Which States Give Retirees the Best Deal?

[Midpack]

Interesting summary on complete tax burden, thought others might find it of interest:

Which states give retirees the best deal? - MSN Money

[REWahoo]

I can't speak for any other state, but the information for TX property tax is crappola! The example shows a tax of $2,332 on a house valued at $152,000, a tax rate of 1.5%. No way.

I live in an unincorporated area with no city property tax (only county, emergency services, groundwater, road, and school taxes ) and my tax rate is more that 1/3 higher than the example shown. You add in city property tax and you are looking at something in the neighborhood of 2.7%, or something in the neighborhood of $4,100.

Really makes me question the overall accuracy of this comparison....

[ziggy29]

These are always interesting but it's always most important to know your own situation.

Texas, for example, can be a retirement tax haven or a retirement tax hell, depending on your circumstances. If you have a high income, a modest home and an LBYM lifestyle that doesn't buy a lot of taxable "stuff," it's one of the better retirement states from a tax point of view (if you can stand the summers).

On the other hand, if you are rather spendy and live in a large, higher-priced home, the sales taxes and property taxes are a killer, more than offsetting the lack of a state income tax.

[ziggy29]

Originally Posted by REWahoo

I can't speak for any other state, but the information for TX property tax is crappola! The example shows a tax of $2,332 on a house valued at $152,000, a tax rate of 1.5%. No way.

They are probably assuming the retirees are over 65 and thus get additional senior exemptions. I don't know how much those are, but I know I bought our current house in 2006 from someone who had both a senior and a disabled exemption, and the property tax rate wound up being about 0.7% of appraised value.

[Danny]

thanks for the link - I see I'm near the high end ...the trick is to find a happy medium...I do get a lot of services for the money...all those roads to plow...the property tax rate is about right...all though I doubt the medium price home in St. Paul is still $139,000...maybe it will be again with the current home implosion

[Midpack]

Originally Posted by REWahoo

I can't speak for any other state, but the information for TX property tax is crappola! The example shows a tax of $2,332 on a house valued at $152,000, a tax rate of 1.5%. No way.

I live in an unincorporated area with no city property tax (only county, emergency services, groundwater, road, and school taxes ) and my tax rate is more that 1/3 higher than the example shown. You add in city property tax and you are looking at something in the neighborhood of 2.7%, or something in the neighborhood of $4,100.

Really makes me question the overall accuracy of this comparison....

Looks like it depends on where you live. Not that I knew anything about Texas, but according to this, property taxes near Austin are both above and below 1.5% Travis County Tax Office - Collecting property taxes, registering voters and motor vehicles..

Guess I'd conclude for property taxes at least, you'd better find out what they'd be for the specific community you're living or thinking about living in. Property taxes varies across a state and can even vary dramatically within a city (I think we're all aware of that). State income taxes and sales taxes should be representative though, but I only posted it as a FWIW...

[ziggy29]

Originally Posted by Midpack

Looks like it depends on where you live. Not that I knew anything about Texas, but according to this property taxes near Austin are above and below 1.5% Travis County Tax Office - Collecting property taxes, registering voters and motor vehicles..

Guess I'd conclude for property taxes at least, you'd better find out what they'd be for the community you're living or thinking about living in. State income taxes and sales taxes should be representative though, but I only posted it as a FWIW...

For what it's worth, here's my 2008 appraisal notice (listing an $89,960 appraised value before I got it knocked down by over $13K):

School tax -- $785 (1.19% of appraised value minus homestead exemption), such a value for someone with no kids!
City tax -- $288 (0.40% minus homestead)
County tax -- $186 (0.26% minus homestead)
Road/bridge tax -- $33 (0.046% minus homestead)

Total -- $1292 on an appraised $89,960 -- 1.44%.

When we were in Houston we paid over $4600 on a $195,000 property, nearly 2.4%.

