In a bad economy, we all tend to look at our bills a little more closely. That effort is paying off for property owners in Orange County, NC, where 6 in 10 property owners have successfully challenged property assessments. Orange County, NC, is near my old stomping grounds in Wake County, NC, and is probably…
NJ is not exactly known for affordable living – especially when it comes to taxes. It appears that will only get worse in 2009 as lawmakers scramble to close holes in the budget. The state budget currently sits at $28.6 billion, about $4 billion less than last year. Faced with flat revenues, the legislature has…
It’s Fix the Tax Code Friday! Earlier this week, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article about an issue that has been on the minds of many local taxpayers as the city prepares for major cuts in services: real estate tax abatement. Many municipalities – from major metropolitan areas like Philly and NYC to smaller towns…
Last year, I posted about Wal-Mart’s aggressive stance on paying property taxes; not surprisingly, Wal-Mart isn’t a fan of paying property tax and has challenged a disproportionately high percentage of assessments for its stores (more than 2,100 property tax challenges nationwide). I titled the piece “Does Wal-Mart Want Your Kid To Read?” Flash forward to…
In San Mateo County, California, the Board of Supervisors is holding a closed-door session to deal with a $20 million mistake. As mistakes go, it’s a pretty big one. The San Mateo County Superior Court awarded Genentech, a self-described profitable biotech firm, $20 million in a recent court case. Genentech had filed suit against the…
And why does it matter on a tax blog? Consider this. You buy a house in the midst of a housing boom. Prices go up, up, up. Subprime mortgage mess hits. Other credit woes ensue. Housing market drops. As in plummets. And suddenly, your house isn’t worth as much as you thought. Sound familiar? It…
There are all kinds of ways to stave off tax fraud… and technology has landed tax officials yet another weapon in the fight: Google Earth. I’ll confess that I only ever thought of Google Earth as a fun toy to find images, though I know that there are a lot of practical uses for it….
Earlier in the week, I reported that Georgia is considering implementing a tax on personal services, meaning that professions like barber shops, law firms and accountants would impose a tax on their services, which would likely be passed through to the consumer. This tax would replace property taxes in Georgia. Now, normally, my Fix the…
Taxes are not popular. And lawyers are not popular. So why not throw the two together and create the most despicable combination imaginable: a tax on legal services? That’s what they’re considering these days in Georgia. House Speaker Glenn Richardson, a Republican from Hiram County, is introducing a bill to collect sales taxes on lawyers….
What good is an election year property tax bill if the folks at home can’t understand it? So, Governor Rendell of Pennsylvania has launched a web page explaining the new bill and its impact for seniors who own homes (since seniors, reputedly get the lion’s share of “relief” from the new bill). Those of us…