[mrboast]

Originally Posted by atlantis7

Taxes is like a magic trick some places. No income tax but outrageous USE and PROPERTY taxes.

The only problem with Texas is Texas..and taxes.
Actually, hill country is fine. The rest you can give back to Mexico.

I moved here from Tennessee so my wife could take a good job.
Five months, one house and a hurricane later....no job.

Texas may be a no income tax state but you get nailed on everything else.

My municipality just raised taxes because they discovered they were not prepared to deal with a big storm! How many big storms does it take before these Einsteins can screw in a light bulb? Hello..you're in a hurricane zone. Stop building slab homes on flood zone swamp land that is
10 feet above sea level! Stop building cardboard stilt houses that fly apart in 50 mph winds if high water doesn't knock them off their pilings first!

I pay 600. a year in assn. dues. I pay 1600 for windstorm and then you have to fight them if one comes to pay up on a claim. I pay 1500 for a utility tax so they can keep laying pipe for all the miles of sprawl that keeps on coming. Then..well, lets just compare Texas taxes to Tennessee.

I had a home on three acres with a creek on Signal Mountain that was valued at 300k. I paid 1100. property taxes a year, No homeowners assn fees either because everyone didn't have to pay to be told to be clean and neat...and we all planted flowers at our entrance and chipped in.

Here in Houston for my 250k home in sardine-ville, I pay 7500. a year in property taxes. You won't see a lone star flag flying outside my house.

Hey and Tennessee has hills and seasons, good roads, and reasonable housing built on lots that don't allow you to reach into your neighbors bathroom from yours. Go Vols.

But..my wife has family here so we compromised. We aren't moving back to Tennessee ..rather to Hot Springs because it's quality of life, change of seasons, lots of nature and no horrendous hour commutes.

At least in Arkansas, you HAVE nature. Here, it's hellacious heat, traffic, primetime crme, refineries, power lines and concrete flatlands.At least on income tax, you can get most of it back. Property taxes are gone forever.

Yes, I have done all of this research and still concluded you can save a whole lot more money in Texas. Real estate taxes are 2.5% or so in the DFW area versus 1.0% in Arkansas...income taxes are 7% versus 0%...sales tax is a wash..(and we will even consider Arkansas' petty personal property taxes a wash with Texas' mandatory inspections, which isn't so) so tell me if I'm wrong here...

Scenario 1:
$100,000 salary: Arkansas taxes approximately $6,000 (progressive income tax so not quite 7%), Texas $0.

$250,000 house: Arkansas taxes approximately $2,500, Texas $6,250 (and I've looked...housing prices not that far apart)

Total taxes: Arkansas $8,500, Texas $6,250


Scenario 2: (the physician or executive scenario)
$500,000 salary: Arkansas taxes approximately $35,000, Texas $0

$600,000 house: Arkansas taxes $6,000, Texas $15,000 ($800,000 house would be Arkansas $8,000 Texas $20,000)

Total Taxes: Arkansas $41,000, Texas, $15,000 (or Arkansas $43,000 vs. Texas $20,000 if assuming a bigger house)

And obviously the more you make the bigger the contrast...as long as you don't go crazy on your home.

Am I wrong? The data does not lie!

[mrboast]

Originally Posted by hotair2

I can't really tell if this tax calculation includes property tax? To me what is even more damning is not the tax percentage but per capita income. Arkansas is only behind West Virginia in the lowest per capita income in the union. This is what I have been preaching about for so long. We need higher paying jobs here and a more intelligent work force. I know the low wages probably do not bother the older retired set, but for those of us who work here it is a big problem.