[REWahoo]

Originally Posted by ziggy29

They are probably assuming the retirees are over 65 and thus get additional senior exemptions. I don't know how much those are, but I know I bought our current house in 2006 from someone who had both a senior and a disabled exemption, and the property tax rate wound up being about 0.7% of appraised value.

Looking at the TX property tax exemptions for over 65 and disabled, I don't see how the stated exemptions could possibly add up to enough to bring a typical in-city property tax rate down to 1.5%, much less to 0.7%. Not saying it didn't/can't happen, but the numbers don't appear to add up.

[REWahoo]

Originally Posted by Midpack

Looks like it depends on where you live. Not that I knew anything about Texas, but according to this, property taxes near Austin are both above and below 1.5% Travis County Tax Office - Collecting property taxes, registering voters and motor vehicles..

I think you are looking at the individual tax rates for the many different taxing entities in the Austin area. I'm speaking of the total tax rates which can be seen in the right column of this chart: Property Tax | The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce :: Austin, Texas

They show Austin area tax rates vary from a low of 2.1% to a high of 2.8%.

[Danny]

Austin - The Human Capital

[ziggy29]

Originally Posted by Danny

Austin - The Human Capital

We call it the "People's Republic" 'round these parts.

[REWahoo]

Originally Posted by ziggy29

Total -- $1292 on an appraised $89,960 -- 1.44%.

For comparison (with homestead exemption):

Total -- $4,580 on an appraised $234,421 -- 1.95%.

...and mine includes NO city taxes!

[Danny]

maybe they meant Humid and the printer was dylectric...couldn't read

[Dawg54]

Originally Posted by REWahoo

I can't speak for any other state, but the information for TX property tax is crappola! The example shows a tax of $2,332 on a house valued at $152,000, a tax rate of 1.5%. No way.

I live in an unincorporated area with no city property tax (only county, emergency services, groundwater, road, and school taxes ) and my tax rate is more that 1/3 higher than the example shown. You add in city property tax and you are looking at something in the neighborhood of 2.7%, or something in the neighborhood of $4,100.

Really makes me question the overall accuracy of this comparison....

Yeah, but the tax rate on your baby is a little higher......

[REWahoo]

Originally Posted by Dawg52

Yeah, but the tax rate on your baby is a little higher......

Now I know why those guys at the county appraisal office tried to jack up my appraised value so much.

Reality is a little more humbling:

[Rustic23]

RW! Glad to see yall upgraded from the double wide.

[REWahoo]

Originally Posted by Rustic23

RW! Glad to see yall upgraded from the double wide.

Yep. We priced a set of roll bars for it and it wasn't that much more to buy this place. Took me a while to save up enough to build the carport. And if the market will ever turn around I'm planning on installing a compressor in that empty AC housing, too!

[Danny]

Originally Posted by REWahoo

Yep. We priced a set of roll bars for it and it wasn't that much more to buy this place. Took me a while to save up enough to build the carport. And if the market will ever turn around I'm planning on installing a compressor in that empty AC housing, too!

do you have indoor plumbing?

[lazygood4nothinbum]

kiplinger:

**Florida has no income tax. The $160 figure includes an intangibles tax.

florida department of revenue:

Effective January 1, 2007, Chapter Law 2006-312, L.O F., repeals the annual tax on intangible personal property such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, money market funds, and unsecured notes. Under this law, taxpayers owning these types of property will not be required to file an intangible personal property tax return for 2007 or subsequent years. This includes anyone filing an individual/joint return (DR 601I) or corporate return (DR 601C) in past years.

The repeal did not include:

• The nonrecurring tax on a note, bond, or other obligation for payment of money that is secured by a mortgage deed or other lien on real property. Taxpayers who are lending money secured by a mortgage on Florida real property must still pay the nonrecurring intangible tax. These payments are generally made to the Clerk of Court in the county where the instrument is recorded.
• The recurring tax on the lease of real property owned by a government and leased to a non-governmental entity when rental payments are due. Taxpayers that lease property from a governmental entity must still file and pay the governmental leasehold intangible tax annually, if the amount of tax owed before discount is $60 or more.