Taxes in NC....Help (sales, townhomes, buy)

[CJ-FROM-NJ]

I am seeing a lot of taxes in the NC area that don't exist up in NJ like the Car tax? What exactly is that? How often is it paid? What kind of taxes do you pay each year besides the property tax? Is there local taxes as well?

I also see that NC takes out more state tax than NJ. I thought NC was much cheaper than NJ but I see now that they get you on taxes. I am scared about that since the jobs down there pay way less than up here.

[Desdemona123]

Originally Posted by CJ-FROM-NJ

I am seeing a lot of taxes in the NC area that don't exist up in NJ like the Car tax? What exactly is that? How often is it paid? What kind of taxes do you pay each year besides the property tax? Is there local taxes as well?

I also see that NC takes out more state tax than NJ. I thought NC was much cheaper than NJ but I see now that they get you on taxes. I am scared about that since the jobs down there pay way less than up here.

The car tax really is something that sounds worse then it is. You pay it yearly, it's based on the value of the car, if you think they are putting a higher value on the car then it's worth, you can submit an independent appraisal. (I pay 52 dollars for an older car....it's not a lot.) The rate they tax at varies by county.

As for other taxes...I think it all evens out....There aren't city income taxes (anywhere I've heard about) so if you live in one city and work in another you aren't double taxed (like we were in Ohio!)

There is tax on more food items I am used to (2% on most grocery items), but many other states have these taxes so it may be relative depending on where you are from.

From all I've read, when it comes to taxes, NC is in the middle of the pack by state....not the worst, not the lowest.

[Bull City Rising]

Originally Posted by CJ-FROM-NJ

I am seeing a lot of taxes in the NC area that don't exist up in NJ like the Car tax? What exactly is that? How often is it paid? What kind of taxes do you pay each year besides the property tax? Is there local taxes as well?

I also see that NC takes out more state tax than NJ. I thought NC was much cheaper than NJ but I see now that they get you on taxes. I am scared about that since the jobs down there pay way less than up here.

I don't think the taxes here are all that bad. One thing to consider is that, unlike Fla. and some other southern/western states, there are no impact fees on new houses/townhomes -- so the regular ol' tax base has to foot all the costs for increasing the water, sewer, roads, schools, and so forth.

So yeah, there are some taxes. The car tax is an annual fee that's 3% of the depreciated value of the vehicle (but you don't pay sales tax when you buy a new car.) In addition, you pay property taxes, which are LOW -- both in terms of millage rate and because valuations here are lower than in the northeast and the Pacific states. And, there is sales tax on goods purchased.

In the end, costs are lower and jobs pay less. Several posters recently have had interesting comparisons of NY/LI/NJ costs to the NC costs. To be honest... in my experience, these things do kind of tend to just "balance out" in the end. The purchase price of a house is less, but I wouldn't expect things to be "cheap."

I always try to keep in mind that when people move here for good schools, good roads, quality of life, etc. ... that all costs something! I have bad memories growing up in Orlando, watching as, from the mid-80s on, practically every attempt to raise taxes to cope with growth was blocked. Now traffic in Orlando is among the ten worst in the U.S. and the schools are absolutely awful, so coupled with rampant overdevelopment, folks are leaving. There's a lesson in this! :-)

[mm34b]

The so called "Car Tax" is just a single aspect of the run-of-the mill annual property tax on homes, land, motor vehicles (tagged & untagged), water-craft, trailers, aircraft, boat motors and such. The property tax rate varies greatly depending on where one lives within the state. Some local rates are high and some are low.

The 3% Highway Use Tax (HUT) is a one-time tax when registering a motor vehicle in the state of North Carolina. However, newcomers to the state will only pay $150 or less per title. Some newcomers will pay no HUT.

The once-a-year taxes for most residents in NC are:

Income (state-wide tax)
Property (local tax)

The overall NC tax burden is only average compared to the other states. Nothing special here, good or bad.

NC Department of Revenue

http://www.dornc.com/taxes/

[CJ-FROM-NJ]

Thank you for the info everyone.