For example a property near me sold for $300M a few years ago, but in the latest appraisal, the county said it was worth only $100M, which represents a 2/3 savings on what they will pay in taxes.
This is a consistent problem around the country. One of the main factors is that wealthier households and businesses will usually appeal or sue to get their taxes lowered, so the appraisors, wanting to avoid the hassle of going to court, will pre-emptively undervalue the property so that it doesn't happen.
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On the other hand the houses of lower income folks, which have lower values, tend to be appraised more in line with their sale price or even higher. For example "58% of the lowest-value homes are overassessed while 36% of the highest-value homes are overassessed"
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This has nothing to do with the tax rate - but rather the basic data that the tax rate is then applied to. This also has nothing to do with tax rebates or other programs to encourage development which build on the assessed value (discussed in the 11alive article)
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https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2023/4/24/wealthy-homeowners-are-getting-a-45-discount-on-property-taxes
https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/hundreds-commercial-properties-undervalued-homeowners-high-taxes/85-e861dd4b-64f8-4337-ab26-3a2d5d26f501
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/jafh-should-i-protest-my-property-taxes

The last 4 years have been a somewhat... awkward time for the United States. While voters enjoyed a great degree of optimism with the election of Joe Biden, things didn't turn out as hoped. True to President Biden's warnings, a recession did hit the U.S. Biden's tax cuts on the lower and middle classes, although helping deal with the recession, did not avert the recession nor shorten it. As well, the present shortages in computer parts and programming is not much better due to the embargo and sanctions on Israel that the Three Brothers (the U.S., CSA, and Texas) have imposed. Times are rough, and it's election time.
It is in this environment that the Democrat National Convention convenes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It's time for the Democrat Party to choose its nominee. Joe Biden would be the nominee, but his less than stellar popularity has challengers coming forth.

President Joe Biden of Delaware

The incumbent President, Joe Biden has suffered a dip in popularity over the course of his term. He is certainly qualified, having served as a Senator, Attorney General, and Secretary of State. Biden won 2008 with promises of slight economic tweaks to avert recession, only for recession to arrive regardless. Biden has stated he's prepared to go further to aid the recovery of the economy, and has also subtly hinted at the possibility of ending the Anti-Israel Embargo, but not the sanctions. He's also stated he's prepared to break with the Union's allies to get done what needs to be done, the implication being anything from breaking with the wishes of the CSA and Texas to full withdrawal from the Three Brothers Alliance. He's also the current sitting President, and some claim, with good reason, that it's not a good idea for the sitting President to lose his own Party's nomination, and could doom the whole Party in the election.

Fmr. Governor Bill Richardson of Nevada

The first of Biden's challengers is the former Governor of Nevada, Bill Richardson. The former Secretary of Energy under Donald Trump, Richardson's record as Governor is what is getting the most attention, particularly his first term. Richardson oversaw tax cuts intended to promote growth and development, and cut income taxes, which is especially relevant in the current economic times. That said, Richardson has a handful of controversies, most of which he claims innocence in, but the world of politics cares little for guilt or innocence in these kinds of things.

Fmr. Governor Mike Gravel of Montana

The notable former Governor of Montana Mike Gravel has a reputation as a maverick, and is something of a wild card. Gravel has run on a FairTax plan, which would eliminate the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax, and instead impose a national sales tax. He's an opponent of the Three Brothers Free Trade Agreement as well. Some claim that Gravel's plan overwhelmingly favors the rich, which, true or not, is not good optics in the current economic climate.
The speeches have been made, and it's turned over to the delegates. Who will the Democrats nominate (or renominate) for President?
View Poll

Hi all! I have an online apparel and gift company and I feel like I have most things sorted out, but I would love a little clarification on one item… The dreaded use tax!
1) if I sell an item online and the purchaser is out of state in a place that does not have sales tax, so no tax is collected on my end - am I responsible for the tax as part of my use tax?
2) I have several brand ambassadors who I use for advertising so I sent them apparel. Should I be remitting use tax on these items or are they considered something different because they’re being used for advertising?
Use tax feels so murky to me - I want to do it right but it also seems like the honor system to report it?

