Property tax is the main source of income for local governments.
In the United States, almost all local governments will tax real estate, including land, commercial real estate and family homes. Only a small part of the land in the United States belongs to the government, and most of it is in private hands. Residents buy houses together with land, which has become a part of private property. In America, private property is sacred and inviolable. For small families, this mainly refers to the housing as the core property, so it is impossible to break into houses in the United States. There used to be an incident in which a Japanese student broke into a house at night and was shot dead by the owner, but the owner was innocent. The Japanese don't understand. Is the murderer still innocent? The key question here is, where have you been?
The burden of American residents' real estate tax is mainly determined by two factors: real estate tax rate and tax base. The tax base is also determined by the evaluation value and evaluation rate of real estate. Among them, the assessment rate refers to the proportion of the assessed value of real estate that needs to be taxed. The evaluation value of real estate will be based on the purchase value of real estate, or will change with the change of its market value.
Is it good or bad to levy property tax
In view of real estate tax, economists' opinions show obvious polarization. Many economists believe that real estate tax is a kind of "preferential tax", which can provide financial support for the maintenance and improvement of local facilities. The American tax system is clearly defined. There are differences among the federal government, state government, county government and municipal government in taxing people. Otherwise, the three levels of government will levy personal income tax, and ordinary people can still live. Personal income tax is the main tax item of the federal and state governments, while the county and city governments basically do not levy such taxes. County and city governments should levy taxes, and property tax is the main tax, and it should be taken from the people and used by the people under the banner of high-sounding. The use of property tax is mostly used for school districts, which makes people feel more or less worthwhile.
Of course, some economists believe that levying real estate tax will distort economic and investment decisions to some extent. The voice of this group of economists is relatively weak, mainly because the burden of property tax in the United States is not too heavy. Secondly, the purpose of property tax is not to support bureaucrats, but to be used for projects that local people need. As long as officials are not raised, people will complain less about taxes.
How heavy is the burden of American property tax?
Last year, the Center for Tax Policy of the United States released the research report "American Residential Property Tax", and its analysis data came from the American community survey data from 2007 to 20 1 1 year. The research report found that people in different States in the United States have great differences in the burden of residential property tax. According to the survey, the counties with the heaviest property tax burden are located in New York and New Jersey, and the counties with the lightest burden are located in Alabama and Louisiana. The residential property tax levied by most counties is about $65,438+0,000 per owner per year, accounting for less than 65,438+0% of the property value. Why is the county the object of statistics and observation? This is because the property tax in the United States is mainly collected by counties. Grandpa from the county here is the real grandpa. They decide how much the residents' property tax should be charged.
The research report on residential property tax in the United States shows that the average burden of residential property tax in counties in the United States is $65,438+0,000 per year, and a few counties are higher than this level. From 2007 to 20 1 1 year, the average residential property tax burden of 60% counties in the United States was between 500 and 1500 dollars. 13% of the counties are lower, while the average residential property tax of 27% of the county residents is higher than 1500 USD per year. Among the counties with higher than the average residential property tax burden, the average annual residential property tax bill exceeds $4,000, and only 9 counties exceed $8,000. From 2007 to 20 1 1 year, 60% of counties in the United States accounted for the median house price, 37% of counties accounted for between 1% and 2%, only 3% of counties accounted for more than 2%, and only 5 counties accounted for more than 3%.
The national tax system determines the burden of property tax.
The amount of residential property tax paid by each state is different. The average amount of property tax per household in most states is between1000 and $3,000, but many states are outside this range. From 2007 to 20 1 1 year, the average residential property tax in 10 states exceeded $3,000. The average residential property tax in eight states (mostly in the south) does not exceed $65,438+0,000, and the proportion of residential property tax paid by residents in most states is between 0.5% and 65,438+0.5% of the property value. In Delaware, Hawaii and Louisiana, this ratio is not higher than 0.5%; In Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin, the proportion is higher than 1.5%.
