Taxes (sales, real estate, calculation)

[weroses]

I heard that in New Mexico that the taxes were very low Anybody know about this?
And there is no taxes on personal property Is this true?

[highdesertmutz]

No personal property taxes. Retail sales taxes are 7.5%. In some locations, low real estate taxes. personal income taxes about average.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?...oq=home+on+the#

[funkymonkey]

There is tax on business personal property, ie equipment you use in your business.

There's property tax on real estate.
There's gross receipts tax on goods/services which ranges from ~5%-7%+ depending on the locality.
The top marginal state tax income tax rate is around 5% and kicks in at $16,000.

How this compares to other states, I don't really know except that the income tax is higher than Texas and lower than California. The property tax rate is much lower than Texas.

[jufamarie]

Am I understanding you funkymonkey that NM has a state income tax besides regular federal income tax?

[Poncho_NM]

Yes, NM has a state income tax in addition to the normal federal income tax.


Rich

[jazzlover]

The only states that would be considered part of the Rocky Mountain region that DO NOT have a state income tax are Wyoming and South Dakota (though, aside from having the Black Hills, I consider South Dakota one of the Plains states). Montana has pretty steep state income taxes, but no sales tax. All the others have both sales and income taxes of varying forms and rates.

[highdesertmutz]

New Mexico is one state that does not tax social security beneficiaries.

[Mike Horrell]

Originally Posted by highdesertmutz

New Mexico is one state that does not tax social security beneficiaries.

That's good news; I hadn't realized that. We start collecting early payments next year.
We're not waiting until 65, 66, 67 or whatever to file, we're gettin' what we can as fast
as we can.

[highdesertmutz]

Originally Posted by Mike Horrell

That's good news; I hadn't realized that. We start collecting early payments next year.
We're not waiting until 65, 66, 67 or whatever to file, we're gettin' what we can as fast
as we can.

But if you take it at 62, isn't it reduced drastically?

[Mike Horrell]

Originally Posted by highdesertmutz

But if you take it at 62, isn't it reduced drastically?

It certainly looses a big chunk but in our case we'll have to hit our late 70s before
we start to actually fall behind in total benefits paid. I'd rather rely on getting
into the system and "locked in" as well as 15-16 years of increased income while
we can take best advantage of it than worry about slowly falling behind on total
pay out.

The IRS site has charts and calculations to illustrate alternate pay-out curves.
Debbie retired 5 years early because we had reached a pension level that was
very good and that would only improve by a couple thousand dollars a year
if she stayed another 5 years. Instead, we moved to Central America, had
lots of adventures, made good friends and enjoyed a lifestyle that will not
exist much longer (CA is going down the tubes rapidly).

It's all about trade-offs and I think a surprising number of middle-income Americans
could actually benefit from collecting early SS. Certainly, not all, but a good number.