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But you will have to propose an alternate solution for paying taxes to the city. The city has to run.
A sales tax would be a more equitable solution. It would allow citizens to control how much they pay by controlling how much they spend. Poor people could end up with more money in their pockets by controlling their spending such that the amount they pay in sales tax is less than the amount they'd have paid in property taxes.
Why are we forced to pay taxes on a home when we own it free and clear? We don't continue to pay taxes on cars, RVs, clothes, food, etc... Just curious is all.
Where do you live that there is no tax on food, clothes and cars? But like you said, the gov't is going to get theirs no matter what - it's just a question of how much.
Property taxes are the biggest reason we left NY. I don't mind paying property tax but $15K and up - please. Not happening.
A sales tax would be a more equitable solution. It would allow citizens to control how much they pay by controlling how much they spend. Poor people could end up with more money in their pockets by controlling their spending such that the amount they pay in sales tax is less than the amount they'd have paid in property taxes.
A sales tax would be a disaster.
If houses sell once every 10 years, and land taxes are currently 1.2% of assessed value, the starting point for a sales tax would be 12%. Adding 12% to the cost of every house sale is going to mean people are going to avoid selling and buying in order to avoid the tax, which in turn means the municipality would need to increase the tax rate to 20% or so.
A 20% increase in housing cost makes everything harder to afford.
Nice job. You just killed the housing market and threw us into another recession.
You pay fees and taxes in cars when they are paid off
There's are two major differences between property taxes and taxes on vehicles:
1. Your car can't be taken by the government for non-payment of taxes, whereas your home certainly can be.
2. Property taxes increase the cost of ownership, whereas gas taxes and registration fees increase the cost of use.
If you own a paid-for car that's not insured and you don't drive it, it costs you nothing to simply own that vehicle.
But if you own a vacant home that is paid for, you still have to pay, even if you do not use it.
If houses sell once every 10 years, and land taxes are currently 1.2% of assessed value, the starting point for a sales tax would be 12%. Adding 12% to the cost of every house sale is going to mean people are going to avoid selling and buying in order to avoid the tax, which in turn means the municipality would need to increase the tax rate to 20% or so.
A 20% increase in housing cost makes everything harder to afford.
Nice job. You just killed the housing market and threw us into another recession.
I didn't say anything about a sales tax on a house; that would be cost-prohibitive. I was meaning a general sales tax, like the state charges on purchases of retail goods, services, vehicles, etc.
I didn't say anything about a sales tax on a house; that would be cost-prohibitive. I was meaning a general sales tax, like the state charges on purchases of retail goods, services, vehicles, etc.
I apologize for not being more specific.
Ok. That's a bit different. Still problematic in my view, as it would increase sales taxes dramatically, and sales taxes are regressive because they impact poor people disproportionately. Since a discussion of tax policy is well off topic, I will leave it at that.
I for one am willing to pay my property taxes that cover police, fire, schools, garbage pickup, and snow removal services amongst other things. They also fund our nice city park. Property taxes are actually the taxes which Annoy me least because I can actually see what they pay for.
easy to say when your property taxes are around $2,000 in SC. try paying 12-18K like we do in NJ and you may start to feel a wee bit annoyed
easy to say when your property taxes are around $2,000 in SC. try paying 12-18K like we do in NJ and you may start to feel a wee bit annoyed
First of all I don't live in South Carolina. My property taxes are about $3k/year on a house I paid $95k for. What is the value of your home? I'd imagine in New Jersey it is quite a bit higher. If I had a $300k house I would expect to pay significantly higher taxes.
I didn't say anything about a sales tax on a house; that would be cost-prohibitive. I was meaning a general sales tax, like the state charges on purchases of retail goods, services, vehicles, etc.
I apologize for not being more specific.
I disagree with that. I think paying a property tax gives owners a stake in the community. Also, the suburb I live in has some restaurants and small shops, but it isn't a destination for shopping. I doubt there would be enough revenue from sales taxes to pay for all of the city services. There are a lot of smaller suburbs in my area that are "bedroom" communities with hardly any shopping. I don't see how they would survive under this system.
Property taxes are a use tax in some ways. I certainly use the trash collection services, and I use the roads after they clear them with snow plows. I also use our lovely city park when it is nice outside. I have luckily not had to call the police, but I appreciate that they are out on patrol keeping the community safe.
No tax system is perfect. The big problem with property taxes is that they are usually used to fund public schools. If you can afford to live in the gold plated town with very high housing costs, the school system is very well funded. In the blue collar town next door, they're not. In the struggling city, it's a disaster.
The people who make most of the money who live in the gold-plated towns don't want the system to change.
You can point to any other tax method and find flaws. Sales taxes disproportionally fall on lower income people. Income taxes disproportionally fall on rich people in the US and the median household hardly pays any Federal income taxes at all.
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