Hotair, at the top it talks about how most tables exclude property/real estate taxes, but not this one...the chart includes all taxes...I just don't think Arkansas' cheaper property taxes make up for the fact that they get 5-7% of your income..if you are conservative with your finances and plan to make at least 3 or 4 times the median income, it's cheaper to live elsewhere.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by mrboast

Yes, I have done all of this research and still concluded you can save a whole lot more money in Texas. Real estate taxes are 2.5% or so in the DFW area versus 1.0% in Arkansas...income taxes are 7% versus 0%...sales tax is a wash..so tell me if I'm wrong here...

Scenario 1:
$100,000 salary: Arkansas taxes approximately $6,000 (progressive income tax so not 7%), Texas $0.

$250,000 house: Arkansas taxes approximately $2,500, Texas $6,250 (and I've looked...housing prices not that far apart)

Total taxes: Arkansas $8,500, Texas $6,250


Scenario 2: (the physician or executive scenario)
$500,000 salary: Arkansas taxes approximately $35,000, Texas $0

$600,000 house: Arkansas taxes $6,000, Texas $15,000

Total Taxes: Arkansas $41,000, Texas, $15,000

And obviously the more you make the bigger the contrast...

Am I wrong? The data from the taxfoundation does not lie.

I am sure we are all glad you have done your homework and obviously you do not see any advantage to living in AR. If you really think your charts are for real, keep on thinking that. I am not sure what the point of all this is, unless you want to forwarn people not to move to AR, if that is your point I doubt you will convince many people to go elsewhere.

Nita

ps: you give the expample of a $600,000 home, one needs to realize, there is more to cost of living than simple taxes, that $600,000 home in Texas would be more like $400,000 here, depending where in AR and where in Texas one was living.

[JerseyGirl314]

I'm not even sure why I took a look at the tax charts b/c I already knew that NJ was #1! Hence the reason to head out of this State.

[nmnita]

Mrboast,

If you are happy living in Dallas good for you, it is a great place to live for many. We lived there for 13 years, but why are you here, telling us about the taxes in our state? Are you planning on relocating?

Nita

[hotair2]

Originally Posted by nmnita

I am sure we are all glad you have done your homework and obviously you do not see any advantage to living in AR. If you really think your charts are for real, keep on thinking that. I am not sure what the point of all this is, unless you want to forwarn people not to move to AR, if that is your point I doubt you will convince many people to go elsewhere.

Nita

ps: you give the expample of a $600,000 home, one needs to realize, there is more to cost of living than simple taxes, that $600,000 home in Texas would be more like $400,000 here, depending where in AR and where in Texas one was living.

Nita makes one good point. The cost of homes are not the same. The cost of homes in Arkansas are a lot cheaper than those in Dallas, based on my experience with the Dallas Market. You have to weigh the cheaper home against, higher taxes, lower average income etc.

[PurpleLove08]

Originally Posted by strumpeace

Laughing hysterically.

Perhaps you are unaware or have forgotten that during Mr. Huckabee's reign in Arkansas, we had to pay a 'surcharge' on our income taxes. A tax on a tax! How much more ridiculous can you get?

Huckabee also refused to support the 'ax the food tax' movement.

He was as 'big tax' as you can get.

Under our current (Democrat) governor, sales tax on groceries has been cut in half. And there is no more 'surcharge' on income taxes. If you miss Huckabee, then you miss higher taxes -- because that's exactly what Huckabee brought us.

There isn't a huge difference between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to the state legislature.

[hotair2]

Originally Posted by PurpleLove08

There isn't a huge difference between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to the state legislature.

Agreed.

[adysmom]

If you want to know what high taxes are move to California.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by adysmom

If you want to know what high taxes are move to California.

that's for sure. Plus housing is still crazy. Someone asked me to check a listing they had seen in Encinitas Ca the other day. Encinitas (spelling) is north of San Diego and yes, it is a bedroom community but pretty far from the city: 1300 sq feet, built in 1986 with 3 bedrooms and 1 plus baths on a lot that is 5,000 sq feet: asking price $245,000. Apparently that is a steal for the area. .. Now, we can all be happy we live here or at least somewhat happy..

Nita