Abolishing Property Taxes

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Abolishing Property Taxes

Zachary Dosch
Bismarck, ND · Member since 2011 · 142 posts · 16 votes

In North Dakota, there is a measure that is trying to abolish property taxes and I was just curious as to what everybody's thoughts are regarding this topic.

Im against against it because its a very poorly worded measure and it leaves out how they are going to replace the lost revenue. They think they can replace it though income and tobacco tax (even though it wouldn't come close) but the real reason the proponents of Measure 2 want this done is there is an abundance of tax revenue from the Oil that is being pumped out of western North Dakota (which isn't going to last forever).

Has anybody seen where abolishing property taxes actually worked out? It would save me a huge chunk of change every year and the home values would take an immediate boost but I really feel like the funding for the roads, police department, fire department, and schools isn't something to mess with.

Thoughts?

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James H.
Investor · Fort Worth, TX · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 450 votes
14y

I know this probably goes against the major grain here, but I think propety taxes are probably one of the best forms of taxes. Even better than income tax form a idealogical point of view (mine at least).Those own more property and use more public services by operating the properties should pay more.

Nathan Emmert, sales tax is regressive. So while you may spend more than someone with a lower income, a poor person spends, by necessity a larger percentage of their income on sales taxed goods than you do. If you are a proponent of everone paying the same percentage of their income regardless of their income (not that you said you were) you should be against sales tax.

If you own 50 houses, and I own 2 houses, damn right you should pay more for maintenance of infrastructure.

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  • Account Closed
    Clarksville, TN · Member since 2012 · 29 posts · 7 votes
    14y

    With regards to property vs. income, I think the discussion should be property vs. income vs. sales tax. I favor the sales tax because a) it requires no one know how much money I make, and b) no one knows where I live. I'm not a conspiracy nut that lives out of a PO Box. With a sales tax, everything is voluntary. If I'm going to be some crazy shlepp that lives off of flea markets and swap fests, then I can dodge the entire system, but I honestly wouldnt' do that. I would buy stuff from the stores. With sales taxes, the tax base is wider, and people that make money through even illegal activities would still be paying into the tax basis, lowering the overall tax needs for everyone.

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  • James H.
    Investor · Fort Worth, TX · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 450 votes
    14y

    Greg, I agree with you in spirit, but not in principle.

    Originally posted by Greg Turnquist:
    I support abolishing property taxes, because you don't really totally own your property even when the mortgage is paid off due to property taxes. I too support the FairTax.

    You might want to ask the Native Americans how not paying property taxes ensured their permanent ownership of land.

    Originally posted by Greg Turnquist:
    With sales taxes, the tax base is wider, and people that make money through even illegal activities would still be paying into the tax basis, lowering the overall tax needs for everyone.

    Do you really think this would significantly change the economics of governement funding, or is this an emotion grabber?

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  • Tod R.
    Investor · Southlake, TX · Member since 2009 · 950 posts · 338 votes
    14y

    I'm not a fan of the sales tax because most of us don't really know how much we pay. Oh sure, you can do an estimate on your federal income tax return but you really don't know. It gets lost in the price of goods/services.

    I know how much I pay in federal income tax, but I still think there's a substantial amount of taxpayers who don't know how much they pay. They are just focused on their refund. I would like to eliminate the witholding of income taxes from paychecks and require taxpayers to write a check so that they actually see what they pay. I appreciate the feds trying to make it easy on us by withholding but let's make sure people know how much they are really paying.

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