diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/PropertyExtensions.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/PropertyExtensions.cs
index 7474d9fb92..519b022d39 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/PropertyExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/PropertyExtensions.cs
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Models
             return property.ToXml(ApplicationContext.Current.Services.DataTypeService);
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Creates the xml representation for the <see cref="Property"/> object
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="property"><see cref="Property"/> to generate xml for</param>
+        /// <param name="dataTypeService"></param>
+        /// <returns>Xml of the property and its value</returns>
         internal static XElement ToXml(this Property property, IDataTypeService dataTypeService)
         {
             var nodeName = UmbracoConfig.For.UmbracoSettings().Content.UseLegacyXmlSchema ? "data" : property.Alias.ToSafeAlias();
@@ -33,10 +39,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Models
                 xElement.Add(a);
             }
 
-            // * Get the XML result from the property editor if there is one, otherwise just construct a simple
-            //      XML construct from the value returned from the Property Editor.
-            // More details discussed here: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/umbraco-dev/fieWZzHj7oY
-
+            //Get the property editor for thsi property and let it convert it to the xml structure
             var propertyEditor = PropertyEditorResolver.Current.GetByAlias(property.PropertyType.PropertyEditorAlias);
             if (propertyEditor != null)
             {
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/Repositories/ContentRepository.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/Repositories/ContentRepository.cs
index f6ca49c57b..eebb332f65 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/Repositories/ContentRepository.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/Repositories/ContentRepository.cs
@@ -319,6 +319,12 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence.Repositories
                 property.Id = keyDictionary[property.PropertyTypeId];
             }
 
+            //lastly, check if we are a creating a published version , then update the tags table
+            if (entity.Published)
+            {
+                UpdatePropertyTags(entity);
+            }
+
             ((ICanBeDirty)entity).ResetDirtyProperties();
         }
 
@@ -458,26 +464,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence.Repositories
             //lastly, check if we are a newly published version and then update the tags table
             if (isNewPublishedVersion)
             {
-                foreach (var tagProp in entity.Properties.Where(x => x.TagSupport.Enable))
-                {
-                    if (tagProp.TagSupport.Behavior == PropertyTagBehavior.Remove)
-                    {
-                        //remove the specific tags
-                        _tagRepository.RemoveTagsFromProperty(
-                            entity.Id,
-                            tagProp.Alias,
-                            tagProp.TagSupport.Tags.Select(x => new Tag {Text = x.Item1, Group = x.Item2}));
-                    }
-                    else
-                    {
-                        //assign the tags
-                        _tagRepository.AssignTagsToProperty(
-                            entity.Id,
-                            tagProp.Alias,
-                            tagProp.TagSupport.Tags.Select(x => new Tag {Text = x.Item1, Group = x.Item2}),
-                            tagProp.TagSupport.Behavior == PropertyTagBehavior.Replace);
-                    }                    
-                }
+                UpdatePropertyTags(entity);
             }
 
             ((ICanBeDirty)entity).ResetDirtyProperties();
@@ -576,6 +563,34 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence.Repositories
 
         #endregion
         
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Updates the tag repository with any tag enabled properties and their values
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="entity"></param>
+        private void UpdatePropertyTags(IContentBase entity)
+        {
+            foreach (var tagProp in entity.Properties.Where(x => x.TagSupport.Enable))
+            {
+                if (tagProp.TagSupport.Behavior == PropertyTagBehavior.Remove)
+                {
+                    //remove the specific tags
+                    _tagRepository.RemoveTagsFromProperty(
+                        entity.Id,
+                        tagProp.Alias,
+                        tagProp.TagSupport.Tags.Select(x => new Tag { Text = x.Item1, Group = x.Item2 }));
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    //assign the tags
+                    _tagRepository.AssignTagsToProperty(
+                        entity.Id,
+                        tagProp.Alias,
+                        tagProp.TagSupport.Tags.Select(x => new Tag { Text = x.Item1, Group = x.Item2 }),
+                        tagProp.TagSupport.Behavior == PropertyTagBehavior.Replace);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Private method to create a content object from a DocumentDto, which is used by Get and GetByVersion.
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Services/ContentServiceTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Services/ContentServiceTests.cs
index e15f05817d..e3b6f15a81 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Services/ContentServiceTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Services/ContentServiceTests.cs
@@ -35,6 +35,128 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Services
         //TODO Add test to verify there is only ONE newest document/content in cmsDocument table after updating.
         //TODO Add test to delete specific version (with and without deleting prior versions) and versions by date.
 
