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I'm sorry, but I am having a hard time trying to make sense of your statements. They are contradictory, and gloss over the problem. In fact, you are making my point, it does make things financially worse for the 'rest' of us.
Look, 12 Billion evenly split on the population of Texas is ~ $400 per person, per year (approximately 30 Million population). But that includes every living soul. There are approximately 13 million people employed in Texas, so almost half, so everyone working pays almost !1K to cover these costs through their taxes. It may not seem like a lot of money, but I think most people would rather have that money back in their wallets.
I am not even against them being here. I think they are honest, and hard working, they just went about getting here the wrong way. But they are not going anywhere, it is impossible. I think they will get to stay, maybe not citizenship, but I think they will be given amnesty, and I am sure they will have to pay taxes then.
Also, I am not blaming "illegals" for high taxes, but you cannot dispute that they add to the total. This is what I am speaking about. I am not scapegoating anyone, I'm just saying there is a better way to spread the burden. The truth is often unattractive. In general, you seem to think we should just ignore it, and most of us do, but someone has to be alert.
It is like telling the police to not worry about the bank robber, he needed the money, move on.
The point I'm trying to make is that the only way to effectively tackle the illegal immigration problem is government action at the top. Whether it's ACTUALLY cracking down on employers who hire them, amnesty, whatever. Just a way to either send them home or if they are to stay, give them the immigration documents that will allow them to come out of the shadows and join the rest of us. So no matter which side of the aisle you land on when it comes to illegal immigrants, government action is the obvious solution.
But of course, what we would like versus reality is often not the same. In the current situation, if we are trying to get the illegals to "pay their fair share", then I think the property tax is superior to the state income tax. Like I said before, income taxes can be avoided by taking payments in cash. However, everyone has to live somewhere, even the illegals. And if they are paying rent, then they are also paying the property taxes that the landlord is charged with. So that way they are paying part of their costs of being here. Again, not as satisfactory as government action, but the best we have.
biafra4life is right in the assessment that more people share the tax burden here in Texas by property taxes than income taxes. Of course, there's a way around that as there is a way around everything. But property owners do pass on the increased property taxes to their renters so in effect yes, the renter does shoulder property taxes. In some cases though you will see a boatload of certain people occupying one house, so it makes for a better deal for them. But again, a better deal? lol You have to pay income tax first to make any other kind of deal better or worse.
Hookthebrotherup I cannot even believe you would say such a thing as this: "This just is so wrong, and not true... "Income tax is easy to avoid"? For whom, and how?" You of all people after admitting on here you have hired many a man illegally.
Ah, so many ways, let me count them or better yet, save my fingers the work and let your imagination soar. As biafra4life says, cash under the table - please don't tell us you are unfamiliar with that. You going to be legit and write a weekly check and send out a 1099 at tax time? Ever have a woman's name on that very check and 1099 for a job doing manual labor on a construction site? A woman who has 10 young children at home she's also tending to? You act like there are no ways to avoid income tax. This could be funny if it wasn't so true that there are ways, ways most of us don't even know about but they exist. I think you're educated enough on it to know.
You say an income state is the only way to go. Yep, then say they would probably install an income tax in Texas and yet keep the property taxes where they are at their high level. Ya think? Oh bite your tongue! You think they would do THAT to us?!
Everyone with half a lick of sense knows that's EXACTLY what they would do. No surprise there for the thinking folks. For the non-thinkers, well what can I say, you're the reason the rest of us are in the mess we're in now.
I say boot out everyone in government who is a drag on the legal working responsible Texas citizens. That's going to wipe the slate clean. Try out a new bunch and if they want to play the same old tired game of making Texans pay through the nose because of their inefficient ways and their skimming off the top to satisfy their own personal greed, off with their heads as well. Just keep the door open and the flow rolling until they finally get the picture Texans are fed up with their BS.
As for anyone who is too busy or doesn't want to be bothered with protesting their property taxes, I say you get what you deserve.
I was referring to legal residents, not undocumented immigrants. And of course, I understand how undocumented workers get their work, but my comments were not about them as I said.
Regarding property taxes vs. income taxes... if ten people live in one two bedroom house, you’re only getting property tax from one resident (the owner). But if you use income tax, you are (theoretically) getting income tax from all ten workers. Now, will the income tax of ten low wage workers be the same as one property owner? I dunno. But it seems like a fair way to spread the tax to everyone.
Regarding property taxes vs. income taxes... if ten people live in one two bedroom house, you’re only getting property tax from one resident (the owner). But if you use income tax, you are (theoretically) getting income tax from all ten workers. Now, will the income tax of ten low wage workers be the same as one property owner? I dunno. But it seems like a fair way to spread the tax to everyone.
Interesting perspective....certainly not one I had considered. I wonder if states that rely on property taxes instead of income taxes have a higher incidence of residents “doubling up” in homes as a tax dodge.
Regarding property taxes vs. income taxes... if ten people live in one two bedroom house, you’re only getting property tax from one resident (the owner). But if you use income tax, you are (theoretically) getting income tax from all ten workers. Now, will the income tax of ten low wage workers be the same as one property owner? I dunno. But it seems like a fair way to spread the tax to everyone.
