taxes in IN (Gary, Hammond, Valparaiso: for sale, rent, assessor)

[winters816]

We relocated to IL 2 years ago and currently rent a 3 bed in western burb. I want to move to IN but what are the tax consequeces of working in Chicago and living in IN? We are looking to buy in Chesterton. We commute to fed district in Chicago. I don't get why more chicagoans don't move in IN what am i missing? We are from farmland in MO so it is perfect for us. I really miss a small town. So I am wondering what the major diffrences are. To my understanding there is no tax on grocery food, lower property taxes. Yearly property tax on cars?

[domergurl]

People in Chicago seem to think that living "out" in Indiana is like moving to Mars. It's amazing to me that they think this way because there are people who live further out from the city while staying in Illinois who have longer commutes than those coming in from Chesterton. To each his own I guess. But in the past 10 years, many many chicagoans are waking up to NWI as a cheaper alternative to live than tax heck Illinois.

I'm sure you'll be hit with extra taxes working in Illinois and living in Indiana, but you'll still reap the benefits of less taxes overall, cheaper prices and sales tax and having space. Yes, Indiana does not tax groceries or medicine and your property taxes will plummet (compared to Illinois). Tagging cars though, is much more expensive in Indiana. You pay according to the age of your car, which can get expensive.

Best wishes for finding a wonderful home in Chesterton!

[Irishangel29]

I have to agree with the above posts. You do have to file income taxes for both states but i haven't heard an insane amount of complaints on that. Gas is generally cheaper out towards Chesterton (I live outside Hobart/Wheeler/Valpo). Some counties have a 'county tax'. I don't know what property taxes you pay but generally they are cheaper in IN....check with the Porter County Assessor office though. Hammond property taxes can be as high as 5.8%, while I've seen 2.5 or so for other towns. Chesterton is pretty nice, convenient for commuting too.

[cd771]

I moved to Valparaiso in Sept and am surprised at the payroll tax situation. I work in Chicago and have to pay tax to IN and IL plus the Porter Co payroll tax. IL's payroll tax is going up soon so I'm wondering exactly how much this is going to end up costing. The car tax is higher also. Property tax however is much lower and of course having no tax on food makes a difference on the grocery bill and gas is much lower. Now is probably a great time to buy in the area. There seems to be a lot of houses for sale, at least in Valpo. I'd imagine prices are pretty good. I'm not too familiar with Chesterton, I've only been to the downtown area which is really charming. The Indiana Dunes are very close also. I think what keeps most people away is the commute time which is pretty long and the lack of decent paying jobs. I'd also guess alot of people don't know much about the area. I get a lot of comments at work. Some from people who live just as far in IL.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[sueprnova]

How long is your commute in? Do you take the train or drive? We settled in Chicago for the winter....just to have a place to live when we finally totally relocated....While I work in westchester, IL (whatever) my hubby works downtown on Jackson/Wabash....
I'm/we're still deciding wth to do.....*sigh*

[ARAS-PM]

Anywhere in IN to Westchester is going to be a hike. The problem is the traffic...IN to downtown though shouldn't be too bad.

My county tax is what surprised me the most. I am self-employed, so I always owe the state and make estimated payments. My husband works in IL and the dual state tax isn't that bad. The problem in my town is definitely the county tax. It went from .0185 to .0305 in my county, to give a relative example, IL's STATE tax is about 3%, so now I'm paying IL 3% on my husband's income, plus IN income tax, plus my county tax of 3%.

The car thing isn't too bad unless you drive new cars all the time, then you could get hit with 400-500 in car taxes too, but they are then partially tax deductible if you itemize on your returns.

I still think overall taxes are lower in IN, because in IL my house was worth half as much and the property taxes on my five acres were six times as much ($3885 per installment) than my five acres here ($1000 for the year). The no food tax is great too, as is the lower gas.

Sincerely,
Catherine

[Mamama Mia]

Northwest Indiana is booming, I am always astonishing at how much building is taking place. We are in that area every 3 months or so and there is always new construction.
St. John is a place that is very interesting to me, there is a subdivision built on what was once a golf course and it is amazing. From what I have learned, for the most part, the shorter the drive in to Chicago, the more expensive the property.
Paying tax in two states doesn't sound like fun.

[artemis]

Illinois & Indiana used to have a reciprocal agreement, when did that go away?

[Future Trooper]

what do you mean by reciprocal agreement?

[artemis]

For instance, I used to work in Gary with a guy that lived in Country Club Hills, IL. Our employer used to withhold his State taxes at the (higher) Illinois rate instead of Indiana. Likewise, if an Indiana employee worked at US Steel Southside, US Steel would withhold at the Indiana rate instead of the Illinois rate.

I know Illinois has a reciprocal agreement with Wisconsin & Iowa, because I have worked with people from both places when I lived in NW Illinois, I wonder why they did away with it for Indiana workers.