Working across the border (Lancaster, Fort Mill: credit, property taxes, insurance)

[groove1]

Originally Posted by the 7 oh 4

Just double check with your employer. Years ago I lived briefly in Fort Mill, SC and worked in Uptown Charlotte, NC. I worked for American Express and they did NOT offer the same benefits if you lived in SC. Also as far as health benefits I could not go to the same doctors. So I went to the Pineville, NC post office and got a PO BOX with a Pineville, NC address and got my benefits back.

It might be different now. Just check with your employere. They all could be different.

Probably over 1/2 of the people that live in boardering SC from Charlotte cross the boarder to work!

GOOD LUCK!

My health insurance is BCBS of NC, so it is accepted everywhere. All of my doctors are in Charlotte anyway so it really doesn't make a difference that I live in SC. Even with my fiance on my insurance and her doctor in Rock Hill, it is still NC based CMC so that doesnt matter either. I haven't had a problem yet with the insurance and doctors.

[lovethecarolinas]

What's your price range?

Originally Posted by Beth Dinsmore

Help! We just moved from Charleston SC to Concord NC (near Charlotte) because of a job change. I don't want to stay in Concord. I want some land (5+ acres) for horses, etc... I need good schools with 2 elementary aged kids. When we moved to Concord we noticed our health insurance (BCBS), car insurance and homeowners insurance were considerably cheaper (like HALF). Of course, Charleston is a "hurricane & flood" town so that explains the homeowners and auto, somewhat. Which is cheaper overall???? NC or SC??? I REALLY like the Clover, York areas of SC for beauty and good schools in a rural setting but there also seem to be a lot of areas around Charlotte which offer the same. I'm looking for a beautiful small town with good schools and land at a decent price. Does anyone know the comparison with NC vs SC as far as:
Health Insurance, Car Insurance, Homeowners Insurance, Sales Tax, Property Tax (home and auto), Income tax and any other cost variables? What abuot crime? Where do I stay away from around Charlotte??? Does anyone have a recommendation on areas in NC which fit the bill? I can get the school info at Great Schools.net.

[Beth Dinsmore]

@ $250 to $300K for house and land.

[lovethecarolinas]

Originally Posted by Beth Dinsmore

@ $250 to $300K for house and land.

it would be really hard to compare different places for you within SC or NC because there are a lot of variables (such as what county, unincorporated areas, etc.)

Also I was going to suggest Clover, SC (as it has everything you say you are looking for)..but it appears you are already well aware of that. And if you are looking for something in NC..I would suggest you pose your question on the North Carolina side for more responses.

One place in NC you might want to check out though is: Lincolnton, NC

Good Luck to you!

[movingdown]

Originally Posted by Beth Dinsmore

Help! We just moved from Charleston SC to Concord NC (near Charlotte) because of a job change. I don't want to stay in Concord. I want some land (5+ acres) for horses, etc... I need good schools with 2 elementary aged kids. When we moved to Concord we noticed our health insurance (BCBS), car insurance and homeowners insurance were considerably cheaper (like HALF). Of course, Charleston is a "hurricane & flood" town so that explains the homeowners and auto, somewhat. Which is cheaper overall???? NC or SC??? I REALLY like the Clover, York areas of SC for beauty and good schools in a rural setting but there also seem to be a lot of areas around Charlotte which offer the same. I'm looking for a beautiful small town with good schools and land at a decent price. Does anyone know the comparison with NC vs SC as far as:
Health Insurance, Car Insurance, Homeowners Insurance, Sales Tax, Property Tax (home and auto), Income tax and any other cost variables? What abuot crime? Where do I stay away from around Charlotte??? Does anyone have a recommendation on areas in NC which fit the bill? I can get the school info at Great Schools.net.

Before we moved down to SC last summer, I had our accountant run the previous year's income taxes in both NC and SC to see which was less. NC was $4100 and SC was $3400... a considerable savings.

We also noticed that the cost for gas in SC is lower due to lower state taxes.

But, our car insurance is higher in SC than it would have been in NC, by a couple hundred dollars.

I understand property taxes in SC are lower than at least in Charlotte (Mecklenburg County). SC just removed operating costs of the schools from the local property taxes (but it has to come from somewhere eventually). I was surprised that the operating costs are not the major school costs here. Debt from building new schools seems to be the majority.

I would suggest you run your income taxes from both states and check with your car insurance, etc. SC ended up to be better financially for us.

As for schools, I have heard that Fort Mill and Clover seem to be the best in this area. We are too new here and have no children in school for us to really know more.

Good luck!

[dub2nc]

From the FAQ section of the DOR website for SC:

Q. What are the filing requirements for a South Carolina resident working in another state?
A. As a resident of South Carolina, you are taxed on all your income regardless of where it is earned. In order to avoid double taxation, South Carolina would allow a tax credit for the taxes that you had to pay to the other state on the wages earned in that state. For South Carolina purposes, you would file the SC1040 with the SC1040TC. A copy of the other state’s return and federal return must be attached to the filing of the South Carolina return.

Code Sections 12-6-2220(6), 12-6-3400

(Last revised 12/11/07) (Reviewed 12/11/07)

[mikeemon]

Very interesting. I have been studying moving to NC or SC within the next couple of years. I live in MA now. People who live in NH and work in MA have to pay MA state income tax. NH has no income tax. Sound fair?

[CMPX2]

Originally Posted by dub2nc

From the FAQ section of the DOR website for SC:

Q. What are the filing requirements for a South Carolina resident working in another state?
A. As a resident of South Carolina, you are taxed on all your income regardless of where it is earned. In order to avoid double taxation, South Carolina would allow a tax credit for the taxes that you had to pay to the other state on the wages earned in that state. For South Carolina purposes, you would file the SC1040 with the SC1040TC. A copy of the other state’s return and federal return must be attached to the filing of the South Carolina return.

Code Sections 12-6-2220(6), 12-6-3400

(Last revised 12/11/07) (Reviewed 12/11/07)

I'm considering a move to Rock Hill and will work in Uptown. Would NC take taxes out of my check and SC would refund me at tax time? Thanks...

[groove1]

Originally Posted by CMPX2

I'm considering a move to Rock Hill and will work in Uptown. Would NC take taxes out of my check and SC would refund me at tax time? Thanks...

NC is taking out so they are the ones that would refund/owe. If you get a refund, it would be from NC. By the way, that's a pretty decent drive unless you take the Rock Hill express bus.

[grannynancy]

I, too lived in Fort Mill and worked in Charlotte from 1995 to 2006.

I always wound up paying miniscule SC tax because of interest bearing bank accounts on banks in SC, but got 100% tax credit for taxes paid to NC. It is a hassle to file the SC form and go through a lot of work to show you don't owe anything or owe one or two dollars, but it was never an issue and how I read the laws. The first year I did it, a tax professional did my taxes and since then I have just done them manually. [my taxes are simple homeowner stuff - I don't need a tax program for what I do]