Tax Witholding

smerka · January 2016

We could do a whole post on the mess that is IL. My husband is a teacher who pays his 9.whateverpercent into the pension fund every check with no guarantee he will ever see anything. And he pays nothing into SS. The three guys in charge, Rauner,Madigan, and Cullerton, need to be locked in a room and not let out until they come up with a deal. This is what happens when you elect a successful businessman with no political experience. They don't get their way and throw a hissy fit. Not that Rauner is to blame completely. Madigan is planning to wait Rauner's term out which is six years. Meanwhile the neediest of the state will go without.

brij2006 · January 2016

smerka said:

We could do a whole post on the mess that is IL. My husband is a teacher who pays his 9.whateverpercent into the pension fund every check with no guarantee he will ever see anything. And he pays nothing into SS. The three guys in charge, Rauner,Madigan, and Cullerton, need to be locked in a room and not let out until they come up with a deal. This is what happens when you elect a successful businessman with no political experience. They don't get their way and throw a hissy fit. Not that Rauner is to blame completely. Madigan is planning to wait Rauner's term out which is six years. Meanwhile the neediest of the state will go without.

It used to be the talk that a "state job" was the best to get. Great benefits, good pay, nice pension. Right now I don't think anyone wants one for the long term because you're forced to pay into a program that may not be there when you retire. It's sad.

JoanE2012 · January 2016

brij2006 said:

Oooh ouch. 10.5% sales tax is insane. And I thought crook county (sorry, Cook county) in Illinois where Chicago is, was bad. They're at 10.25%. It was such a shock when I moved there. Spend $100 at the grocery store, budget another $10 just for the stupid taxes. Yet they're now trying to make the Chicago school district a "state" problem. Their reasoning is that then they can file bankruptcy and no longer have to pay out the pensions that they guaranteed all of the employees all of these years. Where has all of that sales tax gone?
It's seriously such a mess. I try not to follow the train wreck, but H is a village commissioner and will be running for mayor in 2 years. So he occasionally has meetings or dinners to rub elbows with people in Springfield. So I try to at least have some common knowledge about the current issues.

You pay 10% taxes on GROCERIES?? Wow, that's crazy.

smerka · January 2016

I looked it up once and I am pretty sure the state sales tax on food is only 1% so I don't think the tax on groceries in Cook County is the full 10.25%. But everything else is and cigarettes are insanity.

Xstatic3333 · January 2016

JoanE2012 said:

brij2006 said:

Oooh ouch. 10.5% sales tax is insane. And I thought crook county (sorry, Cook county) in Illinois where Chicago is, was bad. They're at 10.25%. It was such a shock when I moved there. Spend $100 at the grocery store, budget another $10 just for the stupid taxes. Yet they're now trying to make the Chicago school district a "state" problem. Their reasoning is that then they can file bankruptcy and no longer have to pay out the pensions that they guaranteed all of the employees all of these years. Where has all of that sales tax gone?
It's seriously such a mess. I try not to follow the train wreck, but H is a village commissioner and will be running for mayor in 2 years. So he occasionally has meetings or dinners to rub elbows with people in Springfield. So I try to at least have some common knowledge about the current issues.

You pay 10% taxes on GROCERIES?? Wow, that's crazy.

Agreed, that's atrocious. I've never had a sales tax on groceries, but it seems like an awful way to hurt families. It's crazy how different things are state to state.

brij2006 · January 2016

Sorry, I should have just stated that differently. Grocery tax isn't the 10.25%. That's for goods or if you go out to a restaurant.

Illinois food tax is 1.1%, but each county can add their own additional tax onto that as well.

It's been a while, but when I did Tastefully Simple parties in that area (selling food), the tax on food was 3.25% which included the 1.1% for the state. I'm not sure what it is now, and a quick Google search isn't coming up with anything.

