Does no sales tax make things any more expensive? (Nashua: car registration, insurance)

[StepRN3]

We are thinking of moving to New Hampshire and noticed that there isn't any sales tax or state income tax. Are things more expensive because of that? I'm really curious to know. Thanks!

[BF66389]

Nope. Overall tax burden is one of the lowest in the US. Car insurance and other expenses like that are reasonable too.

Property taxes vary heavily town by town and are higher than some states (most towns with good schools have higher property taxes, but high property taxes don't necessarily mean good schools...so research carefully).

I will encourage you to vote in a fiscally responsible manner...otherwise we will see costs go up. NH has a long history of smaller government and high rates of local involvement instead...keeping that history strong is nice- and that means local involvement on new resident's parts as well.

[daniellefort]

It depends what state your coming from. Coming from FL, it's alot more expensive to live in NH. I was paying $42 for my car registration, here in NH almost $200. Car insurance was about the same. Then another $30 for yearly inspections. Have to register your pets in NH for $8.50 each - no registrations required in FL. Property taxes very high as well compared to FL. Heating for the winter much higher. Wood is becoming harder to find up here in northern NH so cost of buying it also is going up. Overall, after being originally from NH then moving to FL for 14 years then coming back, I think NH is very expensive to live in.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by daniellefort

Wood is becoming harder to find up here in northern NH so cost of buying it also is going up.

Why is that? I was thinking more people were switching over to pellet stoves and gas stoves? I have five heat sources that I use for my house.

[BF66389]

I agree it obviously depends on where you are coming from; certain areas of the country are far more expensive and certain areas are far less expensive. I recall you saying you were from CT in a previous post; in which case you would find your yearly expenses in NH to be very reasonable.

[NH2008]

The cost of items isn't affected by the lack of a sales tax. When the Gap sells a shirt and collects sales tax in Ohio, the Gap gets the cost of the shirt and the tax goes to Ohio gov't. So the Gap charges the same thing for a shirt in Ohio and NH, it just doesn't have to collect sales tax here - making the cost to you lower.

Property taxes are higher here as that's how towns get the money to fund schools, pay police, etc in the absence of other taxes.

[buck naked]

ayuh - no sales doesn't mean higher prices

my girls were in a wedding recently and purchased bridesmaids dresses - the one in NH paid $125....same dress in NY was $149 with the added sales tax.

[WannaComeHome]

my mother, who lives in southern VA, insists that because there's no sales or income tax, prices are higher! She thinks the cost of trucking things there makes them cost more.Like it's cheaper to truck things across country or something. Can't seem to convince her!

I know we've stopped at Target in Nashua and found the prices to be quite reasonable in comparison to our Target in MD.

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Why is that? I was thinking more people were switching over to pellet stoves and gas stoves? I have five heat sources that I use for my house.

Logging has been slowing down significantly here in northern NH and the loggers are now selling their wood to the pellet companies instead of to those who still use wood stoves. I haven't heard too many switching over to pellet stoves because they do run on electric as well and if the power goes out, unless you buy a battery back up, you still have no heat. Pellets are not cheap and electric costs are no better. If we can stick with just regular wood burning stoves, it's cheaper in the long run.

[buck naked]

Originally Posted by daniellefort

Logging has been slowing down significantly here in northern NH and the loggers are now selling their wood to the pellet companies instead of to those who still use wood stoves. I haven't heard too many switching over to pellet stoves because they do run on electric as well and if the power goes out, unless you buy a battery back up, you still have no heat. Pellets are not cheap and electric costs are no better. If we can stick with just regular wood burning stoves, it's cheaper in the long run.

my generator ran the pellet stove just fine. Pellet stoves burn much cleaner than traditional wood stoves with hardly any smoke. In comparison my neighbor's woodstove chokes the entire neighborhood.

Pellets are a lot cheaper than oil. 3 tons will last the winter - that is $750. versus double that in oil costs.