Personal property tax

[dyne]

An article on TV recently stated that Florida and one other state were the only states
which calculated the property tax upon the sales price of the home, not the fair market value.
Using market value results in much higher tax. The article went on to say that many
Florida residents were selling their home to move to another state. Why would they do
that only to incurr much higher property tax on real estate? What am I misunderstanding?

[ChEAr$]

Freeze

Using last sale price as measure of tax base happens in more than just states.
It's known as a "freeze".

Here in Columbus, GA (Muscogee county actually) a homeowner's assessment is
frozen at value when property was acquired. Thus many homeowners have a
property worth, say, 200,000$, but pay only $ 27.45 taxes each year, given fact
that 1. it's their homestead, and 2. they're over 65.

[Jiggers]

Texas Property Taxes

Here in Texas, the property taxes are the most unfair tax.

I can take corrective measures to effect income tax, sales tax, and franchise taxes. I have a hard time fighting property taxes.

You are at the mercy of the county appraiser and staff and, depending on their whims, you have to live with it.

I fight my valuation each year, and it is getting harder and harder when houses in the neighborhood sell for a very high price and that determines your value!

[WhiteOleander]

I am in Texas also. The valuation is very arbitrary. And you have to prove them wrong. Kind of like the IRS.

I have a friend who had a couple of lots in a small town valued at approx $6000.00. This year the tax board has valued them at $37000.00. They say that several other pieces of property have sold for that much.

No way to stop them. As Jiggers said, you can't do something different to save tax. You are at their mercy.

[Joe Btfsplk]

Texas Property tax

This tax has grown in Texas over the years from a very small tax based on low assessed values--so low that no one ever challenged the assessment--to a tax often based on assessments far in excess of the value of your property.

I read an article about Tom Pawken's father who had been overassessed based on values of other more expensive homes in the area. Tom Pawken is a lawyer and former state chairman of the Republican party. He appealed to the appraisal board and was offered little or no reduction. Since he was a lawyer, he took it to court and finally got the assessment in line with the home's value.

What do you do if you don't have a son or relative who is a lawyer? You have very little to go on. I managed to get my assessment reduced to my cost. First the lot was over-assessed. Then when the house was built it was assessed at far more than my cost. I got that reduced, but the next year I had to go through it again and it was more difficult. Finally, the next year they raised it again and I didn't protest it since my tax was 'frozen' for everything but the county tax (the smallest component) and my tax went up another $200+

Members of the legislature all swear they will do something to reduce the property tax burden. Somehow they never succeed. A minor reduction was achieved last year but the assessments will soon rise enough to wipe out any reductions.

Taxation without representation used to be a problem. It seems that taxation WITH representation isn't much better.

[Jiggers]

Texas Property Taxes

I agree with the above. The legislature can't/won't do anything to fix the issue. I doubt if they could.

They screwed up the state franchise tax as it is a corporate income tax based on the profits of the corporation convered to the 1996 IRS tax code. That is a mess.

Now they have changed it to a "Margin" tax. And I am still trying to figure that one out.

[Joe Btfsplk]

Margin tax.

I agree with the above. The legislature can't/won't do anything to fix the issue. I doubt if they could.

They screwed up the state franchise tax as it is a corporate income tax based on the profits of the corporation convered to the 1996 IRS tax code. That is a mess.

Now they have changed it to a "Margin" tax. And I am still trying to figure that one out.

I read something about the margin tax a few months ago. It is a kind of tax on gross profit, but it is not a true gross profit tax and there are options as to how to calculate it.

Makes about as much sense as the 'margerine tax', which was enacted to protect producers of butter in WW II. As far as I know that tax has never been repealed, but has not been collected since VJ day.

[Roland Slugg]

Prop 13

You are at their mercy.

Yep, and that's EXACTLY what motivated California property owners to pass Proposition 13 in 1978.

[WhiteOleander]

Yep, and that's EXACTLY what motivated California property owners to pass Proposition 13 in 1978.

We can't put Propositions on the ballot in Texas. It is against our Constitution.

[Jiggers]

But, you can vote out the rascals

We can't put Propositions on the ballot in Texas. It is against our Constitution.

I was living in California when Prop 13 passed. Sure wish it would in Texas.

I vote against all incumbents each year, no matter what the position.

[S T]

Calif

Calif is still using the sales price or new buyer's acquistion cost as their measure for the property tax base. So 1% of the sales price x the tax rate in that county area.

I think we are also on an annual 2% increase of the base (which would be the buyers acquisition cost)

Seems unfair for those buyers during the period of approximately 2003- 2006 when the real estate market was so high, since our market is declining during late 2006 and currently in 2007 due to all of the sub-prime issues on mortgages, and foreclosures, and probably some short sales dring 2007.

Not really sure how the county tax assessors in our area are going to deal with this issue once again!

Sandy

[oceanlovin'ea]

Florida property taxes

This is a simplified explanation of our property tax situation in Florida as I understand it. As long as Iive in my house that I bought in 1976, the county can only raise my taxes a maximum of 3% per year and there is a cap on the percentage over the time that I own the house. It is based on appraised value, but the value has only risen slightly over the years. I could sell my house for at least 5 times what I paid for it.

If I sold the house the new owner's property taxes would be based on what they bought the house for or FMV which would be close to the same thing.

My daughter bought a new house in a new subdivision in 2004. They started the house in April and moved in in September. When the next September rolled around, their house payment went up $200 a month because their property taxes went up.Theirs was one of the first 20 houses in the subdivision and by the time all the houses were built and sold, the property values were around $30,000 or more higher than what they paid. So they raised their taxes accordingly.

I think that 3% cap doesn't apply to these houses being bought now. I'm not sure when that changed. We have some friends in South Lakeland that are tryig to sell their house for around $250,000 and their property taxes are almost $5000.

Someone else in Florida may have more information or present it better, but that is my understanding.

Linda F

[joanmcq]

Calif is still using the sales price or new buyer's acquistion cost as their measure for the property tax base. So 1% of the sales price x the tax rate in that county area.

I think we are also on an annual 2% increase of the base (which would be the buyers acquisition cost)

Seems unfair for those buyers during the period of approximately 2003- 2006 when the real estate market was so high, since our market is declining during late 2006 and currently in 2007 due to all of the sub-prime issues on mortgages, and foreclosures, and probably some short sales dring 2007.

Not really sure how the county tax assessors in our area are going to deal with this issue once again!

Sandy

They reassess to the lower amount. Happened a lot in the 90's in Sacramento. I remember when my husband's first house was finally assessed back up to what he paid for it 7 years earlier!