Bill Maher Says CA Taxes Are Too High (attorneys, homes)

[.highnlite]

Originally Posted by checkup

on your first point, you're defending CA's tax system because it enables the top 1% of income earners to avoid their tax burden? And many of their methods of reducing tax burden involve moving their money out of state, or claiming out of state status

How are CA taxes not out of line? Marginal rates are highest. Combine that with high sales taxes, high business/corporate tax rates, high real estate prices, and highest gas prices, ppl are getting pinched/gutted financially

Pray tell, please explain the many methods of lowering our tax burden so it's lower than 0% (i.e., the rate of low income states)

Actually, in CA the lower wage earners pay less tax. Figure that one out, understand how that works, then we can address the rest of your post, (hint) the answer to that is in this thread.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by ukiyo-e

You nailed it. For job reasons, I moved to WA state after living in California (as an adult) for 25 years. Here I pay no state income tax, my property tax on a nice, custom built 1800 sq. ft. house is $2600 a year, and our local sales tax is the same rate I paid living in Davis the last few years before I moved.

Shortly after I moved here, I went to the licensing office to get a new driver's license and to the city for my new plates. I am not exaggerating, I only had to wait in line behind one person at each place and the total time I spent was less than a half-hour, and that includes driving from one office to the other (we don't have the equivalent of a DMV here). I just renewed my plates and my registration fee on a one-year-old car was $43.50. My last experience at a CA DMV was when my son had to make an appointment three months in advance for a driver's license test, and had he failed, he would have had to wait another three months before getting another appointment. That's just ridiculous. When he graduated from college up here, I gifted him my old car, and we went into the office in the city where he was in school, and the entire transaction took 5 minutes with no wait. We walked out with his new title looking at each other in amazement at how fast and simple it was. And this was in a large metropolitan area.

Oh, and the public pension system here is 95% funded, unlike California's, which is about 60-70%

I still miss CA, especially the weather in some parts, the amazing scenery, the fresh produce, etc., and I think of retiring somewhere in a cheaper part of the state, but part of me chafes at paying more taxes for worse services. I don't mind paying my fair share of taxes at all, but I'd like to get a better return on them.

Well according to the Pro-anything CA Tag Team on here, if you want good services from your tax dollars you're a "low-tax ideologue" that is conservative all around We apparently are wrong for wanting something in return for all of our tax dollars because it's CA and the sun shines and it's scenic so therefore there is nothing wrong with anything about this state.

[jm1982]

Wow ...agree again!

I think the problem we have here is that a lot of these people haven't actually looked at what is being charged for things in other states. They haven't shopped around.

Paying more does not always mean getting more...

As ukiyo-e mentioned above , CA isn't run properly . It shouldn't take months to take care of basic things.

[mateo45]

Originally Posted by ukiyo-e

You nailed it. For job reasons, I moved to WA state after living in California (as an adult) for 25 years. Here I pay no state income tax, my property tax on a nice, custom built 1800 sq. ft. house is $2600 a year, and our local sales tax is the same rate I paid living in Davis the last few years before I moved.

I did just the reverse, and moved to CA from WA State, where my property taxes there on a 2,800 sq ft house on an acre totaled over $6K a year. County sales & prop. taxes also vary widely in WA, but here, thanks to Prop 13 and buying in a down market, I now only pay aprox. $1400 a year for a 3,100 sq ft house on a shy acre. For a total savings of over $4K a year, that more than offsets all your other "inequities" combined.... and I get lots better weather!!

[checkup]

Originally Posted by mateo45

I did just the reverse, and moved to CA from WA State, where my property taxes there on a 2,800 sq ft house on an acre totaled over $6K a year. County sales & prop. taxes also vary widely in WA, but here, thanks to Prop 13 and buying in a down market, I now only pay aprox. $1400 a year for a 3,100 sq ft house on a shy acre. For a total savings of over $4K a year, that more than offsets all your other "inequities" combined.... and I get lots better weather!!

yeah this is why prop 13 needs to be repealed

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by ukiyo-e

You nailed it. For job reasons, I moved to WA state after living in California (as an adult) for 25 years. Here I pay no state income tax, my property tax on a nice, custom built 1800 sq. ft. house is $2600 a year, and our local sales tax is the same rate I paid living in Davis the last few years before I moved.

Shortly after I moved here, I went to the licensing office to get a new driver's license and to the city for my new plates. I am not exaggerating, I only had to wait in line behind one person at each place and the total time I spent was less than a half-hour, and that includes driving from one office to the other (we don't have the equivalent of a DMV here). I just renewed my plates and my registration fee on a one-year-old car was $43.50. My last experience at a CA DMV was when my son had to make an appointment three months in advance for a driver's license test, and had he failed, he would have had to wait another three months before getting another appointment. That's just ridiculous. When he graduated from college up here, I gifted him my old car, and we went into the office in the city where he was in school, and the entire transaction took 5 minutes with no wait. We walked out with his new title looking at each other in amazement at how fast and simple it was. And this was in a large metropolitan area.

Oh, and the public pension system here is 95% funded, unlike California's, which is about 60-70%

I still miss CA, especially the weather in some parts, the amazing scenery, the fresh produce, etc., and I think of retiring somewhere in a cheaper part of the state, but part of me chafes at paying more taxes for worse services. I don't mind paying my fair share of taxes at all, but I'd like to get a better return on them.

I love CA but I also want to move to WA in large part based on what you said. I thought there was no sales tax in WA? I thought it was county based. I remember there being none in Lewis County but that was a while ago.

[WhatUpFLA]

If you're a single person and your annual income in 2012 was between $46,766.00 and $1,000,000 such as myself, then you're going to be forking over 9.30% of your hard-earned income to the State of California in income taxes.

In FL, NV, TX, WA, etc., you pay 0% of your hard-earned income to the state every year, as these states do not have a state income tax.

That's why I live in FL.

[Gentoo]

I think a better question to be asked here is not whether we think the taxes are high or not. That will get you as many answers as there are people to answer them. The big question that some have already hinted at is, where is the money going? DMV offices are closed periodically, state parks closed, roads are shamefully bad (come drive I-880 sometime). State workers are periodically not paid. Where the hell is this money going?

[checkup]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

I think a better question to be asked here is not whether we think the taxes are high or not. That will get you as many answers as there are people to answer them. The big question that some have already hinted at is, where is the money going? DMV offices are closed periodically, state parks closed, roads are shamefully bad (come drive I-880 sometime). State workers are periodically not paid. Where the hell is this money going?

pensions, sick/vacation leave, and a lot of money for agencies and nonprofits that don't do very much; unemployment and medicaid, and other wonders of the welfare state; and soon, the $100B LA-SF railway

[mateo45]

Originally Posted by checkup

yeah this is why prop 13 needs to be repealed

Agreed, or at least amended.