LillibetteV · January 2016

sales tax on necessities?! I'm in Massachusetts and we're at 6.25% sales tax, but groceries and clothing items/shoes under $250 (more than that is considered luxury) are tax free. And we get called "Taxachusetts" ?!?!

brij2006 · January 2016

LillibetteV said:

sales tax on necessities?! I'm in Massachusetts and we're at 6.25% sales tax, but groceries and clothing items/shoes under $250 (more than that is considered luxury) are tax free. And we get called "Taxachusetts" ?!?!

That would be awesome! We have tax on everything you can buy at the store. Food is the only one that is less, and that's at 1.1%.

We do have 1 weekend a year where clothes and shoes are not taxed though. It's right before school starts and it's the "tax free weekend." I always try to pick up a new pair of running shoes and a couple pairs of dress pants then.

julieanne912 · January 2016

When I lived in Chicago I don't recall if I paid taxes on groceries other than the nominal amounts, but I remember paying taxes on bottled water, candy, restaurant meals, and pretty much everything else, plus the 10% sales tax on other goods.

Not to mention the cost to park your own car on a city street if you're a resident... both the city sticker, and then the neighborhood sticker, if required, depends on the neighborhood. One year I paid almost $1000 in parking tickets... I was a real estate agent and you kind of have to park like an asshole to go in to show a property.

It's one expensive city, that's for sure. It was one of the reasons I left.

als1982 · January 2016

Such an interesting thread! I had no idea so many states didn't have sales tax on groceries. We pay around 7-8% statewide.

short+sassy · January 2016

JoanE2012 said:

brij2006 said:

Oooh ouch. 10.5% sales tax is insane. And I thought crook county (sorry, Cook county) in Illinois where Chicago is, was bad. They're at 10.25%. It was such a shock when I moved there. Spend $100 at the grocery store, budget another $10 just for the stupid taxes. Yet they're now trying to make the Chicago school district a "state" problem. Their reasoning is that then they can file bankruptcy and no longer have to pay out the pensions that they guaranteed all of the employees all of these years. Where has all of that sales tax gone?
It's seriously such a mess. I try not to follow the train wreck, but H is a village commissioner and will be running for mayor in 2 years. So he occasionally has meetings or dinners to rub elbows with people in Springfield. So I try to at least have some common knowledge about the current issues.

You pay 10% taxes on GROCERIES?? Wow, that's crazy.

In NOLA, we currently pay 9% on groceries. There are a few food items, probably less than 5, that don't have the current state sales tax (4%), but ALL food items have the parish (county) tax (5%).

Prescription medication is exempt from state sales tax, but not the parish tax. So I also pay 5% on my PRESCIPTION medication. That's the one that grinds my gears the most. I'm not exaggerating or being dramatic. I literally find it evil to tax people on their healthcare.

BlueBirdMB · January 2016

LillibetteV said:

sales tax on necessities?! I'm in Massachusetts and we're at 6.25% sales tax, but groceries and clothing items/shoes under $250 (more than that is considered luxury) are tax free. And we get called "Taxachusetts" ?!?!

You get called "taxachusetts" by us New Hampshirites with no sales or income tax lol. I can't imagine living in a state where literally everything is taxed.

brij2006 · January 2016

julieanne912 said:

When I lived in Chicago I don't recall if I paid taxes on groceries other than the nominal amounts, but I remember paying taxes on bottled water, candy, restaurant meals, and pretty much everything else, plus the 10% sales tax on other goods.

Not to mention the cost to park your own car on a city street if you're a resident... both the city sticker, and then the neighborhood sticker, if required, depends on the neighborhood. One year I paid almost $1000 in parking tickets... I was a real estate agent and you kind of have to park like an asshole to go in to show a property.

It's one expensive city, that's for sure. It was one of the reasons I left.

Yup. Same here. H and I both lived there during college. We go to visit friends there occasionally and think we miss it. Then we pay $45 to park overnight and are quickly reminded that we love our small town.

