Proposed Grantor's Tax Increase (Hampton: sales, real estate, selling a home)

[onevthoki]

I received this email today from the Virginia Association of Realtors and thought there may be some folks on this board who might be interested.

"Senator John Watkins introduced Senate Bill 768, which will, among other things, triple the grantors tax in an effort to off-set the costs associated with new development.

The Virginia Association of REALTORS® is opposed to an increase in the grantors tax.

The grantors tax increase hits people who are selling their homes - the same people who paid a recordation tax to the locality when they bought their home, have paid real estate taxes every year to the locality and already are liable for paying the existing grantor tax when they sell a property.

These Virginians have paid their fair share and continue to do so each and every time they buy or sell a home and each time they pay their real estate taxes.

SB 768 is to be considered by the Senate Local Government Committee tomorrow, Tuesday, January 29. Your Senator is a member of this committee. Please take a moment now to tell your Senator to vote to remove the grantors tax increase in SB 768."

[johnenright]

The Supreme Court of Virginia overturned the transportation authorities' -- Northern Virginia and Hampton Raods -- ability to greatly increase the tax property owners pay when selling their real estate. In hampton Roads, sellers would have paid five times the current Grantors Tax rate. Although selling a home has nothing to do with transportation, the state legislature thought that passing the taxing authority on to local transportion entities would absolve them from being the bad guys by adding taxes or fees in the name of transportation. Increasing the Grantors Tax is not a fair and equitable way to raise funds for transportation but is politically expedient because the general public would not be effected, at least not all at the same time. Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia home owners should not rest easy, however. The legislature may try again to slip the Grantors Tax increase through while few notice. They might rather do that than face the music and tell us residents the truth: we will have to add tolls to our roads and/or add a gas tax to cover the increasing costs of road maintenance and improvements. Don't let it happen. Write your legislator today and tell them to deal with this unpopular but necessary remedy directly rather than sliding it past the voters and making the transportation authorities the scape goats.

[hopetosell]

I am trying to get a realistic estimate on the seller's anticipated fees for Virginia's Grantor's tax. I live in an area that has not pursued an increas in the tax; however, one site says to expect to pay 1% of the sales price, whereas another says $1 per $1,000 of the sales price in Virginia. I am no mathematician, but those are very different numbers. Any insights from any recent transactions as to whether it is 1% or $1 per $1,000 of sales price? Many thanks in advance!

[Margery]

Call your local Realtor association. It is $1.00 per thousand in NoVa.