Confused about property tax

[soccerballtux]

The government makes me pay money yearly on land that I own simply to live on?
Why? Why do you pay this same tax again every year?

Any good arguments for why we shouldn't get rid of this? I was under the assumption that once you pay off your loans, the house and land is yours.

Other countries it works this way. Taxing you yearly for simply owning it makes no sense.

So, going forward, when I look into buying a house/land, what will the property tax be on it? I'm assuming it's based on value.

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
The government makes me pay money yearly on land that I own simply to live on?
Why? Why do you pay this same tax again every year?

Any good arguments for why we shouldn't get rid of this? I was under the assumption that once you pay off your loans, the house and land is yours.

Other countries it works this way. Taxing you yearly for simply owning it makes no sense.

So, going forward, when I look into buying a house/land, what will the property tax be on it? I'm assuming it's based on value.

There are no private property rights. See Kelo v. New London.

 

[Sinsear]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
The government makes me pay money yearly on land that I own simply to live on?
Why? Why do you pay this same tax again every year?

So our kids can go to school, volunteer fire departments will function, and there will be public libraries, just to name a few.

 

[Toasthead]

you dont own the land

 

[BrownTown]

Well I would assume the point is so that a rich person can't simply buy a parcel of land and own it for the rest of recorded history without ever paying another cent for it? Basically no property taxes favors all the old money people which goes against this country whole idea of capitalism and rewarding hard work and innovation (and not just rewarding spoiled kids who were born into the right family).

 

[woodie1]

In most areas your property taxes fund libraries, schools, police departments, fire departments, your local government and list goes on ...

 

[Engineer]

My property tax funds the trash service. I pay more than someone living down the street with more trash because my home is valued more. Oh, the great taxes in the US, lol.

 

[Craig234]

Society has ongoing costs. You pay the costs. You can pay them in our 'benevolent' democratic system, or you can take your pick of other fine systems. But you will pay them.

 

[Butterbean]

Feudalism lives.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: Butterbean
Feudalism lives.

Feudalism is far, far worse than what we have, and it's what the right is pushing us back towards. Feudalism = you don't owe the property at all, and the question isn't that you pay a bit in taxes, it's that you get to keep a bit for your basic needs and the rest goes to the owners.

 

[herm0016]

you should stop paying them and see who really owns your property. your taxes on property are a direct tax to pay for city services.
income tax is the tax that is unconstitutional. the constitution says that all taxes levied must be direct taxes to pay for services to the people,like property taxes, school taxes, water bill, gas tax, etc which are direct and somewhat proportional to your use (bigger house needs more firemen to put it out) and that any tax that is not a direct tax must be distributed equally among the people.

 

[soccerballtux]

Ok I guess that makes sense.

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

To make you poor.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

I was very surprised when I read about property tax in USA. There is nothing like that where I'm from, and from what I've heard the rate can be very high, depending on where you live.

 

[1prophet]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
Well I would assume the point is so that a rich person can't simply buy a parcel of land and own it for the rest of recorded history without ever paying another cent for it? Basically no property taxes favors all the old money people which goes against this country whole idea of capitalism and rewarding hard work and innovation (and not just rewarding spoiled kids who were born into the right family).

Unfortunately it's people who live on fixed incomes like senior citizens that are forced out when times are bad even if the house is paid for, not the rich.

 

[StageLeft]

They're the same in Canada. Not sure about other parts of the West, but same idea in Canada as in the US, you pay based on the value of the house. These, of course vary WILDLY. In my current house, worth about 20% more than my last one, my property taxes are at least 7X as high. But, that's ok, because I get to pay for my tiny little suburb to be its own town with its own bureaucratic overhead. Those in the "town" next to me actually pay a touch more, but the reward for them is a 39% highschool graduation rate, so I am sure they're all happy with where their money goes

 

[conehead433]

The crazy thing about property taxes in this country is that a few years ago local governments exponentially increased some property owners taxes because their properties had spectacular views.