Crossposted to tax and legaladvice
Long story short, I’m buying a house private sale from a family member, for 210k. They’ve owned it as an investment property for 15ish years, so they have a great rate. They’ve offered to let me just assume the current mortgage, provided the bank agrees to this. It’s a small bank and the owner is someone my relative has personal/business connections with going way back, they’re “buddies” you could say. The owner said he could probably make this happen, if he still considers the property an “investment” property and not under “primary residence”. (It will be my primary residence, and first home purchase.) I’m a little uneasy about the legal implications of this. Would I be sticking my neck out accepting this? Someone brought up possible implications with housing insurance.

It has been quite a year. I’m disappointed that we have gotten into the position we are in. Through job loss, depression, and unemployment for my husband, we finally sat down and looked at our finances. I feel overwhelmed and stuck- We used to be in a great position, with no debt but here we are.
I know we have to start somewhere. Honestly I have never had debt I couldn’t pay so the thought of consolidating sounds like a good idea. I am hopeful with direction and budgeting we can target a plan.
Income- Husband is currently back as Independent contractor clerking for $25/hour. He will take the bar exam in July and if all goes well, secure an attorney position in September.
I am 100% commission in sales. Variability but summer tends to be a good time but this isn’t a normal market to be in mortgages.
INCOME: -May = $3520 (~$2112 after tax) -June = $22,838 (~$13702.80 after tax) -July = $9,857 currently, could increase (~$5914.20 after tax) -July 1st = ~$3500 Husband Income -August 1st = ~$1700 Husband Income (reduced hours for studying).
Family- 4.5 year old, 2 year old both in full time childcare. Baby #3 due in September. No paid maternity leave, my income should continue. I will stay home through the end of 2023. 2 dogs.
Current Accounts: Checking Account = $5,763.38 Savings Account = $500.01 401k Account = ~$120,000
Liabilities: HVAC - $4,556.45 Balance. 0% interest if paid by 11/2023. Currently paying $550/month.
Mortgage- $2,458.20 PITI 5.875% ARM 30 Year (~$315k Loan, ~$85,000 equity)
BOA Credit Card- $32,809 Balance ($32,000 Limit). 19.74% Interest, Minimum Payment of $680.
Chase Credit Card- $8,832.07 Balance ($18,000 Limit) 27.99% Interest. Minimum Payment of $275.
Obviously I am paralyzed by the amount of debt against what we have and have coming in. Yes we anticipate a large income boost for my husband but I want to be in the best position before baby arrives. Our lack of emergency fund worries me.
We have cancelled subscriptions, have a budget through YNAB, and are working on selling items for extra income.
Is there an option that is worth exploring- Debt consolidation? Putting the cards away and just doing the minimum balance to save for an EF? Cash out refinance to pay off the debt and take a higher mortgage rate over the interest? We are probably in this home for only <3 more years.
Thank you for your advice. I know this is the beginning and look forward to sharing our success story.

Hi PFC,
Before reaching out to a real estate lawyer, I’m trying to do some research on the most effective way for a parent to sell their home to their children.
I’m currently living in a condo and looking to upsize. Due to the current conditions of the market, my parents have graciously offered to sell me their home at a price lower than fair market value, since they are planning to downsize anyways. I’m an only child so they think of this as an early inheritance. However, my parents also need money to purchase a condo that they will downsize to, so we plan to sell the house to me instead of transferring ownership. This way I can get a mortgage from the bank and it will fund my parents purchase of the condo. I have a few questions:

1. Does it make sense for us to structure the sale this way? For example, if my parents home is currently worth 1.5m but they intend to gift me 500k discount, I need to come up with the remaining 1mil. Assuming I can give them the 200k down payment in cash, and get a mortgage of 800k from the bank, my parents would receive the 1m from me upon closing which will be used to fund their condo purchase?
   
2. What are the fees associated with a private deal? Just real estate lawyer fees and land transfer tax? Is the land transfer tax calculated based on the purchase price?
   
3. Is there any benefit for my parents to sell me the house at 1 mil (or any other price) instead of the fair market value? The home will become my primary residence so I believe there won’t be any tax implications in the future if I sell?
   

Any insights would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Edit 1: my parents home is currently their principal residence. my parents intend to downsize to a condo which will become their new principal residence, while the house sold to me will become my new principal residence.

Hello! I'm hoping someone might be able to shed some light on my situation.
I have a small business idea for self care beauty products. I've done a LOT of research on this and long story short, in order for me to set this business up the correct and legal way, we're looking at a $3,000 - $4,000 investment. The initial cost of materials is in the $300 - $400 range, so to jump to the thousands is totally turning me off.
The cost jumped this much because I'd want to have a proper accounting method, pay for a website with ecommerce, account for sales tax, all the details there. I would totally pay the money for all this, except it seems really silly to invest that much only be making a few hundred bucks off of my beauty products. I would be in debt for a while before making any real money off my products.
I'm wondering what's the worst that could happen if I...