+        [Test]
+        public void Does_Not_Create_Tag_Data_For_Non_Published_Version()
+        {
+            //Arrange
+            var contentService = ServiceContext.ContentService;
+            var contentTypeService = ServiceContext.ContentTypeService;
+            var contentType = MockedContentTypes.CreateSimpleContentType("umbMandatory", "Mandatory Doc Type", true);
+            contentType.PropertyGroups.First().PropertyTypes.Add(
+                new PropertyType("test", DataTypeDatabaseType.Ntext)
+                {
+                    Alias = "tags",
+                    DataTypeDefinitionId = 1041
+                });
+            contentTypeService.Save(contentType);
+            var content = MockedContent.CreateSimpleContent(contentType, "Tagged content", 1046);
+            content.SetTags("tags", new[] { "hello", "world", "some", "tags" }, true);
+            contentService.Publish(content);
+
+            // Act
+            content.SetTags("tags", new[] { "another", "world" }, false);
+            contentService.Save(content);
+
+            // Assert
+
+            //the value will have changed but the tags db table will not have
+            Assert.AreEqual(5, content.Properties["tags"].Value.ToString().Split(',').Distinct().Count());
+            var propertyTypeId = contentType.PropertyTypes.Single(x => x.Alias == "tags").Id;
+            Assert.AreEqual(4, DatabaseContext.Database.ExecuteScalar<int>(
+                "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM cmsTagRelationship WHERE nodeId=@nodeId AND propertyTypeId=@propTypeId",
+                new { nodeId = content.Id, propTypeId = propertyTypeId }));
+        }
+
+	    [Test]
+	    public void Can_Replace_Tag_Data_To_Published_Content()
+	    {
+            //Arrange
+            var contentService = ServiceContext.ContentService;
+            var contentTypeService = ServiceContext.ContentTypeService;
+            var contentType = MockedContentTypes.CreateSimpleContentType("umbMandatory", "Mandatory Doc Type", true);
+            contentType.PropertyGroups.First().PropertyTypes.Add(
+                new PropertyType("test", DataTypeDatabaseType.Ntext)
+                    {
+                        Alias = "tags", 
+                        DataTypeDefinitionId = 1041
+                    });            
+            contentTypeService.Save(contentType);
+
+            var content = MockedContent.CreateSimpleContent(contentType, "Tagged content", 1046);
+	        
+            
+            // Act
+            content.SetTags("tags", new[] { "hello", "world", "some", "tags" }, true);
+            contentService.Publish(content);
+
+            // Assert
+            Assert.AreEqual(4, content.Properties["tags"].Value.ToString().Split(',').Distinct().Count());
+	        var propertyTypeId = contentType.PropertyTypes.Single(x => x.Alias == "tags").Id;
+	        Assert.AreEqual(4, DatabaseContext.Database.ExecuteScalar<int>(
+	            "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM cmsTagRelationship WHERE nodeId=@nodeId AND propertyTypeId=@propTypeId",
+	            new {nodeId = content.Id, propTypeId = propertyTypeId}));
+	    }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void Can_Append_Tag_Data_To_Published_Content()
+        {
+            //Arrange
+            var contentService = ServiceContext.ContentService;
+            var contentTypeService = ServiceContext.ContentTypeService;
+            var contentType = MockedContentTypes.CreateSimpleContentType("umbMandatory", "Mandatory Doc Type", true);
+            contentType.PropertyGroups.First().PropertyTypes.Add(
+                new PropertyType("test", DataTypeDatabaseType.Ntext)
+                {
+                    Alias = "tags",
+                    DataTypeDefinitionId = 1041
+                });
+            contentTypeService.Save(contentType);
+            var content = MockedContent.CreateSimpleContent(contentType, "Tagged content", 1046);
+            content.SetTags("tags", new[] { "hello", "world", "some", "tags" }, true);
+            contentService.Publish(content);
+            
+            // Act
+            content.SetTags("tags", new[] { "another", "world" }, false);
+            contentService.Publish(content);
+
+            // Assert
+            Assert.AreEqual(5, content.Properties["tags"].Value.ToString().Split(',').Distinct().Count());
+            var propertyTypeId = contentType.PropertyTypes.Single(x => x.Alias == "tags").Id;
+            Assert.AreEqual(5, DatabaseContext.Database.ExecuteScalar<int>(
+                "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM cmsTagRelationship WHERE nodeId=@nodeId AND propertyTypeId=@propTypeId",
+                new { nodeId = content.Id, propTypeId = propertyTypeId }));
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void Can_Remove_Tag_Data_To_Published_Content()
+        {
+            //Arrange
+            var contentService = ServiceContext.ContentService;
+            var contentTypeService = ServiceContext.ContentTypeService;
+            var contentType = MockedContentTypes.CreateSimpleContentType("umbMandatory", "Mandatory Doc Type", true);
+            contentType.PropertyGroups.First().PropertyTypes.Add(
+                new PropertyType("test", DataTypeDatabaseType.Ntext)
+                {
+                    Alias = "tags",
+                    DataTypeDefinitionId = 1041
+                });
+            contentTypeService.Save(contentType);
+            var content = MockedContent.CreateSimpleContent(contentType, "Tagged content", 1046);
+            content.SetTags("tags", new[] { "hello", "world", "some", "tags" }, true);
+            contentService.Publish(content);
+
+            // Act
+            content.RemoveTags("tags", new[] { "some", "world" });
+            contentService.Publish(content);
+
+            // Assert
+            Assert.AreEqual(2, content.Properties["tags"].Value.ToString().Split(',').Distinct().Count());
+            var propertyTypeId = contentType.PropertyTypes.Single(x => x.Alias == "tags").Id;
+            Assert.AreEqual(2, DatabaseContext.Database.ExecuteScalar<int>(
+                "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM cmsTagRelationship WHERE nodeId=@nodeId AND propertyTypeId=@propTypeId",
+                new { nodeId = content.Id, propTypeId = propertyTypeId }));
+        }
+
 	    [Test]
 	    public void Can_Remove_Property_Type()
 	    {