Prepaying taxes

[TnAndy]

Second Installment in California is due in 2018 but we get the tax bill with the first installment so there are lines of people paying early...

Seems I have a knack for significant tax bills... in fact taxes of all kind total to be my single biggest expense by far.

California... 1957 original 1725 square foot home is 11k... the sellers were paying $1200

Washington my property tax is now over 12k... when I bought it was $6800...

Washington and California total 24k currently in property tax... sobering figures.

Simply highway robbery. Don't understand what ya'll get for the outrageous amount of tax you pay. Been there, didn't see gold plated roads. Property tax here on 70ac, pretty nice house, shop, multiple other buildings is $1300/yr. No State income tax. Do have a 9 3/4% sales tax (lower on food)....but overall, pretty low tax rate compared to many places.

I predict a "voting by feet" as folks move to lower tax States.

 

[LouNY]

Well I live in one of those high tax states, but I'm not prepaying my property taxes, what I've read it looks like I'm marginal whether
it'll make much difference either way. My local town budget is over 80% for highway maintenance and a great deal of that is snow
removal. So the only way to reduce that would be less plowing and salting, while I'm fine with that most people any more don't take care of
themselves and their vehicles to get around without the extreme snow removal no snow tires no chains available and don't know how to use them.
People going to ski areas with $1000's of dollars worth of ski's and wore out all season tires and getting stuck in the snow. People wanting bare roads in the
middle of a snow storm so they can drive like they do in the summer.
And so to end my rant our taxes are too high because we have to take care of people that will not take responsibility for themselves, their action or inactions.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Is the 10k limit on just property tax? I saw something about it applying to state and local income tax.

 

[ultrarunner]

Simply highway robbery. Don't understand what ya'll get for the outrageous amount of tax you pay. Been there, didn't see gold plated roads. Property tax here on 70ac, pretty nice house, shop, multiple other buildings is $1300/yr. No State income tax. Do have a 9 3/4% sales tax (lower on food)....but overall, pretty low tax rate compared to many places.

I predict a "voting by feet" as folks move to lower tax States.

It should get interesting real soon as the new tax structure takes hold... one of the selling features of a High Cost state is being able to offset some of the higher costs against Federal Taxes.

My brother lives 15 minutes away in the county... good school... fantastic High School... downtown, sidewalks, fire hydrants... etc... my tax rate is 50% Higher living in the city because he is in the county...

We pay a lot for schools, youth programs, the Oakland Raiders stadium renovation and will even after they move to Vegas plus a ton for transit... none of the things I use.

Sales tax is 9.25 except on food... minimum wage is currently $13.23 with neighboring as high as $15

Thing is with all the high costs residential single family homes hit an all time high... Bay Area median for existing homes is now $825k and many of the these homes are 50 to 80 years old...

The one saving grace is CA Prop 13 that keeps Property Tax increases in check... requires voter approval for new assessments and caps annual increase at 2%...

 

[kenmac]

WOW ! I just don't understand why some of your taxes are so high.
My little 3500 sq foot home, 40x80 pole barn, 40x50 pole barn, and 40 acres are around $800.00 per yr. My 12 acre rural river property is about $130.00 per yr.

I just don't think I would like giving the money grubbers any more of my hard earned $$

 

[teejk]

Is the 10k limit on just property tax? I saw something about it applying to state and local income tax.

Real estate taxes will be bundled with state/local income taxes and the $10,000 cap applies to the combined total. As I noted previously, the rush is driven by both the cap (high tax states) and the increase in the standard deduction (i.e. going forward your combined deductions for taxes, medical, charitable will have to exceed the new limits. Many people won't exceed that so pre-paying real estate taxes presents a one-time opportunity.

 

[sseelhoff]

Real estate taxes will be bundled with state/local income taxes and the $10,000 cap applies to the combined total. As I noted previously, the rush is driven by both the cap (high tax states) and the increase in the standard deduction (i.e. going forward your combined deductions for taxes, medical, charitable will have to exceed the new limits. Many people won't exceed that so pre-paying real estate taxes presents a one-time opportunity.

I fall into the latter category. We itemize, and were always the old standard deduction limit. With the new standard deduction at $24,000 (married, filing jointly) we will be under the new. 2017 tax year will likely be the last year we itemize. SWMBO has already done the calculations (She has a Bachelor's in accounting) We may go to 1040 EZ going forward. Hello Turbo Tax. That alone will save us another $750 per year in accounting fees (we use a CPA for our taxes).

 

[teejk]

None of the news articles that I have seen and no one here has suggested just maybe these high tax states could learn to get by with less like the other states have done.
Tax and spend!

In a way "the genie has left the bottle". Many states have committed to generous retirement packages for their employees and as such are stuck. Similarly schools have gotten fat and they are also stuck with the costs of decisions taken years ago. Add to that, even suggesting cutting school budgets would get your house burned down in the middle of the night because we all know that every additional dollar spent on education produces a huge benefit...at least that's what the teachers unions say.

 

[ultrarunner]

WOW ! I just don't understand why some of your taxes are so high.
My little 3500 sq foot home, 40x80 pole barn, 40x50 pole barn, and 40 acres are around $800.00 per yr. My 12 acre rural river property is about $130.00 per yr.

I just don't think I would like giving the money grubbers any more of my hard earned $$

It is pretty overwhelming when you stop and take a look.. and the kicker is it is never enough... pensions are on a collision course and just last week city employees went on strike because raises were not enough.

The property tax on the 65 acre farm is pushing 30k when it is all said and done... this is the real reason for the Christmas Tree business and that is to pay property taxes... nothing fancy... a non permitted home and a barn from 1860... the only thing permitted is a metal hay storage barn... as it was built about 15 years ago

I had thought Washington State would be better but it is worse from my experience.

 

[TheMan419]

Wait a minute...currently you give $1 to a charity so that you get back 15 cents (or 20 or 25 or 35 cents depending on your bracket)? Does that mean that the federal government in effect "matches" your contributions? I don't buy that logic. IMHO people give to charities because they want to. The increased standard deductions are in effect assuming that you will continue to give (or pay taxes), you just don't have to keep track of them all.

The federal government effectively subsidizes charitable giving. If you can afford to give $1000 to charity, but you are getting 15% "back" in tax deductions you can really afford to give $1150.00 to charity because you save that other $150 on taxes. Now with out the deduction gone you only give $1000 because you are not getting $150 back on taxes. So the charity just lost out on $150.00.

Tax policy is certainly used to drive social issues. Home Mortgage interest deductions drive home ownership. Deducting charitable donations drives donations to charity.

I serve on the board of a local charity. We are certainly concerned that people will give less because they do not get the tax benefit.