State and Local taxes your just where not aware of before moving to a new location

[clanter]

rather than jump into the thread on Personal Property Taxes in VA
(Personal Property Taxes in VA)

We used to live in Kentucky where there are some lessor known and normally unexpected taxes

Along with property taxes which every one seems to have there may be an occupational license tax depending on just where you live/work.

Then there may be an insurance premium tax that some local governments apply even though it is generally one of the least known of all the local taxes. (this includes homeowners policy, thus many in affected areas will under insure to avoid this minor tax)

Also the state imposes a 1.8% insurance premium surcharge tax and those revenues

We moved to Texas, Tarrant Co specifically. The not hidden tax that just amazes me is the 1.625% sales tax my little city of 8,000 collects each month which averaged $5,000,535 per month last year (2021) … $6,006,427.86 tax revenue on less than 2 cents per taxable purchase item

[trubandloki]

I think this is a good point that people do not think about when they are deciding where to move.
I was surprised about the personal property tax thing. I live in NY and I thought they knew everyway to hide a tax, but they have not started that one yet.

What is the occupational license tax? A fee one pays if their a professional with a license?

[wsmoak]

In Georgia you get to pay both sales tax when you buy a horse trailer and yearly personal property taxes on it!

They don’t do that on cars or boats or RVs. It may be some weird loophole that lawmakers did not really intend but… it adds up.

[clanter]

@trubandloki

What is the occupational license tax? A fee one pays if their a professional with a license?

In Jefferson Country where we lived the current tax rate for Occupational Taxes totals 2.2% for resident individuals, sole- proprietors, partnerships, corporations, etc. The tax rate for non-resident individuals who live outside the country but work within the county is 1.45%

link to a pdf file that explains this

https://louisvilleky.gov/revenue-commission/document/oldescription1pdf#:~:text=The%20current%20tax%20rate%20for,0145).

[trubandloki]

@clanter

@trubandloki

What is the occupational license tax? A fee one pays if their a professional with a license?

In Jefferson Country where we lived the current tax rate for Occupational Taxes totals 2.2% for resident individuals, sole- proprietors, partnerships, corporations, etc. The tax rate for non-resident individuals who live outside the country but work within the county is 1.45%

link to a pdf file that explains this

https://louisvilleky.gov/revenue-commission/document/oldescription1pdf#:~:text=The%20current%20tax%20rate%20for,0145).

So it is in income tax? (Am I reading that wrong?)
Does that state not have an income tax other than this?

[clanter]

@trubandloki

So it is in income tax? (Am I reading that wrong?)
Does that state not have an income tax other than this?

If I remember correctly they refer to it as a Gross earning tax on income ,it basically is an income tax without the ability to apply deductions

And yes Kentucky does have a state income tax in addation to these taxes

[Simkie]

In CT, we pay yearly taxes ON OUR HORSES It’s a city tax, so even if you board in a city that taxes horses, but live in a city that does not, you’re supposed to pay tax for your horse.

[TheJenners]

@Simkie

In CT, we pay yearly taxes ON OUR HORSES It’s a city tax, so even if you board in a city that taxes horses, but live in a city that does not, you’re supposed to pay tax for your horse.

Wait WHAT?? Just horses, or other livestock, or other pets? What the heck??

[beowulf]

There was talk in my local circle (sidebar: I worked in an Assessment capacity for a local municipality) about imposing excise on livestock, particularly horses, in the town I worked for. This town just so happened to have a high concentration of expensive hunter/jumpers and dressage horses so I imagine that’s where the interest came in… CT was used as a reference. There were a few complications: most of these fancy horses were only here for a few months, they showed on the H/J and dressage circuits at Wellington and Ocala, and were not exactly year round. Then there was the difficulty of establishing the value of each horse.

It sounded like a logistical nightmare to me. A computer system (which is what is used to factor assessments/costs on real estate and real property) just wouldn’t ever be able to accurately assess the value of a horse since the value is contingent on so many factors a computer can’t account for. I was relieved they decided not to do it!

Taxing livestock / per head is not new, though. A lot of municipalities fell away from it because fewer and fewer residents had livestock at all.

My SO moved from NY to MA with me. He calls MA “Taxachusetts”. One thing that shocks a lot of out-of-staters is our high excise tax rate ($25 per $1000 of MSRP value of the vehicle when it rolled out of the factory). It is not based on the car’s inherent value (IE, what it is worth now, with 200,000 miles on it and not running) - it’s based on the MSRP brand new, with percentage reductions the first five years. I’m still paying ~$300 annually in excise tax for two vehicles that are old enough to vote.

[Simkie]

@TheJenners

Wait WHAT?? Just horses, or other livestock, or other pets? What the heck??

In my town, it’s just horses. Other towns may also tax other livestock, I’m not sure.

If you run a business, they also tax your business equipment. Like, if you run your farm as a business entity, they tax your tractor.

@beowulf

A computer system (which is what is used to factor assessments/costs on real estate and real property) just wouldn’t ever be able to accurately assess the value of a horse since the value is contingent on so many factors a computer can’t account for.

Here it’s just on the owner to assign a value & report it to the town. The first $1000 of value is “free.” I’m sure there are a ton of people who just don’t report or devalue their horses. It’s not like the town is going to go out & appraise all the horses out there!

[ravenclaw]

Is there a website or other resource that gives all the taxes (and approximate amounts) for different areas or states?

At some point, I want to move to a different county in my state but I will probably stay in-state until I can retire. The county that I live in has pretty low taxes and I want to make sure I don’t go to an area where the taxes are a lot more expensive.

[beowulf]

@ravenclaw

Is there a website or other resource that gives all the taxes (and approximate amounts) for different areas or states?

Just about every town, or in some cases where population is low, every county, has a website these days. All of the tax information is available on these websites.