• make my self care beauty products
• sell them in-person and online - make the customer pay for shipping
• only accept payment via cash, venmo, or paypal - it would be personal accounts separate from my actual personal accounts

And basically do everything "under the table" for now. Do you think I'll get investigated for the (hypothetical) multiple transactions through paypal and venmo? I'm not so sure at what point the government would get involved, and notice that I'm receiving money from these platforms but with no registered business.
Any research I've done regarding making money from a hobby, of course the IRS wants you to report it and pay taxes on it. But I'm sure that's not the case for everyone doing this kind of thing...
I'm also kind of turning a bit of a blind eye to the fact that if someone was having an allergic reaction to my products that they could sue me. I'm just kinda overlooking that and hoping it doesn't happen lol.
So far I have not spent a dime on this business idea, as I want to flesh out all of these details before doing so. I hope I've provided enough information here, please let me know if there is something I am leaving out!
Thank you!

Long story short, I’m buying a house private sale from a family member, for 210k. They’ve owned it as an investment property for 15ish years, so they have a great rate. They’ve offered to let me just assume the current mortgage, provided the bank agrees to this. It’s a small bank and the owner is someone my relative has personal/business connections with going way back, they’re “buddies” you could say. The owner said he could probably make this happen, if he still considers the property an “investment” property and not under “primary residence”. (It will be my primary residence, and first home purchase.) I’m a little uneasy about the legal implications of this. Would I be sticking my neck out accepting this? Would I be screwed by taxes? Helpppp.

Hello! I came to Reddit because I am extremely lost I’m 22 years old and essentially I was pre approved for an auto loan through my credit union, I then made the first mistake of getting a car through carvana. I put about 2k down on a Chrysler 200 and the rest was financed with the amount I was provided (cashiers check). 2 months later and endless calls to my bank asking why payments were not coming out with no answers other than “carvana has not provided all documentation, just keep the car until further notice”. I receive an email…not a phone a call, from a carvana customer service representative who said I owed $4,906.00. I thought it was a scam so I immediately called carvana and after having the vehicle in my possession for over two months demanded I pay the amount immediately or they would come retrieve the car. I just moved to a new city by myself, started a brand new job, and pay all of my own bills, I did not have almost $5k to dump into a car only worth 10k even after the total amount coming out to 16k with tax, title, delivery, etc. They claimed this was all my banks fault even though all of the loan documents and information were provided to them prior of purchase. Anyways fast forward I return the car and set off with new terms from my bank (approved for more money and my APR went down) I head on over to H Greg dealership and thoroughly explain this whole situation I was in prior. The financial manager, the car sales man, and the manager all promised multiple times that I “would not be allowed off the lot with a new vehicle if something like that were to occur again”. They insured this to me THREE time because I kept putting emphasis on the prior issue that occurred, the LTV issue and how much of a pain it was to go through. I sit in this dealership for 6 hours as for they claimed they needed to contact the other location in which did the underwriting to make sure everything went smoothly and no future issues would arise. Everything goes great, I get the car , my car registered with insurance, all paperwork signed and I’m off on my way. I have now had the car in my possession for over a month. I get a call yesterday from the finance manager who directly promised me himself this would not happen asking for an additional $1400. Explaining “my credit union uses a different book than they do to value this car” and that although it’s not my fault he needs me to pay $1400 or drive the car back in the lot and return it . Please help me, this feels awful and for how “rare” this is I am unsure how I’ve been in this situation twice. I explained so many times I would have turned my happy a$$ around THAT DAY if I knew this was to occur and that they promised me their word and have failed me as a customer. Is there anything I can do? I don’t know how I’ve had the car for over a month now and I’m being requested to put more down. I know $1400 might not seem like a lot but for a 22 year old living on their own in todays day it is for me. Please help if you can with any advice possible . I reside in Florida I’m unsure if that helps.

