NJ Sucks!

[JohnT]

Well, I just got another "Love Letter" in the mail yesterday. My property taxes just went up another $800.00 per year.

It just never ends! Damn gov-ment just keep wanting More, More, More.

I know that the only sure things in life are Death and Taxes, but I feel I am visiting both at the same time (I am being taxed to death).

What is even more fustrating is I did the math. Here is how the government sucks money out of me..

Federal Tax,
State Tax,
Property Tax,
Gas Tax,
Sales Tax,
Cigarette Tax,
Tolls (NYC Area)

This add up to about 61% of my pay. I don't mind paying my fair share, but geeeeze, can I at least keep half of my earnings?

(ok, I feel better now. Sorry to rant)

 

[WI_Wino]

You should move. 61% tax rate is insane.

 

[jamesngalveston]

my windstorm insurance, mandatory in texas is 1400 per year and my flood insurance is 900. 200 a month for nothing.

 

[Boatboy24]

It's not just NJ, although they may be worse than many other states. It's actually quite scary when you really stop to think about how much we are taxed. We work for a living and pay 20-40% of what we make to our federal, state and local governments. I'll use 20% as an example. So, we are left with 80%. With that remaining 80%, we buy food and clothing - in my state, we are taxed 5% on those purchases. We also buy shelter. For the privilege of owning a shelter (or co-owning with the bank), I pay property tax to my local government. Why my mortgage banker doesn't pay their fair share of this is beyond me - they own half the friggen place. Oh, and I need transportation so I can get to the job. When I purchase that transportation, I pay a sales tax. Then every year, I pay a property tax for the privilege of owning a vehicle. On top of that, every time I buy gas, I pay a tax that supposedly goes to build the roads I drive on. And many actually pay another tax in the form of tolls for road they already contributed to in the form of gas tax. To top it all off, I have to register that vehicle and when I do, I pay fees (more taxes). And when I die, all the stuff I've been taxed on my entire life will get taxed once again, just for grins.

 

[Julie]

$800 jump in property taxes is pretty high. Do you think it is because of the storms that hit the east coast last year?

 

[bkisel]

I'm middle class retired and living on fixed income here in Connecticut. I looked into where my wife has family in central PA about an hour drive below Elmira, NY. I could sell my house and property in CT and get the rough equivalent in PA while putting $50-100k in my pocket. Savings in taxes and many of the goods and services would amount to to $4-5k. Waiting on my wife to see the light. Oh, and I wouldn't have to register my "high capacity" magazines.

BTW, have family living in Flemington, NJ so I know of what you speak.

 

[Sammyk]

In 2000 we moved from MI from a 100x150 lot with 1,000 sq. ft., 3 bedroom home no garage to NC. We sold our paid off 25 year old home for $135,000 home and purchased in NC for $172,000 home on 2.5 acres, 3000 square foot home, 3 bedroom with 2.5 baths, 2 car attached garage and a 10 year old home. Property taxes $1200 a year more then half less of what we paid on our store in MI on 1.5 acres. We live in the country, neighbors have horses. Our home is on a dead end street in a nice community. Most of our neighbors are "imports" from other states across the United States. It is also not a high crime area because our street is a dead end and no way out.

Taxes are half of what we paid in MI! Another trade of is a state like MI that has 2 season, winter and July to one in NC that has 9 month of growing season. The other 3 months sees little or no snow! July and August are "very" warm months.

Yes we have all the other taxes. We do not have all the stupid laws that MI had. We were able to put a commercial greenhouse on our property here with not a single problem, no additional taxes with the county where in MI when we had our nursery/ garden center they highly regulated what we could not do on our business property. We were constantly fighting with the "city" government. They basically "owned" our business!

Sure it was a big move, we knew no one here! But the first year our oldest daughter came to visit, went back to NY and quit her job and moved here. Our youngest live in Indiana with join custody will not permit her to move here. But she will some day because her and her 2nd hubby love it here!

 

[ibglowin]

IIRC NJ actually does have the highest taxes of any state.

You have complete control over one of those taxes though. Don't smoke!

 

[jamesngalveston]

i have some property in texas...i was paying 2000 dollars a year on undeveloped land...i found out that if i put livestock on it..i would get a reduced tax rate....i build a fence and added 1 (one single cow)...
tax went down to 125.80 per year....go figure.

 

[JohnT]

Yup,

NJ Has the highest in the nation, but also has the highest concentration of people. I do not figure this. More people means more tax revenue. so why is it so high???

To those of you thinking about selling and moving to somewhere cheaper...

1) Capitol Gains Tax - If you sell your $600,000 home and buy a $200,000 home, you are taxed! Thats about 88,000 to the feds alone.

2) NJ REALLY SUCKS - They actually have a "Leaving the state tax"!! Can you believe that??? A tax on simply getting out of NJ! It is a percentage of the sale price of your home.

Since I am no longer using the infrastructure or that "Plethora" of services I enjoy on a dailey basis (why just last week the mayor offered to mow my lawn for free), shouldn't they be paying me?


I still gotta ask.. How can Florida do without a state income tax while NJ take such a mafia stance when it come to tax?

