Property tax bill...reasonable?

[ezmobee]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

Here in Harrisburg the city school district is so broke they are talking about getting rid of kindergarten altogether. THAT is a system that is completely and utterly broken.

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

Two important things a homeowner should do.

1. Should have a Homestead Act in place to protect you from creditors. It is cheap money, in Mass. it cost 35.00 a one time fee. Also in Mass. if you are under 62 years of age you are covered for up to 500,000.00, if you and spouse are over 62 years of age each are covered for 500,000.00 = 1,000,000.00 And of course there are a couple of draw backs.
A. You are still obligated to the IRS, back owed state or city taxes.
B. Lender can still go after you for what you owe on your mortgage, but by this time you will be in foreclosure
C. You are still responsible for any debt accumulated prior to the date that you do the homestead.

2.When ever property values are down you should file an abatement. There has been no better time to file then now. Since 2004 I have filed twice and each time my taxes were reduced by 500.00 per year, so now I figure that I'm saving 1,000.00 per year from what I was paying in 2004.

Every state may differ.

 

[joed]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

I have never heard of "property taxes" on anything other than real estate. The only tax we pay on a boat or car is the sales tax when you buy it. I sure hope they don't get wind of that idea up here in Ontario.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

They kill us here in NC too...Each county sets their own rates!
They also add city tax and school tax! I have no kids!

County Tax
99 Tahoe....almost 200 bucks
2008 Mazda...312 bucks
2007 Camper...about 300 bucks
2005 Honda MC...180 bucks

Next thing i expect is a tax on my dogs!

They always show tax value WAY over the actual or even retail value.
If not paid you do not get to renew the license plates then they put a lien on the vehicles..
Then garnish your wages!

 

[Woodyq]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

Small correction re Ontario. On vehicles we pay an annual license fee of $74.00 which is a tax. Also in most parts of Ontario we also heve a bi-annual emissions test which is another $35.00.

We are extremely fortunate with boats and trailers (boat, RV, utility, etc) in that there is no annual fee.

However when one looks at a particular tax one must put that in perspective with the entire array of taxes within a jurisdiction.

For example we pay 13% on virtually all purchases whether they be "things" or "services". Also the amount of personnel income taxes we pay in Canada is staggering compared to the U.S. number.

So guess I'm saying we all pay the piper, just in different ways.

 

[jkust]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

They kill us here in NC too...Each county sets their own rates!
They also add city tax and school tax! I have no kids!

County Tax
99 Tahoe....almost 200 bucks
2008 Mazda...312 bucks
2007 Camper...about 300 bucks
2005 Honda MC...180 bucks

Next thing i expect is a tax on my dogs!

They always show tax value WAY over the actual or even retail value.
If not paid you do not get to renew the license plates then they put a lien on the vehicles..
Then garnish your wages!

My question is then do you also pay for license tabs renewal in addition to the personal property taxes? I pay annual renewals along the lines of the above on every vehicle, power sport and some trailers I have as well but if you pay the above amounts too...that is egregious. Once our cars hit 10 years old I think the annual fee drops to around 35$ which works for us since we always seem to keep at least one car longer than that. The result of not paying for renewal tabs is the potential to get a ticked from the cops for failure to display current registration plus you buy the tabs.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

Wow Gary that is BAD.

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

Small correction re Ontario. On vehicles we pay an annual license fee of $74.00 which is a tax. Also in most parts of Ontario we also heve a bi-annual emissions test which is another $35.00.

We are extremely fortunate with boats and trailers (boat, RV, utility, etc) in that there is no annual fee.

However when one looks at a particular tax one must put that in perspective with the entire array of taxes within a jurisdiction.

For example we pay 13% on virtually all purchases whether they be "things" or "services". Also the amount of personnel income taxes we pay in Canada is staggering compared to the U.S. number.

So guess I'm saying we all pay the piper, just in different ways.

Your so called Free Medical has to be paid from a source and that is high taxes.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

My question is then do you also pay for license tabs renewal in addition to the personal property taxes? I pay annual renewals along the lines of the above on every vehicle, power sport and some trailers I have as well but if you pay the above amounts too...that is egregious. Once our cars hit 10 years old I think the annual fee drops to around 35$ which works for us since we always seem to keep at least one car longer than that. The result of not paying for renewal tabs is the potential to get a ticked from the cops for failure to display current registration plus you buy the tabs.

Yes! Still pay the annual fees for the tags and inspections...

 

[rbh]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

Your so called Free Medical has to be paid from a source and that is high taxes.

YUP, and on top of that we still pay $102.00 per month for the wife and me.
But if one of our company's pays it it will only be a taxable benefit, about $30.00 per month depending on yearly gross.
I also "believe" that now it is manditory to have health care??????
And if you make less than, lets say $10.000 for the sake of a number, which is below the poverty line, heath care is free.

I guess our thinking is if everyone throws into the pot about the same amount, with the exception of the poor, you get unlimited healthcare for everyone.
(with the exception of dental)

 

[jkust]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

Yes! Still pay the annual fees for the tags and inspections...

That is just immoral. What is your sales tax like? Is it on all goods and services?

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

State sales tax is 7.75% Food tax is 2%...
We are getting hammered from every direction!

On gasoline i believe it is over 40 cents per gallon just state tax...