Long story short I was involved in an accident and this is my first time really dealing with my insurance. My insurance rushed to total my car which had almost no damage but the airbag did go off, they gave me a valuation that was slightly less then the value left on the loan ~$100 but didn't include any sales tax in their claim. I asked about this sales tax before verbally accepting the claim and was told directly by the insurance agent "We will pay for the sales tax, but only after you accept the claim." so I accepted the claim and had to hold their hand and push for updates for over 3 months (was making car payments on two cars at this point because they were stalling on paying off the value we agreed on). Eventually They accidentally emailed me (I think this was supposed to be an internal email and they accidently left me on copy) telling me they planned to auction off my car for quite a large sum of money. A few days later they sent me an email telling me they actually don't have to pay the sales tax in OH and that I would need to pay the sales tax on the totaled vehicle. They also said they wouldn't reimburse me for sales tax on my new vehicle because it was a lease.
My question here is what are my options here? If they would have told me upfront and been quick/efficient about things I don't think I would be as annoyed. Does them giving me false info to accept the claim matter? I wasn't out to make money off my insurance I just wanted them to cover me so that I'm not stuck with thousands of dollars in bills. Looking back into their original evaluation there are features and configurations they didn't include in the valuation, can this be disputed still? I was naïve and assumed they WOULD cover the cost of everything so the valuation matching the balance of the loan was all I cared about ,but now with the possibility of me being on the hook for thousands of dollars I didn't think I would be responsible for I kinda care. The only time I had accepted their claim was verbally on the call that they told me they would cover sales tax after I accepted their valuation. I read through my insurance policy and confirmed their valuation was not dependent on them auctioning my car so would there be any legal reason I couldn't keep the title from being transferred to them and auction the car myself? It just seems odd that they are wanting me to pay sales tax for them to sell a "totaled" car for ~14k. I'm in Ohio and I was also made aware of a successful class action lawsuit against Geico (not my insurer) here in Ohio forcing them to pay the sales tax on totaled vehicles.
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**Forgot to include that they slow walked even telling me they would not be paying the sales tax until 30 days after I got a new vehicle which is apparently the deadline to submit for reimbursement. I called, emailed and submitted messages through their portal atleast 2-3 times per week asking what was going on with the sales tax and it wasn't until well after this 30 day period they started responding.

12 days left nalang QE na namin feel ko di pa sapat ang aral ko, any recall tips specially on LAW and Taxation subject
Sa Tax coverage ay Business and Transfer Tax sa Law naman Sales, Credit Transaction tsaka Intellectual Property.
Accounting is bearable for me maliban sa lease medyo hirap ako hehe.
Any tips?

Bank claiming our primary residence as an investment property?
Long story short, I’m buying a house private sale from a family member, for 210k. They’ve owned it as an investment property for 15ish years, so they have a great rate. They’ve offered to let me just assume the current mortgage, provided the bank agrees to this. It’s a small bank and the owner is someone my relative has personal/business connections with going way back, they’re “buddies” you could say. The owner said he could probably make this happen, if he still considers the property an “investment” property and not under “primary residence”. (It will be my primary residence, and first home purchase.) I’m a little uneasy about the legal implications of this. Would I be sticking my neck out accepting this? Would I be screwed by taxes? Helpppp.

