Archive for April, 2008
Apr
29
Posted by Lorraine Ross on
April 29, 2008
When you are selling a property and it is in the middle of a property tax year, the seller is responsible for the property taxes up to the day of closing after which time the remaining tax is due by the buyer. Now some people are very unaware of this fact when they close on a property and usually find out at the closing. The seller will bring a check along for their part of the taxes and the seller’s mortgage company receives the check, which is deposited in the buyer’s escrow account. This however is only one option presented for coving split property taxes.
Many times the seller’s mortgage company will keep the funds and send it directly to the property tax office at the appropriate time of year. This rare of course, but has been done in the past. It all depends on the new mortgage company for the buyer and the mortgage company for the seller. The proper way many believe is to give the monies to the buyer’s mortgage lender and have them send the check to the property tax office by passing the intermediary, which is the buyer. This ensures the buyer’s mortgage lender that the money is indeed going for the property taxes. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr
22
Posted by Lorraine Ross on
April 22, 2008
Many people pay there property taxes in the tax year and claim there taxes on their income taxes for that year. For example, the year 2007, you receive your property tax bill in December and pay the tax immediately. You can then claim the property taxes on your income tax. If your wait until January of 2008, you will have to claim the property taxes for 2008. There are different reasons for paying your taxes right away and there are reasons for waiting until the following year. Deciding when to pay your taxes may be determine by thinking about your current tax liability.
If you are in a higher tax bracket in 2008 than you are in 2007, you may want to wait and pay your property taxes in January of 2008. This will help lower your total tax liability in 2008. If you are in a higher tax bracket for 2007 and expect to drop into a lower tax bracket in 2008, you may wish to pay your property taxes in December of 2007 so you can claim it on your income taxes to reduce the tax liability for 2007. Other reasons to wait or pay your taxes may also include other deductions you may or may not have in a given year. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr
15
Posted by Lorraine Ross on
April 15, 2008
Property tax and personal property tax is different because the property tax deals with the building and land. Personal property tax deals with vehicles, boats, planes and other motorcycles. Any type of artwork is subject to personal property tax. If you have a business, any of the inventories is subject to personal property tax as well as bonds or any stocks. The only thing not subject to tax is household goods or personal belongings. The state rather than the community governments more commonly do personal property taxes. Thus however, may be different from state to state.
In some states, local counties send out personal property tax documents to businesses that are to be completed and returned before a certain date. This personal property amount is then used to determine your next years tax due. For example, a tavern owner, claims everything he owns in the building such computers, cash registers, bar stools, bar lights, mirrors and any games as well as televisions. If you own the building, then you would also claim coolers and other things in the bar. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr
08
Posted by Lorraine Ross on
April 8, 2008
Property taxes for rental properties are normally higher than single-family properties. This causes much confusion for property owners in any state. They cannot understand why they are subject to higher property taxes since most are not making a profit on the properties in question. With people buying two family houses to help with the mortgage payment and property taxes, there are some frustrations over why they have to pay higher property taxes. Many property owners feel they are being singled out for trying to own a property for their family while providing housing for someone else as well.
The general rule for property taxes is that if you have a two family home, you are paying property taxes for two families in that taxing district. The home will be compared to other homes similar in structure as well as recently bought and sold homes to arrive at a fair assessed value. This however does not affect your status for taxes, the rates applied by the taxing committee is where your assessed value is used to calculate the tax due on the property. This is where they get you for owning a two family home. You can find out more information at your local taxing office as to how they calculate tax rates for single and two family houses. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr
01
Posted by Lorraine Ross on
April 1, 2008
If you fail to pay your property taxes when they are due and continue to avoid paying them, you stand a good chance of accumulating penalties and interest. After a given amount of time, the county office can place a lien on your property. If you continue to avoid paying the property taxes, you home can succumb to the auction block. This can be done even if you owe an outstanding mortgage on the home. You or someone else is going to have to pay the outstanding balance owed on the property taxes. It is always best to pay the taxes, but if you do not, an auction can take place.
How the auction works is the county decides you have had ample time to pay the property taxes and you have made no effort to do so. They will then notify any lenders of intent to auction your property to recoup the taxes monies owed. Once the process starts, you still have time to save your property before the day of the auction. If you have the resources, you can apply monies to the delinquent property taxes and have your property taken off the auction block. Read the rest of this entry »
