First showed up when The Great Property Tax Debacle throttled to full shakedown, just after my first house payment. Mine went from "I can manage this" to "I'm not going to buy any new toys for a long, long time -- and how 'bout that ramen?"
We did get a shiny new mayor and a mostly-new City-County Council out of the deal but it was the State government that "fixed" the real-estate tax assessment methodology. Their ride in the tumbrels won't be for awhile yet. I do so very much hope folks stay irked!
...On the general notion of house payments, I have about made my mind up to look for a boarder of good moral character and compatible interests. Sorry, gents, no boys -- People Would Talk (plus, I'm still gettin' over the last one). Liable to take awhile to even locate suitable candidates but it would make it a lot easier to stay ahead while waiting for my property tax exemptions (for living in my own house and having a mortgage) to take effect.
5 comments:
Hang in there, fellow homeowner! Keep working on that guillotine, but in the meantime collect your income tax deduction statements: your mortgage interest statement in particular. Also gather every cancelled check for taxes (car AND real estate, if you have 'em) and medical-dental-vision expenses for '07. In some cases union dues are deductible (see a preparer) as "professional association memberships". Did you buy the house in '07? If you did, a lot of your expenses on your settlement form may be deductible.
Get all that crap together and when your W-2 arrives, hasten to a tax preparer and itemize your deductions.
I hope it means a tax refund that will ease your cash flow and assure continued liquidity.
I'll certainly try -- I've never gone to a tax preparer and only should have once, the year I had no paying tenant in the half of the double I had been buying on contract. (Very long story, short version is that IRS decided it was not a business, yanked all my deductions and I owed them a goodly amount of money for over a decade).
...I'm not especially knowledgeable about how any of this works. My experience is that the name of the game is, "taxpayer loses" and the best possible outcome is not being bankrupted. Anything better will be a delightful surprise!
I strongly agree with this sentiment. Do we get a do-over?
Every few years, Phlegmmy, every few years.
Awhile back, L. Neil Smith was pushing a meme most folks can get behind: "Never vote for an incumbent." The more I think about it, the more I like it.
Write In
"None Of The Above"
Bumper stickers coming soon.
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