This is a good question. I'll add, though, that an income tax is not about equality, but equity. Equity - share the burden.
Here's an example of a home for sale in Victoria, TX similar to ours here in AZ...square footage-wise. The price is about the same as what ours would be if we listed our home. Price per SF here in AZ is a little more...around $150/SF in the small town we live in. If you go to Phoenix or Flagstaff or Sedona, etc., prices are much higher. However....our taxes are about $1100/year. This home in Victoria is listed at $4700.
Even with homesteading in TX, it would not bring it down much. When we retired in 2001, we left CA and went to south TX because it was cheaper to live, obviously, and TX was one of the state's us retirees could go and live without all the taxes. They did not tax our pensions, like AZ does.
It's a shame that property taxes have skyrocketed in TX. I think a lot of retirees are leaving because they can't afford it any more.
Texas is not retiree friendly when it comes to property taxes. If you are retired and your income is much lower you don't pay much income tax so not paying it in texas is not a big advantage. And the property tax rate is about 3 times what it is in Arizona and Oklahoma.
I looked at the property you linked. The tax rate there is 2.48748. So you multiply that by the $147k assessed value and that is the bill. You can look at the tax record online:
The assessed value has only gone up about $7,000 the past 5 years. So property taxes should not have gone up much. In fact in 2020 it dropped about $25,000 if I am reading it correctly. So taxes should have dropped.
I used to live in Texas in Brazoria County. I had a two houses and a duplex. One reason I moved was the taxes. Not good to retire somewhere where the property taxes can really eat into your income when you can least afford it. They take a big chunk of your rental property income also.
Texas is not retiree friendly when it comes to property taxes. If you are retired and your income is much lower you don't pay much income tax so not paying it in texas is not a big advantage. And the property tax rate is about 3 times what it is in Arizona and Oklahoma.
I looked at the property you linked. The tax rate there is 2.48748. So you multiply that by the $147k assessed value and that is the bill. You can look at the tax record online:
The assessed value has only gone up about $7,000 the past 5 years. So property taxes should not have gone up much. In fact in 2020 it dropped about $25,000 if I am reading it correctly. So taxes should have dropped.
I used to live in Texas in Brazoria County. I had a two houses and a duplex. One reason I moved was the taxes. Not good to retire somewhere where the property taxes can really eat into your income when you can least afford it. They take a big chunk of your rental property income also.
This is what I was referring to in another post... my home paid off 100%, but I still have to pay 14K in taxes on it every year... if I don't, my home can be confiscated.
The appraisal tax on property is a confiscatory tax scheme, sanctioned by law, guaranteed to rise every year. The only fix would be a state income tax, but then those politicians will not automatically lower your property taxes.
I think if they were to impose a state income tax, that they would write legislation that would cease the property tax increases for homeowners, then gradually lower property taxes while they adjust the income tax rate. I think they will get more revenue through an income tax because you have more people paying into the system.
A friend of mine had three adult children at his home at one time, they were in college, but working retail part time. Only one made $1200 one year, the youngest only earned $900-something. All three got tax refunds of about $1800! That is the way our tax system works! Had Texas an income tax, they all would have had to pay something. Not a lot, but again, the goal is to ease the burden on the small percentage of people who actually have to pay the tax. Because of all the deductions our IRS code allows, many people don't pay taxes at all in the end, just a small percentage pay the taxes for everyone.
Anyway, that can escalate into another topic in of itself, 'sorry.
Taxes are just like everything else, not all is fair. Trying to leverage a balance between the different types of taxes to see which would be the most fair and work the best would be a challenge in the least. One person might argue for the state income tax saying there are more workers than non workers and it would bring in more money than property taxes with 10 people staying in one home. There are so many variables and exceptions to be considered here that an across the board statement just won't cut the mustard.
One thing is for certain (part of the two things in life that are certain, taxes and death ) and that is you cannot believe one word out of the government.
To all the pro state tax income people who think a state income tax will lower your property tax, you must have very short memories. It's been a while but not so long ago that you should have forgotten when Texas got a law passed for the state lottery. The politicians helped get this law passed by promising a reduction in property taxes as a result from having the lottery. The way they were going to do this was by sending the money made from the lottery to the school system. Everyone knows the school tax is the major tax on property taxes so ergo, taxpayers would now see their property taxes go down.
Well, still waiting on that.
I'm not trying to be smartass or an I told you so, but I said it at the time, no way will they reduce the property tax because of getting in money off the lottery. Governments are greedy and greedy doesn't voluntarily give back money they've been able to get their hands on.
The state will keep trying to get the state income tax passed. Why? It's to their advantage, not yours, the taxpayer. If, or maybe I should say when, they do, I'd advise against holding my breath waiting on property taxes to go down. I also hope you'll look back and remember this little conversation regarding new added taxes stacked upon your not decreased property taxes. Hear me whispering in your ear "are we having fun yet"?
This is what I was referring to in another post... my home paid off 100%, but I still have to pay 14K in taxes on it every year... if I don't, my home can be confiscated.
I used to have a neighbor who would say all the time. You don't own your home you are renting it from the government. You don't pay the rent (property taxes) they evict you.
I have bought some county owned homes at auction because people did not pay their property taxes. You can get some great deals.
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Yes, for whom?
