Why Are Your Property Taxes So Darn High?

While the majority of people pay the most attention to the taxes they see regularly, i.e. income and sales tax, there are other taxes that cost you a lot of money that you may tend to forget about. One of those taxes that cost a lot, but that kind of goes unnoticed is property tax. In fact, depending on where you live and how much property you own, your property taxes can be huge. For some people, like residents of New Jersey for example, property taxes seem extreme.

A 2014 study by Monmouth University found that 26 percent of New Jersey residents said that they were “very likely” to move to a different state, with the most common reason being the high price of housing and property taxes – with property taxes being the main culprit. Residents of Connecticut and New York are also often on the list of highest property taxes. Why is that some locations have much higher property taxes than others?

There are several reasons that property taxes vary from state to state and city to city. Here are just a few of the main causes:

  • State employees make a lot of money – if your state pays its workers well, like New Jersey does, then chances are your property taxes are higher in order to help foot that bill.
  • Not Much Tourism – if your state lacks a lot of out-of-town visitors then property taxes could be higher to make up for lost revenue.
  • Good schools – in order to have the best schools you have to pay for the best teachers and education services. The funds for those expenses often come from property taxes.
  • Valuable property – no matter where you live, if you have a valuable home then you will almost assuredly pay more in property taxes. That’s because your property tax is based on the assessed value of your home times the local tax rate. A higher value home equals higher property taxes.

There are other possible reasons for high property taxes, but these are some of the most common. If you want to avoid outrageous property taxes, then your best bet is to simply move to a state where property taxes are lower.

/GROCO
Posted in

So Just How Did Those Scammers Break Into the IRS Website?

  In early June, the IRS announced to the public that it had allowed thieves to steal the private information of thousands of taxpayers. According to those reports, the thieves accessed the information through the IRS’s online “Get Transcript” website and then used it to file fraudulent tax returns to the tune of about $50…

FBAR Penalties Could Be Lessened Under New IRS Guidelines

According to the IRS, “if you have a financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign financial account, including a bank account, brokerage account, mutual fund, trust, or other type of foreign financial account, exceeding certain thresholds, the Bank Secrecy Act may require you to report the account yearly to the Department of Treasury…

House Pushes Through Internet Tax Ban Bill but Will Senate Agree?

Everyone loves the Internet and most people couldn’t live without it. There are a lot of great things about the Internet; with one of those things being that fact that there are no state and local taxes to use it. Over the years, they have been many arguments back and forth as to whether or…

Which Is Higher, Your Food Bill or Your Tax Bill?

How high is your tax bill? Would you say you spend more on taxes than you do on food? What about clothing and shelter; do you spend more on them than you do on your taxes? The answer might surprise you. That’s because in actuality you probably spend more on your taxes every year than…