I’m f21 and have studied physics and worked as a research assistant at my university for the past three years.
In hindsight there were red flags right from the beginning (that I happily ignored because the work itself was great). My PI was extremely busy plus he had health issues so I didn’t see a lot of him. He delegated (not officially) all his responsibilities in managing and teaching me to his phd, that was relatively young for a phd, 25 at the time still acting like half a child and somewhat overburdened with having students.
That worked okay for a while until we were sent on that multiple month work trip. My PI told me the day before they had to change my contract for that time, he said it’s just a bureaucratic amenity. Within five minutes of that statement I sat at the secretary and everyone urged me to get it done quickly, and the secretary was pretty harsh to me telling me I need to get my stuff in order and it’s my responsibility to come for the contract in time. (I agreed to the trip months in advance and usually got my contacts per mail). They didn’t even give me a copy of the contract and I had to sign I had no official affiliations to my university.
We were there for four months. Just me and the phd. I had to borrow an absurd amount of money to pay for the hotels we were staying at, thousands of euros. My contract was only for 20h although I worked much more at that time (and the country I was staying at was much more expensive than my home country), the PI told me they can’t hire students for more hours but I’ll get a daily allowance (abt 35€ a day) which I was ok with.
Well when I tried to send my receipts to the secretary they told me was responsible, I didn’t get a response for weeks. Apparently (and nobody had known or told me that, the phd repeatedly told me to send it to the unresponsive one) a completely different secretary was responsible for the kind of contract I had and the secretary I sent it to just ignored it cause she didn’t feel responsible. After about two months I got an angry mail from her to stop messaging her and send it to xy instead.
I was in debt about 8000€ at that point and my salary was 1000€ a month after tax. I repeatedly asked my PI if I will get that money back and if I will get the allowance and he said yes and not to worry. The phd only told me to not be hysterical and that I’m annoying everyone.
At a debt of about 12000€ I finally started getting money back, but the secretary said there is no allowance for the contract I’m in.
To say I was freaking out at that point is an understatement. And that’s not even where things really escalated. About a month before we went back my PI told me in a meeting that there had been several complaints from other students and other staff who found it was unfair I was working there. It was apparently so many students (he called it a mob) that the head of our group told him to cancel any further contracts, since it’s unfair to other students not having a job there and I shouldn’t get paid for learning (?!?). So they gave me a heads up about being let go after that semester…
Right. Then there was let’s say “romantic advances” from the phd. After I told him hard cut, I didn’t want that, his behavior towards me completely flipped. Before we worked great together and he’d frequently tell me he enjoyed working with me and i was doing good, when he did criticize me he did it in a respectful manner (mostly).
After that he’d flip out over everything. He’d be destructive, patronizing and demeaning. He’d frequently compare me to a child that needs to be disciplined. Once even making an argument that I should’ve been beaten by my parents. Telling me he has to be extra harsh to me now to reraise me or else I won’t be able to function in any other workplace. He’d tell me I mustn’t come to work when it’s been a few days since i was sick because I’m too stupid to recognize my symptoms and I’m just antisocial trying to make everyone in the office sick (he did that with other medical stuff too, making fun of me, asking me if I’m like this because I had adhd, telling me whatever medication I was taking didn’t work because I seemed slow (that was when I told him I couldn’t come to work that day because I had an epileptic seizure and needed to go to the doctors). When I told him that behavior was crossing a line he told me that’s just his way of criticizing me and I’m incredibly entitled for asking him to treat me in a certain way, that I just can’t take criticism and then he’d usually attack my character telling me everything is a character flaw after that.
We were back at home at this point but I still had a few months of contract left. He’d then also try to separate me from my PI, flipping out telling me I lack respect for him (the phd) because of talking to my PI about organizational matters (even though the phd had no official supervisor role and couldn’t officially decide anything about me). He’d tell me it’s my fault the work trip cost too much and it’s my fault he might not get an extension of his contract cause of the lack of project finances, even implying I gave him a bad rep at the institute because someone had supposedly asked him how long he was still allowed to stay. That I ought to talk to him because our PI is annoyed when I don’t, etc. Telling me I shouldn’t be under the impression we are colleagues and that I ought to treat him as a figure of respect, making absurd claims about conversations we had months ago claiming they were proof I lacked respect for him.
He did that whole thing to another female student before me, making her uncomfortable until she didn’t come anymore, then trying to make her repay her salary.
I finally went to my PI telling him I didn’t want to work with this phd anymore, also explaining what had happened. And though he was understanding he seemed uncomfortable and told me he won’t choose sides, but I don’t have to come for my last month of work.
I still have a thesis to finish that officially the PI is the supervisor of, but I need a lot of info and data from the phd and sometimes I feel like he purposely withholds infos. Not giving me the login data to the employee cloud, not giving me access to the paper from the work trip (that I’m on too…) etc. I’ve never seen the daily allowance and I am still missing over a thousand euros from the hotel expenses. The phd then told me I should stop complaining because I was paid in experience. I feel stuck, I have financial issues and the whole thing made me become clinically depressed.
The phd probably won’t face any consequences at all. I won’t get the allowance even though it repeatedly promised. After half a year I’m still missing 1k from the work trip.
I honestly get sick at the though that I have to interact more with the phd because of my thesis. And I’ve been procrastinating for months because of it. I feel stuck and helpless and if I start a new thesis now it was all for nothing.
Not looking for legal advice just needed to get it off my chest… I’m not sure wether to stay on the academic path

Hello! I have 2 VIP tickets for sale for the show tonight. $140 each (what I paid after taxes and fees)
Can transfer via Dice. Accept PayPal G&S, can send proof, etc.
I know it's a little pricey but well worth it from what I've heard recently about the Mirage overselling GA and it being packed beyond belief