I'm getting SO SICK of gas prices and car taxes!

[clemsonfor]

I'm paying around $4.50 a gallon for gas, about $400 a year truck license of a 1985 Chevrolet and $1300 for insurance...

Doesn't really sound all that different in the big picture...

One thing that amazes me is my European farmer friends have very nice 400 year old homes with the most modern conveniences and furnishings and pay almost nothing in property tax... that can't understand how a working person can pay California Property Tax...

A little 1100 square foot 1922 bungalow in East Oakland was nearly $8000 a year before the real estate crash... now it's more like $3500.

And... none of them pays a CPA to file tax returns!

It's only human nature to improve one's lot...

Your getting hosed there on that truck!! Here that truck would cost you about $35-45 annually. The insurance would be less than $600 unless its for business or you carry crazy full coverage on that old truck. Gas today is $3.43ish in augusta GA.

About the old farm house it doesnt sound like they have much expensen on thier home compared to you? Or are you saying this old house is crazy expensive and the fancy new appliances?

 

[ultrarunner]

Your getting hosed there on that truck!! Here that truck would cost you about $35-45 annually. The insurance would be less than $600 unless its for business or you carry crazy full coverage on that old truck. Gas today is $3.43ish in augusta GA.

About the old farm house it doesnt sound like they have much expensen on thier home compared to you? Or are you saying this old house is crazy expensive and the fancy new appliances?

We have the State License Fee and weight fees plus additional city and county fees for trucks...

Insurance seems to be much higher the closer you are to SF... I know when I was shopping and complained about the quote... I was told San Francisco is about 60% higher then my Oakland quote... funny thing is when my brother left Oakland... the insurance company called the house several times to verify he was no longer living in Oakland... he moved 10 minutes away and his premium dropped by a third.

The Farm house and land in Austria is very valuable... land has been and is quite costly there... my point is none of my friends from my time there complain about the property tax... it is very little relative to value... less then a 1/4 percent last I checked and is direct assessments for road, snow removal and fire/police protection... no school taxes of public transportation or midnight basketball like my city has...

What is higher is the tax on purchases/consumption... when I was there it was 10% for food, 20% for most everything else and 30% for luxury items which included cars, cameras, jewelry, electronics... etc... I understand the 30% tax went away for most things with the EU... another thing is the posted price ALWAYS includes the tax...

My area sales tax is around 10% +/- depending on city/county.

Just saying I didn't know anyone there looking to downsize of move due to property tax...

 

[JJZ 109]

But how much of that is state tax?
I filled up in Alexandria, VA 2 days ago - $4.05/gal, now down in Fulton, MS - $3.83/gal.

I can't give you an exact percentage but I think NY is up there pretty good.
Just came home from Florida last week and the lowest prices that I saw along the interstates were $3.55 for regular gas and $3.95 for diesel. I believe that was in Georgia or S. Carolina.

 

[two_bit_score]

I can't give you an exact percentage but I think NY is up there pretty good.
Just came home from Florida last week and the lowest prices that I saw along the interstates were $3.55 for regular gas and $3.95 for diesel. I believe that was in Georgia or S. Carolina.

Closing in on the $7 a gallon ***** and his regime are working hard to achieve.




.

 

[rsewill]

Closing in on the $7 a gallon ***** and his regime are working hard to achieve.

.

Down to $3.989 for Diesel when I filled up yesterday. Expected to keep dropping as crude keeps dropping, losing a rather large daily percentage yesterday. Seems President ***** has just one more failure if he wanted prices to rise.

 

[clemsonfor]

What is higher is the tax on purchases/consumption... when I was there it was 10% for food, 20% for most everything else and 30% for luxury items which included cars, cameras, jewelry, electronics... etc... I understand the 30% tax went away for most things with the EU... another thing is the posted price ALWAYS includes the tax...

My area sales tax is around 10% +/- depending on city/county.

Just saying I didn't know anyone there looking to downsize of move due to property tax...

Dont they have an almost 50% income tax in the socialist euro nations?? My state and area i think is 7% sales tax. Food items are 1%.

I can't give you an exact percentage but I think NY is up there pretty good.
Just came home from Florida last week and the lowest prices that I saw along the interstates were $3.55 for regular gas and $3.95 for diesel. I believe that was in Georgia or S. Carolina.

Last week and monday this week gas was $3.55-58 at the cheapest places minus all the point games and or buying carwash gimmicks to lower the pump price. Friday the price was what i said about $3.43-45ish.

 

[ultrarunner]

Dont they have an almost 50% income tax in the socialist euro nations?? My state and area i think is 7% sales tax. Food items are 1%.

Not sure... will have to check... the one thing is none of the folks I know ever has to file a tax return or has a CPA... taxes are deducted and paid as you go...

As for the 50%... sounds pretty close to living in California... Fed plus State has many successful wage earners at 50%.

 

[Renze]

Dont they have an almost 50% income tax in the socialist euro nations?? My state and area i think is 7% sales tax. Food items are 1%.


Last week and monday this week gas was $3.55-58 at the cheapest places minus all the point games and or buying carwash gimmicks to lower the pump price. Friday the price was what i said about $3.43-45ish.

about 1/3 of my salary goes to health and retirement insurance. We used to have 17.5% VAT, few years ago they went to 19% and now they talk of 21%. Trade between companies is VAT free, only to the domestic user gets VAT'd
Food and feed is 6% VAT because its a basic necessity. Artists unfit to do any real work, have been protesting because the VAT rate for tickets for their performances, has went from 6% to 19% which costs them audience: They claim that the government is killing culture this way, but i'd say culture is of a whole nation, not the intellectual property of some left-wing freeloading elitists: Let the free market rule them out. YES my point of view on this one, allmost sounds American

The problem we have in Holland is that the full babyboom generation (the children that were born after WW2, when it was safe to raise children again) are now retiring, while the reproduction rate of todays generation isnt that high: The ratio between elderly people and working people is thrown off balance, so we must do something to fund our public health, retirements, etcetera. It would be unjust to just go back to an American system where people must save for theirself, because these elderly people already have payd the social security dues for their whole life, which were spent on the previous generations, so this current elderly generation must ALSO get what they have been paying all those years for.


Just a reminder for everyone, there are structural differences on how American and European societies are built: The Nordic countries have even higher VAT and social security tax rates, within the same Europe there are already huge differences. If you dont fully understand these differences, please tune your comments accordingly

 

[greasemonkeyok]

Renzie, you must have misinterpreted the political rhetoric interwoven into this thread as serious political commentary by knowledgeable parties. It is a U.S. pastime to instinctively assign blame for every perceived woe on the group identified by various monikers as Democrats, socialists, leftys, liberals, and lame-stream-media, with little regard for actual cause and effect. The only rule of the game is that you must not recognize the concept of anarchy. The less actual political knowledge and experience of the speaker the better to make these absurd connections. Think of it as a game of Chicken Little in which the winner is the one who makes the most inane statement.

 

[Patches]

Renzie, you must have misinterpreted the political rhetoric interwoven into this thread as serious political commentary by knowledgeable parties. It is a U.S. pastime to instinctively assign blame for every perceived woe on the group identified by various monikers as Democrats, socialists, leftys, liberals, and lame-stream-media, with little regard for actual cause and effect. The only rule of the game is that you must not recognize the concept of anarchy. The less actual political knowledge and experience of the speaker the better to make these absurd connections. Think of it as a game of Chicken Little in which the winner is the one who makes the most inane statement.

BINGO; We have a winner :thumbsup: