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Can someone explain the reasoning, other than "homeowners vote so they deserve tax breaks"?
My rented home is my primary (and only) residence. Is it my fault I don't own it? If it's not my fault I don't own it, why should I have to bear higher taxes?
Of course there's also the broader issue of regressivity; renter median income is 50% of homeowner median income. On what basis should income be redistributed upward from renters to homeowners?
One reason why is that being a landlord is a business. That's what many forget.
If where you live is anything like where I live, there's a reason for that. A landlord-owned, renter-occupied property isn't eligible for a homestead exemption. An owner-occupied property is. Some states (like mine) also offer discounts to owners over the age of 65. This is why my property tax bill is higher than my neighbors' bill (they're elderly) even though the tax appraised value of their house is higher. They have the over-65 exemption. I don't.
Residence Homestead Exemption Frequently Asked Questions
I'm not grateful to own a home; I'm proud to own a home. Gratitude implies that it was given to me. I worked hard for it, and continue to work hard to pay the mortgage, taxes, and upkeep on it. I wouldn't say renting is necessarily more expensive. Too many variables to say. I also didn't mortgage myself to the eyeballs. I bought under my means, and my house is by no means large, fancy, or even beautiful. It's a sturdy 50s ranch house that hasn't had much done to it in 60 years, decor-wise. But it's mine. I bought it. I earned it.
"Grateful." Pshaw.
You worked for your home but you were given the tax breaks; you did not work for the tax breaks.
Renting is not necessarily more expensive but for an increasing number of renters, it is more expensive. Millions of renters could reduce their housing costs by owning, but they cannot buy so they continue to get soaked.
I once paid more to rent a walk-up studio apartment than my next door neighbor paid to own a 3BR house.
All the presidential candidates ever pander to is Middle-Class families. Supposedly they're the ones who deserve tax breaks.
Well, I'm single, unmarried, no kids, and rent an apartment. Where's my tax break? Why can't I deduct my rent from my income? When are Middle-Class families going to pay back the subsidies I've been giving them through the Earned Income Tax Credit?
I'm middle class and have a child. I not only do not qualify for the earned income credit (which by now you should have figured out is really for only lower income families) but don't receive the normal child tax credit either.
But by all means... complain about how your subsidizing my taxes when the only break I receive is the mortgage interest one and that's available to anyone regardless of their marital status or whether they have kids.
One reason why is that being a landlord is a business. That's what many forget.
Wait a minute...so I get a double whammy? I pay the landlord a profit AND the taxes are higher as a result?
What if it's a non-profit providing affordable housing. There's no profit so why should the taxes be higher? Aren't the higher taxes incompatible with providing affordable housing?
When are Middle-Class families going to pay back the subsidies I've been giving them through the Earned Income Tax Credit?
Reminds of one time I was taking a social security disability claim from a man who had early onset Alzheimer's. He had been an officer in the military, and was being retired with a full pension there - several thousand dollars a month, plus all that free medical. We were required to take an application for SSI along with the disability app, so that we could get credit for doing the work, and he could get the automatic income-related denial of the SSI claim in case he wanted to appeal it. His wife starting moaning about how unfair that they couldn't get the SSI. I was like, you have to be POOR to get it, would you rather be poor?
Same with the EITC - you have to be low income and have kids. Would you prefer to be low income, trying ti raise kids?
If you don't like your taxes going to pay for that, just think of them as going to something else instead. Just think how much happier you would be knowing that your taxes are going to pay the poor Alzheimer's guy's social security disability and military pension.
I was aborted three times before being crapped out until my idiot grandfather told his daughter NO MORE! And him and his scrub lower class wife decided to raise me on their own. I would have been better flushed down the drain, along with the GAZILLION other leeches on the system that we currently are FORCED to support via taxes and having to work.
Wait a minute...so I get a double whammy? I pay the landlord a profit AND the taxes are higher as a result?
What if it's a non-profit providing affordable housing. There's no profit so why should the taxes be higher? Aren't the higher taxes incompatible with providing affordable housing?
If the non-profit is a 501c3 there may very well no property taxes levied.
As a note, just because something is a "non-profit" doesn't mean it doesn't show a profit. All it means is that no dividends are distributed to the owners but instead plowed back into the business. Or distributed as bonuses to upper management.
It's pretty standard that commercial property, whether business oriented or residential rentals, have higher tax rates or assessments. Some states do offer a tax credit (or in some cases a rebate) to renters to compensate for the lack of a property tax exemption.
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