 

[IGBT]

..never agreed with it either. it's the states way to make shure you never really own the property but are responsible for it.

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
The government makes me pay money yearly on land that I own simply to live on?
Why? Why do you pay this same tax again every year?

Any good arguments for why we shouldn't get rid of this? I was under the assumption that once you pay off your loans, the house and land is yours.

Other countries it works this way. Taxing you yearly for simply owning it makes no sense.

So, going forward, when I look into buying a house/land, what will the property tax be on it? I'm assuming it's based on value.

I dunno, taxing you on property you 'own' seems like an easier moral justification than the very idea of 'owning' land at all.

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: IGBT
..never agreed with it either. it's the states way to make shure you never really own the property but are responsible for it.

Your property isn't a sovereign country, is it? You live in a community and benefit from the services it provides, so it seems reasonable to require you to help pay for those services as part of living where you live. Arguments about owning or not owning the land (intentionally) miss the point. Your property isn't an island in the middle of the ocean.

 

[conehead433]

Originally posted by: Rainsford

Originally posted by: IGBT
..never agreed with it either. it's the states way to make shure you never really own the property but are responsible for it.

Your property isn't a sovereign country, is it? You live in a community and benefit from the services it provides, so it seems reasonable to require you to help pay for those services as part of living where you live. Arguments about owning or not owning the land (intentionally) miss the point. Your property isn't an island in the middle of the ocean.

Yes but does that justify them charging you a premium because of the spectacular view?

 

[Siddhartha]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
The government makes me pay money yearly on land that I own simply to live on?
Why? Why do you pay this same tax again every year?

Any good arguments for why we shouldn't get rid of this? I was under the assumption that once you pay off your loans, the house and land is yours.

Other countries it works this way. Taxing you yearly for simply owning it makes no sense.

So, going forward, when I look into buying a house/land, what will the property tax be on it? I'm assuming it's based on value.

Decide what government services you value and how they should be funded.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: conehead433

Originally posted by: Rainsford

Originally posted by: IGBT
..never agreed with it either. it's the states way to make shure you never really own the property but are responsible for it.

Your property isn't a sovereign country, is it? You live in a community and benefit from the services it provides, so it seems reasonable to require you to help pay for those services as part of living where you live. Arguments about owning or not owning the land (intentionally) miss the point. Your property isn't an island in the middle of the ocean.

Yes but does that justify them charging you a premium because of the spectacular view?

Not really...actually, now that I think about it they should tax you by the number of people that live on the property is that is the purpose.

My house has a "spectacular view". I'm wondering if I let all my giant pines grow high enough to block it out if they would lower my property taxes. If I could sell my house for the 289,000 assessed value that I'm taxed on right now, I think I would.

 

[cumhail]

While I don't disagree with the concept of a property tax, I do feel that in some cases, it has come to be excessive and mishandled. In the area where I live, for example, there are many towns where the property taxes one would have to pay on a home nearly matches the amount that he or she would have to pay to rent it. And sadly, these towns that have the highest taxes often offer the least in the way of services. So once you factor in additional costs, such as water bills, home owner's insurance, maintenance costs, etc., there ceases to be much of a financial incentive to pursue ownership.

Further making it less attractive of an endeavor is the fact that while real-estate has historically been seen as a reasonably safe long-term investment, and will likely continue to be, the current housing crisis will undoubtedly dissuade many individuals from believing that it currently is.

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: herm0016
you should stop paying them and see who really owns your property. your taxes on property are a direct tax to pay for city services.
income tax is the tax that is unconstitutional. the constitution says that all taxes levied must be direct taxes to pay for services to the people,like property taxes, school taxes, water bill, gas tax, etc which are direct and somewhat proportional to your use (bigger house needs more firemen to put it out) and that any tax that is not a direct tax must be distributed equally among the people.

Didn't Wesley Snipes try that route and fail?