re: After historic tax cuts, Texas lawmakers evaluate eliminating property taxes entirely

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My initial thought is paying 22% for all my purchases would actually increase my tax liability for the year compared to the property taxes I pay

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Sales taxes, for the most part, are completely controllable outside the necessities.

Did they account for a sales tax on the purchase of real estate? I would think by applying the current sales tax of 6.25% to all real estate purchases a substantial amount of money would be raised every year.

In addition cutting out the CAD bureaucracy would be a savings.

And at the end of the day you would own your property outright and not have to deal with the stress of the current property tax system.

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They could do a combo that makes it attractive to most people.

Phase out property taxes after 5 years of ownership. Increase sales taxes to something reasonable like 8.5%. implement a 2% income tax with a 100k/200k exemption.

The specific numbers can be adjusted to fit the budget.

Also, reduce state spending as much as possible so the tax cut funding can be reduced.

Sounds better than Arkansas. We pay like 10% sales tax, 7% state income tax, and also pay property tax and personal property tax.

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Renters pay it too.

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All right, it has been pointed out I was incorrect

What I would like to see, how much the burden is rent vs. home owner. The high density living options are stressing and overloading the school districts here.

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I think every property owner in texas does this every year.

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Yep, there's an entire industry around it. I use Bettencourt every year.

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They just need to lower the property tax rate some and quit letting these appraisal districts raise your home value every year.

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Totally agree. They say my house is worth more every year since ive been in about 12 years and every year I write a bigger check for more property taxes. It needs to stop!!

I get people who pay a lot in property tax supporting this, but there is another trade-off here:

Eliminating property taxes could cause an explosive in sales tax and consumption fees. People mostly think of sales taxes on groceries and restaurants, but not sales taxes on construction materials and commodities. The cost of services will significantly increase since many companies (and possibly utilities and public agencies depending on what is tax exempt) will pay significantly more for materials and supplies and pass those on to consumers. Think about the additional costs of that small bathroom renovation with higher taxes. If this happens many middle-class and up families could end up paying more than their yearly property tax bill in additional taxes.

Last, this would severely impact real estate markets and drive up housing costs even more. While not a fan of tax sales they contribute significantly to real estate redevelopment projects. Additionally, developers will now pay significantly more to develop new projects in large part to additional taxes on supplies and materials.

What impact would a city like Houston or Dallas banning apartments have?

Where are the folks earning $60K as a household supposed to live?

Please tell the class how an urban environment can successfully ban apartments from being built.