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  • Showing only topics with the tag "taxes". Back to normal view
    1. United States: What personal (non-business) tax software/program do you use?

      Tax time again! I like to get this done as soon as possible to get it out of the way. I have all my tax documents at the ready, but several changes happened in my life last year (moved states,...

      Tax time again!
      I like to get this done as soon as possible to get it out of the way. I have all my tax documents at the ready, but several changes happened in my life last year (moved states, sold home, bought home, etc.) and the tax software I've been using over the last several years apparently "doesn't support" several of the tax forms (or even simply some of the boxes on the forms) I have for this year.

      Trying to avoid the "Big Two" if possible.

      12 votes
    2. Experimental real property tax basis-set rate based on usable area per person

      Random thought. What if we taxed property based on the area per person of the property, as opposed to sale value? Edit and quick intro to those who mostly rent: most real property in the US,...

      Random thought. What if we taxed property based on the area per person of the property, as opposed to sale value?

      Edit and quick intro to those who mostly rent: most real property in the US, especially residential property, is taxed yearly based on some variation of something called "fair market value," usually assessed by a local tax assessor's office

      I'm proposing that a property would be taxed for every square meter of space per person in the designated property unit. It can't be totally simplified, but should be fairly straightforward. There could also be progressive brackets. It might not make make sense to apply it strictly per person, but rather for a typical use. That is, we would assume "single family residential" properties to house 3.4 (totally made up number) people per house and property.

      The goal of this is to find a fair, market-driven incentive to build density into urban cores.

      A similar approach could be applied to commercial space (but probably not industrial).

      It could be coupled with a sales tax (currently missing in most real property tax regimes, at least in the US) to capture runaway property valuations in certain jurisdictions.

      Alternatively, we could drop the property value based tax rate (but not eliminate it), and then add a per person-area surcharge.

      It's not meant to increase revenue, although it could certainly be used that way. It could also be use to decrease revenue, and maybe that would be a good way to sell it. But at the end of the day, developers and residents would both have an incentive to pursue as dense development as possible, even if there is not a density driving pressure of desirablity, which only exists in a few really cool urban cores.

      8 votes
    3. Please explain tax credits to me (US)

      I feel like I have a basic understanding of tax credits, but nothing so far as would make the most sense in what I want to know: I'm looking into buying a new car, and it looks like I can get a...

      I feel like I have a basic understanding of tax credits, but nothing so far as would make the most sense in what I want to know: I'm looking into buying a new car, and it looks like I can get a 7500 tax credit for the car I'm interested in buying. My understanding is that these credits are "non-refundable" meaning I don't actually get that money back, but how does it still work? I pay into the income tax (I know, I don't want to know the benefits of doing this vs not, it's just easier for me to pay more and get some back when the time comes), so I always get a refund. Would my refund be higher then because I get a credit on the taxes that I paid in? Or would it be the same and my tax liability would be reduced?

      I need someone to explain this to me like I'm 5, please!

      15 votes