Prices Across The World

[PBC_1966]

Glad to be of service! And no, no ties with that organization.....

Have to leave the computer now - Almost lunch time here in the West. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[misterhelpful]

Again, there are many variations from state to state, so how Ohio works is likely quite different from here. Since the late 1970's, California has had a law which prohibits annual property tax bills from increasing by more than a fixed percentage (it followed some pretty steep increases during the 1970's which caused concern). But when a property changes hands, that triggers a reassessment of value, so if the previous owner had been there a long time, that can result in a substantial rise in assessed taxes. As you mention with certain improvements (an extension, adding a pool, whatever) that can also trigger a reassessment by the county, so understandably there are many properties around here which have had all sorts of additions carried out over the years without bulding permits. Unpermitted garage conversions to extra living space are very common, for example.


Almost lunch time here in the West. Happy Thanksgiving!

This kind of thing has recently put us off buying a different house. We fell in love with it immediately but looked at the property taxes and they had risen 18% last year, from their 2013 level. We also discovered, since that rise, one of the garages had been converted to a living room, with the garage door left in place and drywalled over so that it could be 'converted back if desired'. This raised alarm bells with me and we were informed that there would likely be another tax rise if/when reassessed.

Beautiful house, and land, but the property taxes would have been almost as much as the mortgage payment!

Edit:
Happy Thanksgiving to you, too! We had our Dinner yesterday, because my wife works today.

 

[PBC_1966]

This kind of thing has recently put us off buying a different house. We fell in love with it immediately but looked at the property taxes and they had risen 18% last year, from their 2013 level.

That was the kind of thing that the California law was passed to prevent, as apparently during the high-inflation period of the 1970's many counties here had been imposing similarly large annual tax hikes, or even worse. I just verified the figures which were applied when the new law came into force: Properties to be assessed for total taxes of no more than 1% of full market value, and increases are restricted to no more than 2% per annum.

 

[securespark]

Having tried to purchase an item from Amazon . de, I find I am being charged UK VAT.

As I understand the rules, I only need to pay German VAT, but Amazon see it otherwise.

EDIT: I have since seen this:

The seller will calculate VAT based on either VAT rate of the Member State from which the goods are shipped to the buyer (which is usually the Member State from which the goods are bought) or VAT rate of the Member State into which the goods are shipped.

 

[Himaginn]

If the VAT/TVA difference is worth the effort, ask friends/relatives for a delivery address. But the bother and cost of postage (for your friends/relatives) is rarely worth the effort.
If you're on a French ferry, you pay French TVA, but you have to wait until you're half hour out of UK port. There is no such delay returning from Europe.

However, if you'r on a UK ferry, you'll either pay UK VAT, or you'll have to wait until you're out of UK port.

 

[empip]

Bought a Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2" in San Francisco - At a Walmart type mega market, special offer $300 odd in 2014.
Brilliant piece of kit best wifi reception so far - Larger size internal antenna possibly ?
Bought instead of a laptop.
-0-