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

California here!

How about over 60 cents gas tax per gallon gasoline tax?
http://www.californiagasprices.com/Tax_Info.aspx

Our property taxes are 1.3% which is actually somewhat reasonable especially if you have owned your home for awhile because of Prop 13 but we may have a new Governor in Jerry Brown that was vigorously against Prop 13 back when it passed while he was governor before. Of course our real estate prices are one of the highest in the nation where a 1500 sq foot house can be selling for $500K. So if you buy a $500K house your property tax is $6500

Our sales tax is 9.75% in Los Angeles and of course you pay that if you buy a new or used boat as well.

Our state income tax is 9.4% on every dollar above $47K. Lower is tiered like Federal.

Property tax on a $20K boat is around $280.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

The Tax Foundation, a policy research group, estimated the average taxpayer's total state and local tax burden in 2008 for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. That burden reflects what residents pay in state and local income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, luxury taxes and fuel taxes, among others. States below are ranked from least to most tax friendly

1 New Jersey 11.8%
2 New York 11.7%
3 Connecticut 11.1%
4 Maryland 10.8%
5 Hawaii 10.6%
6 California 10.5%
7 Ohio 10.4%
8 Vermont 10.3%
8 District of Columbia 10.3%
9 Wisconsin 10.2%
10 Rhode Island 10.2%
11 Pennsylvania 10.2%
12 Minnesota 10.2%
13 Idaho 10.1%
14 Arkansas 10.0%
15 Maine 10.0%
16 Georgia 9.9%
17 Nebraska 9.8%
18 Virginia 9.8%
19 Oklahoma 9.8%
20 North Carolina 9.8%
21 Kansas 9.6%
22 Utah 9.6%
23 Massachusetts 9.5%
24 Delaware 9.5%
25 Kentucky 9.4%
26 Oregon 9.4%
27 Michigan 9.4%
28 Indiana 9.4%
29 West Virginia 9.3%
30 Illinois 9.3%
31 Iowa 9.3%
32 Missouri 9.2%
33 North Dakota 9.2%
34 Colorado 9.0%
35 Washington 8.9%
36 Mississippi 8.9%
37 South Carolina 8.8%
38 Alabama 8.6%
39 New Mexico 8.6%
40 Montana 8.6%
41 Arizona 8.5%
42 Louisiana 8.4%
43 Texas 8.4%
44 Tennessee 8.3%
45 South Dakota 7.9%
46 New Hampshire 7.6%
47 Florida 7.4%
48 Wyoming 7.0%
49 Nevada 6.6%
50 Alaska 6.4%

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

Washington is looking good compared to some of the horror stories on here.....

 

[Vlad D Impeller]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

There is property taxes that is fair and property taxes that is unfair, i am a bit ticked off to be included into the unfair category.
Somehow it seems to be fair game to discriminate against those who work hard and have something to show for their endeavours.

 

[LongLine]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

So why don't you guys come back to New York????

A couple years ago the state began taxing internet sales. If you buy something via internet from out of state, you must pay the NY sales tax. If you don't keep a record, they provide you with a schedule of what you owe based upon your income. IE if you earn $25K/yr, then you must have bought at least $X dollars worth of stuff and owe them money. If you don't do the calculation, you open yourself up to an audit where you have to prove you didn't buy anything.

Ever notice that with taxes, you're guilty until you prove you're innocent?

Tom B.
(LongLine)

 

[skargo]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

I know why MD is number 4, because of Baltimore.
Every investment property I buy, I have to appeal the tax assessment value. Of course they never drop it to what I paid for the house, that would make sense but I can lower my tax burned on each property $700-$1000 a year.

I was looking at one property recently, which would have made a really nice rental and investment. It was listed at $60K but it's taxes where $5K! I passed as I wasn't sure how much they would have dropped the assessment from it's current value of $257K.

I know people who live in Baltimore with $10K tax bills!

 

[Vlad D Impeller]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

So why don't you guys come back to New York????

A couple years ago the state began taxing internet sales. If you buy something via internet from out of state, you must pay the NY sales tax. If you don't keep a record, they provide you with a schedule of what you owe based upon your income. IE if you earn $25K/yr, then you must have bought at least $X dollars worth of stuff and owe them money. If you don't do the calculation, you open yourself up to an audit where you have to prove you didn't buy anything.

Ever notice that with taxes, you're guilty until you prove you're innocent?

Tom B.
(LongLine)

How does it work if one bills to a state other than to where the product was shipped to ?

 

[LongLine]

Re: Property tax bill...reasonable?

Vlad - If you live in NY and you made $25K, you MUST HAVE bought $X via the internet from out of state. If you live in NY and you made $50K, you MUST HAVE bought $X+Y. The taxman says if you live in NY you MUST HAVE bought something on the internet out of state therefore you owe salestax on it.

Even if you don't have access to a computer, never bought anything out of state and don't even know what the internet is, they say you're guilty of doing it and must pay the income rated salestax. Doesn't matter where you had it shipped or billed. If you leave that line blank on the income tax form, enter zero, or don't pay the minimum for your income bracket, you can expect an audit where you have to prove you didn't buy anything.

Really sucks. And they wonder why people leave NY?

Tom B.
(LongLine)