The burden of residential property tax in American counties will vary greatly. For example, in terms of the amount of residential property tax paid and the ratio of residential property tax to real estate value, there are more obvious differences among counties in new york than in other states. This problem involves the income of each county. The county's budget mainly comes from taxes. As long as the county budget is balanced, the county government will often reduce the burden on the people and collect less taxes, which will also let the people catch their breath.
Property tax is directly related to the value of the house.
According to relevant reports, residents in California, Illinois and Northeast China pay the highest amount of residential property tax, which reflects the higher housing prices in these areas. Counties in these areas pay an average of more than $3,000 a year in residential property tax. It is deceptive to compare the burden of residential property tax directly with the specific amount, because these specific amounts are largely determined by the house price rather than the tax rate. For example, the average house price in 10 states with the lightest burden of residential property is $65,438 +02734 1, while the average house price in 10 states with the heaviest burden of residential property is $356,085.
Owners who pay the highest amount of residential property tax are mainly concentrated in counties near new york, and Westchester, Nassau and Bergen counties have the heaviest average residential property tax burden, all exceeding $8,500, which to some extent reflects the high housing prices in these areas and the high dependence of local governments on real estate tax. Among the 25 counties with the heaviest housing property tax burden, 23 counties are located in new york and New Jersey. Most of the 24 counties whose average residential property tax is less than $250 are located in Alabama and Louisiana. Residential property tax accounts for a high proportion of the property value in the northeastern United States and some midwestern States and counties, and there are often few or no other local taxes in areas with heavy residential property tax burden. When property tax becomes the main or only source of local government revenue, people's property tax will naturally increase. It can be said that they were born in a good time and not in a good place.
The consequences of not paying property tax are very serious.
In the United States, you can't owe Uncle Sam money, and Uncle Sam has to pay taxes, so if you are caught evading taxes, you may go to jail in addition to a fine. The income of the little "Uncle Sam" at the city and county level comes from property tax, and it will be very serious if you don't pay taxes. Residents own a house and the house loan is paid off. This is completely private property, right? Wrong, if residents don't pay property tax, then the government can auction the house and then fill the state treasury with the money from selling the house.
A recent case in the United States sounded the alarm. A widow in western Pennsylvania was fined $6.30 for late payment of real estate tax. The old man didn't take this 6 yuan seriously, so he never paid the fine. I didn't expect $6 to lead to ruin, which was more intense than Harvard's challenge to Chinese restaurants for $4.
The poor widow in her fifties is Irene Battisti, whose husband died in 2004. Battisti paid off the house loan with her husband's life insurance. Battisti was not familiar with the family financial situation, and was fined $6.30 for late payment of real estate tax in 2009. Since battisti never paid the fine, it was 20 1 1, and the fine was increased to 234.72 USD due to interest. 20 1 1 In September, the local county government auctioned the house owned by the old lady with a value of 280,000 US dollars, and only sold it for more than 10,000 US dollars.
A house worth $280,000 was sold by the government because it didn't pay $6 interest on real estate tax. Battisti swallow not to descend this tone. From 20 1 1, she began to entrust a lawyer to file a lawsuit, and the lawsuit was finally concluded until 20 14, 1 1.
Mary Levitt, a judge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, ruled that battisti was still the owner of her house in Al Quepa, alker, and the county tax authorities did not give her proper notice or warning about the auction of her house.
Battisti's lawyer Ed Santillan said: "We are very excited about the court's decision. My client cried with joy after hearing the news. "
When battisti's house was auctioned, it was bought by a man named Lewis. Finally, under the coordination of lawyers, Lewis sold the house back to battisti at the price of $654.38+$6,000. The house that has paid off the loan is worth $280 thousand. Battisti needs to spend another $654.38+600,000 to keep the house because of the government's trouble. Although he got a lot of money, in the end, the house did not become the property of others. You see, how tough the little "Uncle Sam" in the United States is, and how much does it cost to owe real estate tax in the United States? (Financial Weekly)