Community Chat

[dancingwoman]

@SilleeMee  Yep us too...!! DW

[chickenbutt]

Add me to the list of people who hate April!  Aside from taxes, I have my auto renewal, auto insurance, dentist visit, along with everything else.  I'm stressin' big time!  

[just bee]

T.S. Eliot was right.

April is the cruellest month...

My federal and state tax burden is twice what it was last year.  Property taxes are next.

An added bonus: When I was driving home from my tax appointment I got a flat tire.

As I said on another thread, I got nailed twice.

[Sweetbay magnolia]

IFIRC, there was  "sunset" clause on the last "break".

[kate2357]

I will try to feel lucky then ... only our property taxes are higher this year. I retired last year, so our federal income taxes (total dollars owed) are actually less this year than last year. The issue I have w/ property taxes, which drives me nuts, is it's based on the value of your home. But that value doesn't mean anything unless you sell that home. (The value of our home went up so much last year, it makes me a bit sick to my stomach. I do not know how the avg person could buy a decent home in Seattle anymore). 

I have the check sitting here, ready to mail ... but I do wait before sending. I have no idea why. It's not like you earn any interest on your checking account.

[Spacrazy]

@SeaMaiden : you know what they say - misery loves company. Truly, I am counting my blessings and they are many.  May it’s pandemic residuals but the bite just seems deeper this year.

[wagirl]

@SeaMaiden --oh friend------owe ALOT to IRS for selling my house last year!!! would rather burn that $$ then send it in!!! :

[SeaMaiden]

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@chickenbutt wrote:

Add me to the list of people who hate April!  Aside from taxes, I have my auto renewal, auto insurance, dentist visit, along with everything else.  I'm stressin' big time!  

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@chickenbutt   Oh... I forgot the dentist....yesterday was  the cleaning...then I have to return on the 25th of April  to have work done💵💵💵💸💸💸💰💰💰😪

[pigletsmom]

I believe property taxes are the worst tax ever and I can't figure out how people ever agreed to it. You never really own your home if someone can just take it from you even though you've paid it off. Absolutely unreal to me.

[granddi]

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@pigletsmom wrote:

I believe property taxes are the worst tax ever and I can't figure out how people ever agreed to it. You never really own your home if someone can just take it from you even though you've paid it off. Absolutely unreal to me.

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I lived in a very small town for decades. Everyone knows everyone. The appraiser said that the city, county, school, hospital district all set their budgets. Since they are basically funded by tax dollars, that where the apraisal process begins. They take the amount needed and must find it among tax payers. In our town 1/3 of property owners were reviewed yearly so you could expect your taxes to rise every 3 years.

State law says that the tax rate cannot exceed so much per apraised amount. But when a tax entity has reached the legal limit to tax us, they just adust our apraisals up. Therefore, you owe more taxes not because the rate went up its bc your apraised value of your property has increased. 

In our town the powers decided to tax business vehicles and the realtors went ballistic so that idea was gone. Remember too that our towns, cities give tax abatements to business to locate in our town. In many cases such as companies that are worth zillons of dollars are exempt from taxes for a prescribed time frame--same for sports stadiums. Other properties that are tax exempt include religious properties. One lady in our town had church in her basement and got an exemption for her home. 

We now live in a large meto area. The taxes and fees are like ****** Clark says "the hits just keep on commin'" We have to pay a $50 year fee to install a home security system. Don't we all just love paying for auto inspection. My dad kept his poll tax receipt in his wallet until his death.

Most of us understand that taxes pay for things we all use. We just want the tax system to work fairly for all.