3).
Who can redeem
Any person. Section 75.01(1)(b) says 'any person' rather than limiting redemption to the owner. On the in rem route s. 75.521(5) names every person, including a municipal taxing district other than the foreclosing county, having any right, title or interest in, or lien upon, the parcel, and lets a redeeming lienholder add what was paid to the face amount of its own lien.
What the owner pays to redeem
The unpaid taxes stated in the tax certificate, plus the interest and any penalty under s. 74.47 computed from the accrual date the certificate specifies, plus any other charge the law allows to be added to the certificate after issuance. That works out to 1 percent per month or fraction of a month, plus up to 0.5 percent per month more where the county board has adopted the optional penalty ordinance, so up to 1.5 percent per month or 18 percent a year, uncompounded. Partial payments of $20 or more are allowed and do not extend the period. Where notice of application for tax deed has been served, a later redemption also pays $1.50 for each person served, or the cost of the certified mailings, plus the cost of any publication. On the in rem route the redeeming party also pays the county's reasonable costs of initiating the proceeding and a share of the publication cost.
How your interest accrues
Not applicable to investors. The interest runs to the county, never to a private certificate holder. It accrues at 1 percent per month or fraction of a month from the preceding February 1 under s. 74.47(1), plus up to 0.5 percent per month more where the county board or an authorized city council has adopted the optional penalty ordinance under s. 74.47(2)(a), for a combined ceiling of 1.5 percent per month or 18 percent a year, uncompounded. All of it is retained for the county under s. 74.47(3)(a). A buyer at a Wisconsin county land sale earns no interest of any kind; the return comes from the property.
How the sale works
Not applicable. Wisconsin runs no interest bid-down auction, so there is no zero percent bid and no minimum return floor. Two statutory steps look like investor sales and are not, and both show up on county calendars. The first is the September 1 tax certificate under s. 74.57: the treasurer issues it to the county, no bidder is admitted, nothing changes hands, and its only function is to start the 2 year redemption clock. A county page that says a tax certificate was issued on September 1 is describing that step, not an auction. The second is a sale of tax certificate revenues under s. 74.635, where a county sells its right to receive the payments a tax certificate represents. That is a financing transaction with the buyer of a revenue stream. It conveys no lien on any parcel, no certificate, and no path to a deed. Neither step belongs on a sale calendar. The real investor event is the county land sale under s. 75.69, held after the county already owns the parcel.
What happens when it ends
A statutory clock the county runs against itself, not an application by a certificate holder. On September 1 the county treasurer issues a tax certificate to the county on every parcel unpaid at the close of business on August 31, and within 90 days mails notice to each owner of record. Two years after issuance, if the parcel has not been redeemed, s. 74.57(2)(b) entitles the county to take a tax deed under s. 75.14, to foreclose the certificate by action as in a case of a mortgage under s. 75.19, or to foreclose the tax lien by action in rem under s. 75.521. Before a tax deed issues on the s. 75.14 route the county must serve written notice of application for tax deed on an owner of record, on an occupant where the parcel carries an occupied dwelling or business or agricultural building, and on at least one mortgagee of each unsatisfied recorded mortgage, then wait 3 months. The county board must also pass a resolution ordering issuance. Whichever route the county takes, title lands in the county in fee simple. The investor-facing event comes afterward, when the county sells land it now owns under ss. 75.35, 75.36 and 75.69. Two steps in this sequence look like investor sales and are not: the September 1 tax certificate issued to the county under s. 74.57, and a sale of tax certificate revenues under s. 74.635, which sells a payment stream and conveys no interest in any parcel.
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 Sep 10, 2026 against Wisconsin 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.