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(cross-posted to CT and Westchester)
I've seen many others mention this several times, and pretty much ignored it, living in CT. But we are going to need to move from the Hartford area to the Westchester (Armonk) area for the husband's job, and we could live in either NY or CT. All of a sudden the tax situation is more important to figure out.
I keep seeing posts that reference NY's higher income taxes compared to CT's (not NYC--only NY state). Is this just a general rule of thumb? When I used last year's tax return to calculate what we would have paid in NY income tax, it was actually $101 less than we paid CT.
When you factor in the sales tax difference between the states (again, only considering NY state, not NYC), CT's 6.35% is a bunch higher than NY's 4%. I don't go shopping very often, but NY doesn't tax clothing or footwear items <$110 and I am pretty sure I paid tax the last time we bought clothes for my kids (definitely items <$100 each). Even when you start to factor in the Westchester county sales tax (1.5%) and a 0.375% sales tax for the MTA, the total amount is less than the CT state tax and seems to apply to fewer things.
I'm also not seeing the yearly car taxes in NY like they are in CT, though I may just not be looking in the right place. That adds up substantially, especially when you're in a high mill rate town. If I'm missing the similar tax for Westchester county towns, please let me know.
So that brings us to property taxes. Yes, in general, Westchester county taxes are higher than FFC--but that's obviously a situation that varies by house and by town, in each location. For several of the houses we are looking at online, property taxes in Westchester county are about what we pay now for an equivalently priced house. I'm sure that there are high tax towns in both places--maybe we just aren't looking at those and so we aren't seeing the dramatic property tax difference?
Is there something that I'm missing? The way it looks right now, our tax burden is going to either stay the same or may decrease slightly.
3 of my husband's colleague and a neighbor with school age kids moved from Westchester to CT to escape taxes among other things but not uniquely for that reason. Two moved to New Canaan, one to Westport and a childless couple moved to Darian. Their reasons were improved quality of life + taxes. We are also actively looking to relocate away and have done some comparison, not CT.
When you compared NY vs CT state taxes , did you actually fill the state form or only compared tax brackets/rates ? I do the family taxes for two states ( NY+another , not CT) and can tell you that different states included different things on income. our NY's income is about $75K higher then our federal and other state income... so point is, make sure you compare apples to apples. Use any free online tax service, I find them very useful.
For us, the biggest sting is property taxes ( south Westchester) with school taxes being enormous, with village and county taxes on top. We assess not only the cost, but how good is the school for the money we spend. ON the other side, a similar property to what we have now (4 BR) would cost more in CT , with less property taxes then here when I looked on line last year.
Just keep asking and double checking. It's super hard to move again if you don't get it right the first time.
OP, are you considering all of the applicable property taxes in Westchester for each home you are looking at or just the county tax? The way the taxes are structured is not at all uniform and you are likely going to be paying property taxes to several different sources.
For example, here in Dobbs, as part of incorporated Greenburgh we have to pay the school taxes to them (2x yearly), village taxes to Dobbs, county taxes to Westchester and then our state taxes to New York.
Once you add up all of that, I'm hard pressed to see how it could possibly be less than CT for an equivalently priced home.
One thing to consider is that while CT taxes are less, the home prices are generally more -- apples to apples. So if you plan to take a mortgage for the house, while the monthly expense might be the same (just weighted heavier toward the mortgage), the tax consequences are likely to be better as the mortgage interest deduction is not subject to AMT unlike the property tax deduction.
One thing to consider is that while CT taxes are less, the home prices are generally more -- apples to apples. So if you plan to take a mortgage for the house, while the monthly expense might be the same (just weighted heavier toward the mortgage), the tax consequences are likely to be better as the mortgage interest deduction is not subject to AMT unlike the property tax deduction.
Thanks for bringing this up. It's certainly something to keep in mind as we figure out the best place to land!
Taxes alone in Westchester are the highest in the US (forgive me if I'm wrong, I think that was stated on property brothers)
My aunt has a house in Brookfield ct. Her taxes are around 7k? She has a 2500 sq ft house on a couple of acres of land.. Even in the cheaper counties in NY, taxes would be more.
Whoa...the sales tax in NY is not 4%. In NY state it can be anywhere from 7% to 8.875%. The state sets its sales tax rate at 4%, and then each county or city adds their own little addendum. In Orange county, where i live , its 8.125%. Not sure about Westchester...
Taxes alone in Westchester are the highest in the US (forgive me if I'm wrong, I think that was stated on property brothers)
My aunt has a house in Brookfield ct. Her taxes are around 7k? She has a 2500 sq ft house on a couple of acres of land.. Even in the cheaper counties in NY, taxes would be more.
Not necessarily and it would depend on where you look in other parts of the state.
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The way it looks right now, our tax burden is going to either stay the same or may decrease slightly.