We fly out of Ohare next Friday and are needing to park our car for 10 days. That was a line item in our travel budget, all by itself, because it's so expensive.

hoffse · January 2016

als1982 said:

Such an interesting thread! I had no idea so many states didn't have sales tax on groceries. We pay around 7-8% statewide.

Yep, we do too. In Birmingham city limits the taxes total to 9% on everything because there's a city sales tax on top of our state sales tax.

Granted, property taxes here are basically nothing. I think the rationale for such a high sales tax is that it's consumption-based.

Also, Amazon is still tax-free here.

LillibetteV · January 2016

BlueBirdMB said:

LillibetteV said:

sales tax on necessities?! I'm in Massachusetts and we're at 6.25% sales tax, but groceries and clothing items/shoes under $250 (more than that is considered luxury) are tax free. And we get called "Taxachusetts" ?!?!

You get called "taxachusetts" by us New Hampshirites with no sales or income tax lol. I can't imagine living in a state where literally everything is taxed.

But your property taxes are higher! My aunt has a house similar to mine and her property taxes are about double what I pay (and I live in a nice suburb close to Boston). I like that my taxes are spread around a little bit more, but maybe that's because I don't buy very many things so the sales tax doesn't effect me very much. We do often hit the NH State liquor store to restock the bar when we head up that way lol. You've got me on the no income tax though, that's nice!

als1982 · January 2016

hoffse said:

als1982 said:

Such an interesting thread! I had no idea so many states didn't have sales tax on groceries. We pay around 7-8% statewide.

Yep, we do too. In Birmingham city limits the taxes total to 9% on everything because there's a city sales tax on top of our state sales tax.

Granted, property taxes here are basically nothing. I think the rationale for such a high sales tax is that it's consumption-based.

Also, Amazon is still tax-free here.

Out of curiosity, what does everyone pay for property taxes?

We paid $48 for both our cars (beaters) and $2,700 in property taxes on a home valued at $185,000.

LillibetteV · January 2016

als1982 said:

als1982 said:

Such an interesting thread! I had no idea so many states didn't have sales tax on groceries. We pay around 7-8% statewide.

Yep, we do too. In Birmingham city limits the taxes total to 9% on everything because there's a city sales tax on top of our state sales tax.

Granted, property taxes here are basically nothing. I think the rationale for such a high sales tax is that it's consumption-based.

Also, Amazon is still tax-free here.

Out of curiosity, what does everyone pay for property taxes? We paid $48 for both our cars (beaters) and $2,700 in property taxes on a home valued at $185,000.

We pay about $4,600/year for the house (tax valuation at about $360k, actual market valuation about $420k) and about $125/year for one 4 year old car.

hoffse · January 2016

We paid $2800 in property taxes last year for a house with tax value at $320K. B'ham is made up of a bunch of self-incorporated mini cities, and our city has a fairly high tax rate for the region. But that's because we are in an excellent school district (second best in the state).

Taxes on my car last year were about $150 (2007 Honda CR-V) and taxes on my H's car were about $300 (2014 Honda Accord).

Sales tax on cars here is only 2% though.

Income tax is 5%, but Alabama is pretty regressive in that you get an income tax deduction for any federal taxes you pay - including medicare and social security taxes. It's one of only 3 states in the country that does this. Our 2015 state income tax return had around $80K in deductions between the regular deductions you would think of (mortgage interest, charitable donations, etc.) and our federal tax deduction.

short+sassy · January 2016

True, true. The property taxes vs. sales taxes is usually one is high and the other isn't or they are both at normal averages.

I've heard Louisiana is on the low end for property taxes. The Homestead Exemption here is $75K. My house is currently assessed at $135K but, with the HE, I pay taxes like it is worth $60K. Which is $607/year. The actual value is $250K, but that is because my area has hugely appreciated (yeah!) since they did the last assessment 4 years ago. And now the time has come. My area is being reassessed this year and I'm expecting my taxes to at least double (not yeah).

The duplex I purchased a few months ago is assessed at $107K and the taxes are $1200/year (no HE)...which is a rip-off for the previous owners because it was only worth about $75K in its horrible condition. But that was their problem. Now that I have fixed it up, it's worth around $125K.

