taxes in ohio? (Monroe: sales, real estate, car insurance)

[waysofmylife]

Hi -

As I have been doing tons of research on Ohio - do to work relocating me from CA. I read that a lot of people have left due to "taxes". Now doing researching and comparing Ohio taxes to CA - Ohio has far less taxes that I can see.

Can someone please give me a little more insight to this.

[htlong]

yes but you will make far less in ohio, the good side is you dont need a big chunk of money to live in ohio it is a great state to live in ...unless your from the SF area ...but then SF people dont consider themselves part of america.... more like they are their living in their own country......but I may be wrong......again....

[Cosmic]

Originally Posted by waysofmylife

Hi -

I read that a lot of people have left due to "taxes".

No you got the wrong state, that was MA.

Taxes in Ohio is a broad subject. Exactly where, in Ohio. So much is determined by the exact location. In general the tax burden in Ohio is pretty low. Details and specifics vary.

Best to get all the tax forms, including local and rework your last years income to see exactly how you rate for that particular location.

Property, school and local taxes can vary widely depending on city, town, county, location.

[Crew Chief]

As we looked into places to retire, we kind of came to the conclusion that while taxes in OH tend to be fairly high (especially property taxes; we pay about $4500 on a $210,00 house) the cost of living is reasonable enough to make living here bearable, we think. (And that, one way or another, the tax man will get into your pocket in a big way no matter where you live) Our business taxes tend to be high and I believe that inhibits our growth as a state...

The good news is, effective this year, Ohio no longer taxes military pensions!

[ptsum]

Originally Posted by Crew Chief

As we looked into places to retire, we kind of came to the conclusion that while taxes in OH tend to be fairly high (especially property taxes; we pay about $4500 on a $210,00 house) the cost of living is reasonable enough to make living here bearable, we think. (And that, one way or another, the tax man will get into your pocket in a big way no matter where you live) Our business taxes tend to be high and I believe that inhibits our growth as a state...

The good news is, effective this year, Ohio no longer taxes military pensions!

Hay Crew Chief, I don't know what County you live in but I'm in Noble County and I own about 5 1/2 acres land with a very large log cabin home on it, paid $208,000, and my property taxes are only about $750.00 a year, maybe it's the county but I moved from a county in Maryland where my property taxes were almost $5,000 a year for less property and smaller home.

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by waysofmylife

Hi -

As I have been doing tons of research on Ohio - do to work relocating me from CA. I read that a lot of people have left due to "taxes". Now doing researching and comparing Ohio taxes to CA - Ohio has far less taxes that I can see.

Can someone please give me a little more insight to this.

Well, having done the reverse, moving from Ohio to California, perhaps I can give you some insights here.

The taxes in Ohio are quite a bit higher than California. Property taxes tend to run about 1.75-2.5% of home purchase price, as opposed to the 1% of purchase price in California.

State income tax is a bit less in Ohio, figure about 70-80% of what you pay in California. Basically the Ohio rates are a bit lower, and the progressive slope a bit shallower than California, but unlike California you can't deduct items off of your gross income.

Local areas practically all have a wage (not income) tax, and it generally runs from 1.5-2.5% depending upon the area. One of the things I found very annoying was the inconsistent reciprocity agreements, if you work in one city and live in another you might not get a full offset of your taxes, and end up paying a slightly higher overall rate than would normally apply to either city.

Another consideration, some areas don't collect their school revenue through the property taxes, so you end up having to pay a supplemental school income tax. I don't know why this is, but it exist. Most areas don't do this, and instead include school tax in the property tax, but it is inconsistent throughout the state.

http://tax.ohio.gov/divisions/tax_an...nts/sditqa.pdf

Finally, the sales tax in Ohio is comparable to California, so this really shouldn't be of any concern.

[Cosmic]

Originally Posted by ptsum

Hay Crew Chief, I don't know what County you live in but I'm in Noble County and I own about 5 1/2 acres land with a very large log cabin home on it, paid $208,000, and my property taxes are only about $750.00 a year, maybe it's the county but I moved from a county in Maryland where my property taxes were almost $5,000 a year for less property and smaller home.

It would be less in Monroe County, one of the lowest around. Can be around $300 for your basic shack on a lot. Small towns tend to be higher than country type living. Be outside most city limits for the best situations in most counties.

The only way to know fairly sure is to get all the appropiate tax forms for the area you are planning to move too. Most are available on line. Do a quick calculation of last years income, see how it all compares.

The counties to the North tend to have higher property tax rates, so do those in the areas of bigger cities. Not all counties have income or wage taxes, same with all towns. Again that is given in the tax documentation.

There are some credits, which is far better than a deduction on the Ohio income tax. In general you don't get tagged that bad. The actual rate may or may not be what is quoted in the schedules after you get it all figured out. So much of it depends on where the income comes from.

The good thing is Ohio does not have the problem of many states in Proposition type caps on real estate taxes and when it sells the new owner is not protected and really gets zapped big time at the full unprotected rate built up over a long time. Again have to know exactly what happens in each specific area. My sister who lives in Ohio and my situation are like day and night. She pays a lot more than I do, on less income and would also if we have comparible houses.

Generalities is a poor way to look at most things in Ohio.

They don't tax social security, military pensions, most other pensions. You get deductions and credits against the fed taxes in some categories. You really have to do a simulated tax form calculation to understand it all and then dig into the local rules of what gets taxed and get a handle on how you will be effected. Was what I did when I moved from MA. Or Taxachusetts as it is so fondly known. I sure am way, way better in OH than Taxachusetts. Far less Gotcha's.

Pretty easy to do the forms, nothing like some states. There is a pretty good safety net if you are retired. So that can also enter into the equation if you are working but plan on retiring here. Some of my relatives will do that, Ohio treats the retired good. Hate to tell what my real tax rates are. But they are quite low. You can't do one of the generalized paper comparisons. There is no bottle return tax so you get the fun of buying a can crusher and selling your beer cans back for real money.

It not just the money part, Ohio tends to be far "Freer" a place to live. All the petty lil rules, car inspections, on and on. Can't really appreciate until you experience some of the rule changes. CA probably is a far more anal place in terms of rules and regs. The other big change is cost of car insurance, can be far, far less depending on where you are. General costs of living, housing for sure is far less. Just the daily hassles are so much less in many areas. The more rural counties the traffic is nothing like in many parts of CA.

You have to compare the total picture, including the weather. Some places in Ohio I would never consider living. The further north the worse. In general a good dividing line is I-70 running across the middle of the state. North of it can be bad winters. South of it is generally pretty mild. Further east you get, the worse the weather, it is Great Lakes dominated. Then the crime, some counties in OH are some of the safest around, again a big mixed bag depending on your location.