Washington Personal Income Tax (Vancouver, Camas: real estate, for rent, assessor)

[trillionbean]

I understand that Washington has no personal income tax, if that is so, does that mean you do not pay any taxes on personal income? Surely there must be a catch? Also, if you happen to live in Portland, Oregon, but work in Vancouver, Washington, do you still have to pay personal income tax because you live in Portland or do you not pay income tax because you work in Vancouver even though you live in Portland?

[PNW-type-gal]

If you live or work in Oregon, you pay Oregon taxes, either way (as a regular employee, there are some exceptions that apply in very special cases). If you live in Vancouver and work in Vancouver you don't pay income tax, as Washington doesn't have an income tax.

[cdelena]

Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming have no income tax and New Hampshire and Tennessee just tax dividends and interest.

PNW-type-gal is right on about Oregon taxes.

[StealthRabbit]

I have several friends who live in WA, but work for OR companies out of their WA home. They have to pay OR taxes when they go to OR place of employment for staff meetings. (good reason to not go to meetings ). I do Part-time work for my WA neighbor who does occasional construction jobs in OR, I pay OR taxes for all work physically done in OR on his OR worksites, even if I just deliver materials or equipment to the jobsite. If our jobsite is in WA I DON'T pay OR taxes if I run to OR to fetch supplies. If I stop at Jantzen Beach DOT and get a permit for 'oversize' load I DO pay OR taxes for the time spent driving commercially in OR.

The catch you ask??... I pay $33 / day in property taxes on my home in WA (yes $12,000+ / yr). It's just some shack we built ourselves, but the assessor REALLY likes it, and has offered to buy it several times. He assesses our DIRT at $300k, the 'improvements' (house) is extra. Even with real estate values tanking our taxes will not go down, as they will raise the mill levy to make sure they can fund schools, fire, library, police... & Linda Franklin's nice office and keep ALL her staff employed. For some reason I haven't heard of 70% cuts in support staff and facilities with building permits at 70% decline.

How to avoid 'the-catch'... RENT. It seems Vancouver is still less than Portland for rents. Clark county landlords are probably not making the same income as Portland landlords.

[sk123usa]

Wow, your overall assesment must be very high. Some Shack
I thought I read somewhere that the assessment is somewhere around $12 per $1000 of assessed value. Not to get too personal, but if this assessment is accurate, the shack must be assessed at around $1,000,000???
I only ask this because I don't plan on purchasing anything more than 300 to 400K and if you're assessed around that amount and pay 12K in anual taxes, may be I need to reconsider my move to PNW...Yikes

[hml1976]

We live in Camas and pay $4600 a year on our $400K house. My guess is that JanB has a lot of land...just a guess

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by hml1976

...My guess is that JanB has a lot of land...just a guess

not really, 12 acres, (2x6a ea) (only 2 usable, very steep + Gorge restrictions... no tree cutting, no buildings, no barns, no commercial activities (berries / herbs / B&B..)) adjoining lot is classified as a building site, thus 'double the hit' for "Improved" land (@$300k each, just for the dirt). House is not much, built with our own bare little hands for under $100k (But of course the assessor ratchets up price). We invested less than $150k in the whole joint, but have paid more than that in taxes.

While I would perceive a big devaluation (nearby 5 acre Lots are priced at $80k, and not moving). If value decreases, the assessor will just change the mill levy from 14.7 to 20.X to provide the previous amount of income to the county....Property taxes will not be going down much, if at all. Overall county Tax income is capped at 1% INCREASE, for NON-voter approved levies... Voter approved seems limitless. Our fire protection went from $200 to $570 this year and station moved 10 miles further away...

Thus... live in something with wheels (not taxable as 'real' property), but not on a $300k piece of dirt. Too bad Vancouver Walmarts don't allow overnight parking (thanks to city regs). The I-205 bridge has some space under it, see you there, BYOC! (Bring your own grocery cart )

Not to worry, I have a friend (single mom w/ 2 teenagers) who pays $12,000/yr taxes on a vacant commercial lot in Camas. (no where near 'services' / water / sewer). They don't eat real well, and no-one is banging on their door to buy that dirt.

SO... OP, just be careful, and shop Mill Levy rates if buying property. It varies considerably within close proximity. AND also always calculate FUTURE taxes based on a 'full market price' NOT what you pay for a joint. The assessor will NOT cut you slack if they fell you 'underpaid'.

They ALWAYS win, they make the rules. For a real telling statistic, ask the assessor (or research yourself) what % of SUSTAINABLE tax savings result from contested personal residence valuations through 'board of equalization'. It ain't pretty. Only commercial properties have a chance to win in that cat fight.