Car insurance is insane where I live because we have a high percentage of uninsured motorists. I have a totally clean driving record, but still pay $220/month. That does include comprehensive because, although I don't have a loan anymore, my car is worth around $12K.

Edited for my misreading the question. We don't have any property tax on vehicles in Louisiana.

BlueBirdMB · January 2016

LillibetteV said:

BlueBirdMB said:

LillibetteV said:

sales tax on necessities?! I'm in Massachusetts and we're at 6.25% sales tax, but groceries and clothing items/shoes under $250 (more than that is considered luxury) are tax free. And we get called "Taxachusetts" ?!?!

You get called "taxachusetts" by us New Hampshirites with no sales or income tax lol. I can't imagine living in a state where literally everything is taxed.

But your property taxes are higher! My aunt has a house similar to mine and her property taxes are about double what I pay (and I live in a nice suburb close to Boston). I like that my taxes are spread around a little bit more, but maybe that's because I don't buy very many things so the sales tax doesn't effect me very much. We do often hit the NH State liquor store to restock the bar when we head up that way lol. You've got me on the no income tax though, that's nice!

Yes, but housing is cheaper than most parts of MA, so most people end up paying less money in taxes for a similar house. Our property taxes are out of control though. We refuse to give up services in exchange for our lack of taxes. Nothing is free. We all pay.

smetter04 · January 2016

We pay about $5500 in property taxes per year and the fair market value of our house is $220k. Our county is known for having very high property taxes. The county next to us has been growing quite a bit in recent years partly because of the lower property taxes.

That said, our sales tax is "only" 5.6% and there is no tax on groceries.

It looks like our property taxes beat everyone who's posted here so far. Someone make me feel better and post a higher number?

LillibetteV · January 2016

short+sassy said: True, true. The property taxes vs. sales taxes is usually one is high and the other isn't or they are both at normal averages.I've heard Louisiana is on the low end for property taxes. The Homestead Exemption here is $75K. My house is currently assessed at $135K but, with the HE, I pay taxes like it is worth $60K. Which is $607/year. The actual value is $250K, but that is because my area has hugely appreciated (yeah!) since they did the last assessment 4 years ago. And now the time has come. My area is being reassessed this year and I'm expecting my taxes to at least double (not yeah).The duplex I purchased a few months ago is assessed at $107K and the taxes are $1200/year (no HE)...which is a rip-off for the previous owners because it was only worth about $75K in its horrible condition. But that was their problem. Now that I have fixed it up, it's worth around $125K.Car insurance is insane where I live because we have a high percentage of uninsured motorists. I have a totally clean driving record, but still pay $220/month. That does include comprehensive because, although I don't have a loan anymore, my car is worth around $12K. @LillibetteV, do you actually mean $125/month for your car insurance? Because if it really is $125/year, I need to move there, lol.

I was talking about our annual excise tax. Our car insurance is stupid expensive considering we're a one-car family. I just paid our annual bill at $1,114 and that is after a pay-in-full discount AND getting 7% off the base premium for donating $25 to Dana Farber/Jimmy Fund. When my agent said that I could show proof of donation and get a 7% discount I was psyched - you mean I can pay less in car insurance for giving money to a hospital that (a) has treated many of my loved ones (b) I already donate too? Plus it's still is a net savings of $60? Well ok then sign me up! haha

brij2006 · January 2016

We live in a LCOL, rural area in Illinois. About 2.5 hours from Chicago.

Our property taxes on our $100k home are $1,800/year (in a town of 800 people).

We pay $100/year for the license registrations on each of our vehicles.