Someone is getting rich! I just want to know who!

 

[JohnT]

i have some property in texas...i was paying 2000 dollars a year on undeveloped land...i found out that if i put livestock on it..i would get a reduced tax rate....i build a fence and added 1 (one single cow)...
tax went down to 125.80 per year....go figure.

If you do not mind me asking, what would the all over fair market value be for that piece of land?

 

[Dino466]

Hey , Try Canada (especially the East Coast)
Income tax rate 43.5%
HST 15% ( sales tax)
Excise taxes - gas , cigs, booze ( way higher then the US)
Property Taxes
Small local tolls

I don't know how we have any money left to spend. Governments at all levels waste the money. I know the large share of it goes to servicing old debt. But still it is insane. How to get rid of the size of government ( senate that is not elected)and in the Atlantic Canada ( 4 provincial governments for less then 3 million people - smaller then the city of Toronto , waste and the debt.

 

[JohnT]

Hey , Try Canada (especially the East Coast)
Income tax rate 43.5%
HST 15% ( sales tax)
Excise taxes - gas , cigs, booze ( way higher then the US)
Property Taxes
Small local tolls

I don't know how we have any money left to spend. Governments at all levels waste the money. I know the large share of it goes to servicing old debt. But still it is insane. How to get rid of the size of government ( senate that is not elected)and in the Atlantic Canada ( 4 provincial governments for less then 3 million people - smaller then the city of Toronto , waste and the debt.

But isn't your cost of living lower? The average price for a standard home here is around $450,000 usd. Also, you do not need to pay for healthcare and pharmaceudicals are much, much cheaper.

 

[Sammyk]

How can some states have no sales tax? They tax other things to make up the difference.
We all know government it too big and the huge waste of our tax dollars are wasted. If they had to live like us on a budget there would be no waste and probably lower taxes!

While we did not capital taxes on our home back in 1999, we paid huge capital gains on our store which we owned free and clear! It made us physically sick! We worked our butts off as a mom and pop business to pay the greedy Bast**** for hard labor, 120 hour work weeks!

 

[Dino466]

Cost of living is lower but income avg is also lower. Healthcare is covered but long lines and times for services and in the east limited specialists. Meds are covered if you are below a certain level of income. But you get to right off interest on mortgages - we didn't - so that jacks the price and quality of your housing up. But there is a huge difference in "take home pay" between the 2 countries - I know a few people who got transferred from the maritimes to Maine ( for work ) - huge difference - basically the same money - but what they have left over - is miles beyond what they had in Canada. Of course Central and Western Canada is a lot better off then the East. So it may not be a big difference between USA and them.

 

[Dino466]

Old Canadian Joke - Every kid in the USA goal is growing up and owning their own business. In Canadian - it is to go to work for the government.

 

[jswordy]

Whenever the discussion gets around to taxes, I get to liking Tennessee a lot:

-- no state income tax

-- cheap property taxes outside the cities. I pay less on my entire farm with house and three outbuildings than my Dad in Illinois pays on his 3 bedroom house and quarter-acre lot.

-- in many counties, you can apply to have your property tax frozen once you reach age 65.

-- low auto tag fees. The state portion is just $25, then some counties add more for local taxes. Still, I think the highest tag price in the state is $100.

Then you add in:

-- TennCare health insurance for if all else fails

-- relatively cheap rural land

-- cheap houses

-- no zoning in many counties (do what you want to with your own land)

-- low cost of living

...and it's easy to see why the state ranks in the Top 10 (#6) on Money's Best States to Retire index.

JohnT could sell his NJ house and buy a 300-acre farm with house and barns and outbuildings down here, and pay less in taxes on it to boot. We have tons of folks from up North who do that every year.

 

[Julie]

Whenever the discussion gets around to taxes, I get to liking Tennessee a lot:

-- no state income tax

-- cheap property taxes outside the cities. I pay less on my entire farm with house and three outbuildings than my Dad in Illinois pays on his 3 bedroom house and quarter-acre lot.

-- in many counties, you can apply to have your property tax frozen once you reach age 65.

-- low auto tag fees. The state portion is just $25, then some counties add more for local taxes. Still, I think the highest tag price in the state is $100.

Then you add in:

-- TennCare health insurance for if all else fails

-- relatively cheap rural land

-- cheap houses

-- no zoning in many counties (do what you want to with your own land)

-- low cost of living

...and it's easy to see why the state ranks in the Top 10 (#6) on Money's Best States to Retire index.

JohnT could sell his NJ house and buy a 300-acre farm with house and barns and outbuildings down here, and pay less in taxes on it to boot. We have tons of folks from up North who do that every year.

Jim, you are wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!







Bankrate.com says Tennessee is No #1

 

[Hokapsig]

when I moved to Nashville in '85, it was like I got a raise because of not having to the pay state income tax. Sales tax was 7%, but we pay that in Pittsburgh now anyhow. Give me low taxes ANYDAY!!!

 

[Sammyk]

Just read in the paper today that the city of Detroit filed bankruptcy. I think there will be many more cities to follow their lead.