Virginia Taxes? (Hampton, Roanoke, Franklin: sales, real estate, mortgage)

[dogluver]

I've been reading a lot about taxes in Virginia and was wondering if someone would shed some light on this. We plan to move to either Floyd or Franklin county this summer. Besides the weather, one of the many reasons prompting our move from Chicago is the lower cost of living, housing, and real estate taxes. I'm hearing that these are lower but they make it up on the tax on personal property, vehicles, etc. Am I wrong? How bad are these?

I found this on a previous thread...(hope it's ok to cut and paste)

Every year you pay taxes on personal property---it costs to have boats, cars, RVs, etc. Every year, you pay and it's not cheap.

[roanoker 4]

Originally Posted by dogluver

I've been reading a lot about taxes in Virginia and was wondering if someone would shed some light on this. We plan to move to either Floyd or Franklin county this summer. Besides the weather, one of the many reasons prompting our move from Chicago is the lower cost of living, housing, and real estate taxes. I'm hearing that these are lower but they make it up on the tax on personal property, vehicles, etc. Am I wrong? How bad are these?

I found this on a previous thread...(hope it's ok to cut and paste)

Every year you pay taxes on personal property---it costs to have boats, cars, RVs, etc. Every year, you pay and it's not cheap.

A good move!! Besides the weather and lower real estate I think you will like it here! I believe Franklin is proposing a tax hike soon, but I don't know the specifics. That county is growing and attracting lots of upper income folks to Smith Mountain Lake. Floyd is very scenic but its too rural for me. The region is quite varied. The tax on personal property is not a big deal for me since I only pay it on a car. I guess if you have boats, planes, rvs, it might be significant.

[mrrumples]

Real estate and personal property tax rates are set by the locality and they vary a great deal. For rates, you should contact the Commissioner of Revenue of where you want to live. (Most independent cities and large counties do not elect a Commissioner of Revenue, but have a Dept of Finance.) For personal vehicles there is a state rebate of most of the tax. Sales tax is uniform throughout the Commonwealth except for Northern VA and the Hampton Roads area. Tax on gas and diesel is the 10th lowest in the country.

[BoCoNative]

It is true that you will have to pay personal property taxes on cars, homes, rv's, boats etc in VA. However, the tax rates in the counties you mention are very low because both are rural areas. I live in Roanoke County which is North of Franklin County and East of Floyd. Our tax rate here for real estate is $1.12 per $100. Therefore, if you own a $200,000 home, you can divide that my $100 which is of course 2000 and multiply that by the tax rate of $1.12 and your taxes would be $2240 for the year. If this amount is put into an escrow account as you pay your mortgage you would pay an additional $186 per month.

However, Roanoke County is one of the most populated in Southwest, VA. In Franklin county the real estate tax would equal $0.53 per $100. Therefore, on a $200,000 home your taxes would be $200,000 divided by $100=2000 x .53 = real estate personal property taxes of $1060 per year which is less than half of what you would pay in Roanoke County. You can find any of this info by Googling Floyd, Franklin or any other county in VA and then going to the county website that deals with taxes and you can obtain the tax rates.

I think the car tax is $1.67 per $100 in Franklin County which for a $30,000 car would be $30,000 divided by 100= 300 x $1.67= $501 for the year. There, is a car tax rebate currently in effect so your tax could be more in the $300 range on a $30,000 car depending upon whether that tax break stays in place. The sales tax is 5% which is easy because it's 5 cents on every dollar spent, so $5.00 per every $100 spent. Taxes in VA are very reasonable, state income tax for me is about $2200 a year and I make a very good living in this area as cost of living is extremely low.

Hope this info helps.

[dogluver]

Thanks everyone for all the great information! It is really appreciated!
We are really looking forward to our move in the next few months.

[Siberia]

Enter county of desire into the search box...enjoy:

The Tax Foundation - Property Taxes on Owner Occupied Housing by County, 2006