Getting Started with Online Payments
Thank you for making your Town of Becket and District tax payments through our online payment system, Unipay Gold, provided by Unibank in Whitinsville, MA. There is a one-time registration process to get yourself set up to make your quarterly payments a simple, quick process going forward. You will be creating a user name which can be anything you would like to use as long as it is available. You will also be creating a password that has to be at least 8 characters including at least one special (non alpha-numeric) character. Other information you will need before beginning is name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and the bank’s routing and account numbers for the checking account you prefer to make your tax payments from.
With your information in hand you are ready to sign up. Click on the following link to “Pay Your Taxes Online”. This will bring you to the Unipay Gold page. In the upper right hand corner click on the link to “Login”. Under Member Log In on the next page click on the link “Register”. On the next page start at the top completing the form with all of the requested information ending with the security questions at the bottom.
Click the “Register” link. Log in with your newly created user name and password. Answer security questions and choose enhanced security if using your private computer. When prompted, under search, select the Town of Becket from the pull down list. Click on “My Account” in the upper right hand corner of the page. In the left hand margin click on the link to “Manage Payment Methods”.
On the next page click on “Add Bank Account”. Complete the form with the previously gathered banking information. The account description is anything you want to enter to recognize your account such as “ABC Bank Checking”. It is very important that your account number is entered correctly, please check it twice because while the site can detect an invalid routing number it can not detect an incorrect account number.
Click on “Save” to save your account information. From here you should log out and make sure you can log in with your newly created log in name and password (make sure you save them in a safe location for future payments). If possible, you may want to make your first payment early to make sure your bank info is correct and the ACH payment is processed. Once you know it works, then future payments right up until the due date should be fine provided funds are available in the account.
Making Online Payments
Before beginning to make online payments you need to gather your paper bill(s) or if they’re not available call the Collector’s Office (413-623-8934 Ext 16) to get the information necessary to make payments. The essentials you need to make payments are what type of tax (real estate, personal property, excise, or one of the districts) is being paid and what fiscal year the bill is from. These two pieces of information will be clearly stated in the top middle portion of your bill. The other thing you will need is the bill number from the upper right hand section of the bill.
Now that you are newly registered or if you’re just returning to make payments on a new quarter, click on the following link to “Pay Your Taxes Online”. This will bring you to the Unipay Gold page. In the upper right hand corner of the page click on the “Log In” link, then enter your log in information and click “Log In”. Select Becket from the pulldown menu if prompted. This will bring you to the welcome page where in the left hand margin click on the transaction type.
Click on “Becket” if you’re paying real estate, personal property, or excise tax Click on “Districts” to make a payment on one of the district bills, or “Transfer Station” to purchase permits and/or bag stickers. Whichever selection you click on, a pull down menu will appear where you will click on the type of tax you are paying.
On the next screen enter your bill number and the fiscal year (4 digits) then submit. At this point you need to verify that your name and property address come up correctly. Incorrect taxpayer information here usually indicates the wrong fiscal year was entered. If the property info is correct then you may proceed to entering the amount you would like to pay. The amount that shows up as being due is for the current quarter only or zero will display if you are making a payment after the due date. If you are paying any taxes past the due date, have taxes left over from a prior quarter, or the amount shown on your bill differs from the amount due displayed on the site, you will need to call the collector for an updated amount good for the day.
If you are paying for two quarters of the same bill before the due date of the earlier quarter, simply add the two quarters together and enter that amount. Once the amount is entered click the “Add to Cart” button. If you have another bill to pay click on “Continue Shopping” and repeat the process until the payments for all of your bills are in the cart. After you have reviewed the payments and they look correct click on the “Checkout” button. All of your contact information should be displayed on the next page. Click on “Continue”.
On the next page a picture of your check with a “select” button should appear and you will need to click there to pay with that checking account. From here you will be walked through a confirmation of your billing and payment information. If you would like to schedule your payment for a future date that is accomplished here on the billing information screen. You need to check the “scheduled payment” box, then you will have access to the calendar to schedule a payment date. Click on “Proceed” and follow the process through.
Finally, a confirmation number for your payment(s) will be displayed at the completion. You will also receive a confirming e-mail and if you scheduled the payment you will receive another confirming e-mail, usually the day after the scheduled payment date. Please call our office if you have any questions.