However, we just paid $1,000 in taxes on a "new to us" vehicle. That wasn't even at a dealership either. It was directly at the DMV, so there were no extra fees tacked on. That was gutwrenching.

smerka · January 2016

I usually win the property tax contest around here. Ours our $9,774 on a house worth aboutu

smerka · January 2016

Worth about $275,000. And I get to pay a sales tax of 9.25. Not quite Cook County but my property taxes are higher. BUT IL income tax is only 3.75% which is relatively low compared to NY or CA

CuriousKiddosMama · January 2016

Smerka I will give you a run for your money on the taxes

we live in a suburb of Houston, in a high tax county, high tax school district, and the city has property tax. Most of these offer no homestead exemptions, which caused our bill to go up a ton. House is valued on paper at 285 or so and our taxes were 10k. We have about a 3.5% tax rate on our home.
We don't pay income taxes though, so we still end up ahead there. And our sales tax is 8.25% so bad but not killer.

smerka · January 2016

Smerka I will give you a run for your money on the taxes we live in a suburb of Houston, in a high tax county, high tax school district, and the city has property tax. Most of these offer no homestead exemptions, which caused our bill to go up a ton. House is valued on paper at 285 or so and our taxes were 10k. We have about a 3.5% tax rate on our home. We don't pay income taxes though, so we still end up ahead there. And our sales tax is 8.25% so bad but not killer.

And you have to live in Texas.

CuriousKiddosMama · January 2016

smerka said:

Smerka I will give you a run for your money on the taxes we live in a suburb of Houston, in a high tax county, high tax school district, and the city has property tax. Most of these offer no homestead exemptions, which caused our bill to go up a ton. House is valued on paper at 285 or so and our taxes were 10k. We have about a 3.5% tax rate on our home. We don't pay income taxes though, so we still end up ahead there. And our sales tax is 8.25% so bad but not killer.
And you have to live in Texas.

we like it, but I know it's not for everyone!! I'm hoping as our county and school district develop more, and the growth slows down they will start offering homestead exemptions. But we knew our taxes were going up when we moved, so it wasn't a complete shock. The shock was that our taxes almost tripled instead of just doubled. (House is worth a bit over 2x more, but add in no homestead and ouch!)

short+sassy · January 2016

LillibetteV said:

short+sassy said:

True, true. The property taxes vs. sales taxes is usually one is high and the other isn't or they are both at normal averages.
I've heard Louisiana is on the low end for property taxes. The Homestead Exemption here is $75K. My house is currently assessed at $135K but, with the HE, I pay taxes like it is worth $60K. Which is $607/year. The actual value is $250K, but that is because my area has hugely appreciated (yeah!) since they did the last assessment 4 years ago. And now the time has come. My area is being reassessed this year and I'm expecting my taxes to at least double (not yeah).
The duplex I purchased a few months ago is assessed at $107K and the taxes are $1200/year (no HE)...which is a rip-off for the previous owners because it was only worth about $75K in its horrible condition. But that was their problem. Now that I have fixed it up, it's worth around $125K.
Car insurance is insane where I live because we have a high percentage of uninsured motorists. I have a totally clean driving record, but still pay $220/month. That does include comprehensive because, although I don't have a loan anymore, my car is worth around $12K. @LillibetteV, do you actually mean $125/month for your car insurance? Because if it really is $125/year, I need to move there, lol.

I was talking about our annual excise tax. Our car insurance is stupid expensive considering we're a one-car family. I just paid our annual bill at $1,114 and that is after a pay-in-full discount AND getting 7% off the base premium for donating $25 to Dana Farber/Jimmy Fund. When my agent said that I could show proof of donation and get a 7% discount I was psyched - you mean I can pay less in car insurance for giving money to a hospital that (a) has treated many of my loved ones (b) I already donate too? Plus it's still is a net savings of $60? Well ok then sign me up! haha

Oh! That was totally my confusion now that I read the original question better.

There is no property tax for vehicles where I live, so I automatically jumped to thinking about insurance. Despite the fact it was in a fairly recent discussion on here, I forgot other places have property taxes for cars.

short+sassy · January 2016

@smerka and @CuriousKiddosMama, serious ouch! I'm shocked at how much you all pay.

Tax Witholding

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